How Lauren Campbell is Impacting Lives in the Dominican Republic as a Lumos Scholar

The difference Campbell, New Hope Girls are making in the lives of hundreds of girls

Alumna Lauren Campbell’s (’24) journey to the Dominican Republic began long before she set foot on the Caribbean island located over 1,500 miles away from Music City. An English major and publishing minor, Campbell’s path was paved by a combination of personal values, academic experiences and a series of fortuitous connections. 

Growing up in the small town of Carmi, Illinois, community service was a way of life for Campbell and her family. Her mother instilled a strong sense of social responsibility within her from an early age as she regularly participated in local service projects, tornado relief efforts and volunteered at the local food pantry. 

These experiences established the foundation for Campbell’s future commitment to service and changing lives for the better. 

Discovering the Lumos Travel Award and New Hope Girls 

At Belmont, Campbell’s passion for writing and social justice reached the tipping point in her class “Writing in the Community” taught by Dr. Amy Hodges Hamilton. 

“That class impacted me for a lot of reasons, but it made me realize that I could use writing as a way to help others work through trauma and use it as a tool for change,” said Campbell. 

It was through that class that Campbell met Joy Reyes, the executive director of New Hope Girls, who spoke to the class and shared an excerpt from a book she was working on which documented her work with the organization. 

The organization, based in the Dominican city of La Vega, is a nonprofit that exists to rescue girls who have been sexually exploited and provide them a place of refuge. The organization is funded by donors and proceeds from bags that women in the local "barrio," or neighborhood, create and sell. Four residential homes exist across the island to offer healing for girls of all ages from which girls never age out of. 

Campbell had already begun exploring international service opportunities before hearing from Reyes. She initially considered joining the Peace Corps, but later discovered the Lumos Travel Award at Belmont, an award that funds a student-designed international trip. The awarded student selects a destination, partners with a humanitarian organization, finds their housing and stays a minimum of four months. 

After delving into the opportunities provided by the Lumos Travel Award and feeling inspired by the work Reyes was doing with New Hope Girls, Campbell approached Hamilton with the idea of working with New Hope Girls as a Lumos scholar. Hamilton’s face lit up as she informed Campbell an intern from Belmont was supposed to work with the organization but dropped out. An opening was there for the taking, and Campbell was eager to fill the vacated spot. 

“I spent about a year deciding on what kind of international service I wanted to pursue, but once I found out about Lumos and started focusing on New Hope Girls, it was only a matter of weeks before I had my mind made up,” Campbell said. “It was so cool to feel such a strong confirmation about it all and to find an organization vetted by so many people that I trusted.” 

Living in the Dominican Republic as a Lumos Scholar 

Now six weeks into her nine-month journey living with 25 rescued girls in La Vega, Campbell is fully immersed in the organization’s day-to-day tasks. Her degrees in English and publishing guide her work as her primary project is helping write and edit the very book Reyes shared excerpts from at Belmont. Additionally, Campbell helps with administrative work such as managing emails, coordinating events and strengthening the organization’s website copy and overall branding.

Despite taking several Spanish classes at Belmont and considering herself an intermediate-level speaker, the language has been the most challenging aspect of her trip so far. However, the universal joys that do not need language to convey more than make up for the occasional lapse in communication. 

“On week every summer, we host a ‘campamento,’ or summer camp, for the girls in collaboration with an American team that a friend of Joy’s leads on the beach,” she described. “It’s basically just this huge vacation where they get to swim in the ocean, the first time for some girls, and they just get to be kids. One girl turned 13 at campamento and it was the first birthday party she ever had — it was so sweet.” 

Campbell also described what it was like traversing the island as someone who is not a local, and experience that requires some additional help but allows her to approach the local area in a way she would not be able to on her own. 

“You need to be safe, precautious and travel with the locals everywhere,” she said. “But its honestly really nice to be so dependent on others because I constantly see the country through the eyes of the locals, my housemates or my boss.” 

How Others Can Help 

Campbell’s work with New Hope Girls has led her to reflect on her journey of serving others. From her mother’s lessons early in her life to her discovery of the Lumos Travel Award and New Hope Girls during her time at Belmont, there is a constant thread of finding people who help where help is needed and mirroring those actions.

She encourages others to help New Hope Girls’ mission by taking the following steps: 

• Supporting the organization by subscribing to its newsletter and following New Hope Girls on social media. 

• Purchasing a bag, which not only empowers the girls who made them but helps the organization expand its outreach.  

• Becoming a donor, which helps to provide over 205 girls in the local barrio with school supplies. 

For updates from Campbell throughout her time in the Dominican Republic, readers can follow her Lumos blog.