Visions Service Adventures

The Dominican Republic (DR) is one of the most culturally vibrant and historically rich countries in the Americas. The warmth and resilience of Dominicans have charmed and inspired VISIONS participants since 1991. VISIONS history in the DR is one of mutual respect, enduring friendships and long-standing partnerships. While there is upward mobility to a growing middle class, and educational opportunities continue to improve in the DR, poverty remains a fact of life in much of the country. So precarious are resources that electricity is rationed in the poorest neighborhoods by turning off power for up to 10 hours daily 

Our home base is Sabana Perdida, a web of comfortable neighborhoods about one hour from Santo Domingo's center. Santo Domingo is the most populous, prosperous city and arguably one of the nation's most impoverished regions.

Service in the DR is both demanding and immensely rewarding. Projects are primarily masonry construction. We work alongside maestros and other Dominicans whose homes or schools we build. VISIONS has built over a dozen houses, as many schools, playgrounds and pavilions, renovated housing and created a public park. Participants organize and supervise Campamento de Juvenile for children every season. Recently, our projects have been primarily in San Luis, a former sugar cane production town.

Much of VISIONS work is in batey communities, the enclaves near sugar cane plantations where Haitian workers live with their families. For decades Haitian men have crossed the border to work the sugar cane harvests. Over time many have remained in the DR and started families, trapped in a cycle of debt and poverty. Living conditions in bateys have always been sub-standard. Public services and educational resources, if any at all, are only the barest. With the decline of a competitive sugar industry and the closing of factories, the economies of towns that were once centers of sugar production have collapsed, driving batey communities into deeper poverty.

The counterpoint to our service is the time we spend exploring. In the afternoons, evenings, and weekends we enjoy Dominican life, visiting marketplaces to purchase fruits, vegetables and other goods, or strolling the historic colonial district of Santo Domingo. We dance to pulsing merengue music at renowned Guacara Taina Discoteque built within enormous caverns. We unwind on white sand beaches with clear waters perfect for snorkeling and swimming. We summit one of the Caribbean's highest peaks in the Dominican Alps and go to an island get-away one weekend.  Days in the DR always include time with Dominican friends - perhaps a game of dominoes, or bitilla, played with a broomstick and a plastic bottle cap, the skill-sharpening precursor to baseball.

Participants in this language immersion program must have a minimum of two years of Spanish instruction.