Church Trips
Dominican Republic
June 12th - June 19, 2010
Country Info:
The country of the Dominican Republic is on the island of Hispaniola in the Carribean Sea. The island is split between the DR to the east and Haiti to the west. We will fly into Santa Domingo (the capitol) and drive to Barahona where we will stay for the duration of the trip. Barahona is a southern region with a population of around 90,000. Spanish and English are the two official languages, although some people speak French or Creole, which is a form of French and Spanish. The average high temperature for the month of June is 86 degrees.
Living Arraignments
We will stay on the beautiful southern coast of the Dominican in a guest house that has regular beds, bunk beds, fans, (lukewarm) showers, and plenty of room. The guest house has an open air top floor with couches that is great to hang out, have devotions, play cards, or relax. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be served at the guest house. They are prepared for us "Westerners", but still have some tasty traditional meals. We will eat dinner one night at a restaurant in town, as well as go get ice cream.
What will we do?
We will be working with the Evangelical Church of the Dominican. Pedro, the local pastor will serve as a guide for the week. There will be lots to do in Barahona. This region is located close to Haiti, and there are several Batey's, villages of Hatian workers, nearby. At this time, it is not known how the earthquake in Haiti may impact our trip. If we have the opportunity to assist in humanitarian aid at any point, I am sure we would gladly do so. At this time, it is not known what project we will be working on. There are odd construction jobs to be completed, children to play with, and people to talk to. If interested, there is also the possibility of running a VBS program or worship service in the afternoon and evenings.
Do I need to have any shots before I go?
In the case of the DR, the CDC advises:
- All routine vaccinations be current
- Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG)
- Hepatitis B
- Typhoid
- Although the risk of malaria in Barahona is not high, you have the option to bring the anti-malaria drug chloroquine with you. Malaria can be easily avoided by wearing long sleeve clothing and bug spray with DEET.
More information can be found by visiting www.cdc.gov/travel and selecting the Dominican Republic.
Cost and travel info:
The cost for our week is $500. If this may be difficult for you, please contact Dan so that we can make some other arraignment! Please do not NOT come because of money matters!
We will be traveling from the Birmingham airport. Our flight Saturday morning departs at 6:30am. On our return flight, we are scheduled to arrive back in Birmingham at 8:30pm. We should be back in Huntsville by 11pm.
Other Information:
Because this is a mission trip, not a getaway vacation, we ask that we would be as little burden as possible on our hosts.
This means that we need to take care of ourselves, such as making sure everyone on our team is properly hydrated and nourished. It can get very hot during the day with a high amount of humidity. It is important to take frequent water breaks while working and to stay out of the sun as much as possible especially in mid-day.
Our motto last year was "Don't be a hero," which means that it is okay to rest periodically and let someone else have the opportunity to serve!& ;nbsp;
Remember also that we are there not only to be a blessing, but to allow our Dominican brothers and sisters to be a blessing to us! We are not better than them because we have more materially, and there is much to learn from their faith and their culture!