Love the poster of puppies coming out of colored shoes. Dogs are fun. This photo was taken by Becca, a recent graduate of the Univ. of Maryland. She is returning to College Park to work for the Hillel organization and will continue to promote adding Dog Meets World to future service trips…..just as she did last spring break on this Hillel sponsored Alternate Break trip to Mexico.

Phodographer Patti Hughes in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, April 2010

PhoDOGrapher family consisting of parents Patti & Winder and daughters Madison, Halle & Gracie took Foto and Dog Meets World for a second year on their spring break vacation. What a great way to interact with local children by taking and printing pictures together.

Hurray and BOW WOW for all Spring 2010 Graduates, including Dog Meets World intern Becca Cohen.

Becca dedicated hours of work this semester, including taking the photo project to this Mexican border town on her Alternate Spring Break. Adding DMW gave all the Univ. Maryland, College Park students an easy way to interact with the local children. Becca said “We were building an addition with a family, so on the first day on the worksite we took pictures of their kids. The next day neighbors came by with their kids to have their pictures taken. Johanna, the daughter of the family we were building with, would come up to us making a “take a picture” sign with her hands to communicate that someone new wanted a picture. Seeing the clamor and excitement as they watched the pictures print was incredible.”

Becca, a senior at the Univ. of Maryland in College Park said “When I was traveling in southern Africa last year, it was incredible seeing how excited all the children would get when we took their pictures and let them see it on the digital screen. My friends and I had discussions about how these children probably didn’t have pictures of themselves, and many might not even have had mirrors. Dog Meets World seeks to fill this void so perfectly….picture perfectly.”

Becca introduced DMW to her alternate spring break team working in this Mexican border town. She and her fellow students were building an addition with a family. “On the first day at the worksite we took and printed pictures of their kids. The next day neighbors came by with their kids to have their pictures taken. Johanna, the daughter of the family we were building with, would come up to us making a “take a picture” sign with her hands to communicate that someone new wanted a picture!”

Children helped with the printing process for Dog Meets World at an orphanage in a Mexican border town. The children at the orphanage ranged from six months to age fourteen, and none of them have any family. The kids were excited to add a personal photo to their small collection of personal belongings.

Becca is doing an internship with Dog Meets World and introduced the project to her fellow students on an alternative spring break trip with Hillel at University of Maryland, College Park. One participant remarked that “witnessing a child’s face light up after owning… a picture of himself was a breathtaking experience“.

Read more about the students’ experience in Augua Prieta, Mexico here!

The first opportunity to practice Dog Meets World was greeted by big smiles in return. While many tourists have visited her Aunt’s stall in this market, no one had ever before taken and given her a photograph of herself.