Dominican Republic Service Team

Watkinson School's Dominican Republic Service Team — also known as La Fuerza Azul (or as it translates to English, ‘The Blue Force’) — aims to improve the quality of life for the displaced Haitians who live in the sugar cane work camps of the Dominican Republic.

Dates: November 22-29, 2024 (Thanksgiving week)

Approximate cost per person (price finalized after flights are booked): $1,950, includes food, dorm accommodations and flight. Each traveler also assumes responsibility to fundraise to cover service costs.

Requirements: Must be vaccinated against COVID-19, and have valid passports.

Our hosts: the Good Samaritan Hospital and Iglesia Maranatha

Purpose: This is a short-term service trip to offer support to displaced Haitians who live in the La Romana region of the Dominican Republic. Some of the Haitians are there because of the January 2010 earthquake, but most were bussed there by large companies to cut sugar cane. They live in sugar cane work camps, called bateys, and need basic life resources: shelter, clean water, food and medical care. The kind of work we accomplish in our week there will be determined by the size of our group and the amount of money we raise. Options include, but are not limited to:

• running medical clinics on the bateys,
• building houses,
• building schools, churches, homes, or latrines
• working on on-going projects at the Hospital
• teaching English, sports, or music classes to children on the bateys

Accommodations: Our hosts will house and feed us at Casa Pastorale, dorms that are near the Iglesia Maranatha (the organization that hires the staff to feed us while there).

Who is eligible to go:

• upper school students may go unaccompanied by a parent
• middle school students may go accompanied by a parent
• parents of any age student are welcome to join on this service trip, but parents of high school students will not be put on the same work projects.

Please be advised that priority is given to students who:
• are Global Studies Diploma Students
• have facility with Spanish

• are traveling with a parent
• have interest in a medical profession

Especially needed: Doctors, nurse practitioners and nurses