The Dominican Republic is home to white beaches, mangrove lagoons, underground caves, and the highest mountains of the Caribbean! Sounds like somewhere you want to be? You will most certainly fall in love with this beautiful country and its rum factories, barefoot beach bars, surfing opportunities as well as the warm and welcoming people!
More importantly however, you can make a real difference by devoting your time to enrich the lives of those who have, for example, poor access to quality education.
My general experience
I have been working at Aldeas de Paz for 2 months from June to July 2016. There are many opportunities of careers with the diversity of programs and many possibilities to share and develop new skills even if you are not qualified for a specific field. Great chances to learn professionally and on many aspects of a stay in a foreign country. Hours are flexible. Aldeas de Paz is a small organization with very good contact with volunteers, local partners and host families. Manfred and Julia are like a "bridge" between the locals and the volunteers. They are flexible and very helpful. The organization has an excellent Spanish teacher, Elson and a very good learning program for kids with special needs, especially thanks to the Program Manager Yunior. Thank you very much for allowing me to experience this amazing adventure !!!!
Things to improve
Give much more information before the arrival. It would be great to give more details about the weekly schedule or a typical week at ADP (no work on Friday, compulsory meeting on Friday...) for example.
A Skype interview would be great in order to reply to all the questions possible. This is also a very way to test the Spanish level of the volunteers.
It would be nice to put a section on the website where we get to know Manfred, Julia, Yunior, Elson... "
My name is Kevin Murton and I have just finished my 7 weeks in Samana, Dominican Republic, volunteering for Aldeas de Paz helping with the Multi Media output.
As everyone would be, I was a little nervous about how the experience would turn out for various reasons, particularly in relation to my age and lack of intermediate Spanish ability.
I quickly realised I didn't have to worry on either account.
Although I was encouraged to speak Spanish whenever I could, particularly in the Spanish lessons, I felt comfortable at all times that my English would get me by, and that was the common language we generally used in any meetings I was involved in.
In relation to my age, genuinely I felt no difference in my relationships with the volunteers as the younger ones did with each other. Having a young open mind and respect for each other was plenty for everyone to generally get along.
I offered my unique set of skills, capabilities and energies and others did the same. I suppose you kind of adopt a role within a temporary family setting, which obviously changes as people come and go.
So when I initially arrived, I had an amazing welcome from Manfred and the rest of the volunteers. I made sure I had no expectations as to the place I was coming to and made myself aware of the fact that cultural differences would be inevitable. A mindful, moment-to-moment approach, without too much judgement, helped me through those initial few days.
Bit-by-bit I felt more and more comfortable with any security concerns I may have had. A healthy awareness of what was going on around me, like I do in London, and common sense decisions became part of my everyday living. It feels very safe here.
Getting used to the heat, changes in diet and the variety of nature that you see (from experience a clean room and a spray every month of insect repellant deters anything that may want to come inside), can all be viewed positively, and some may not be concerned with these changes at all, but if you are, taking the initiative to find the best way you want to deal with these issues quickly is a good idea.
Eating the Plata del Dia or buying vegetables at the local market or the colmardos near to the apartments can make food here quite cheap, but be aware of buying too much at the 'gringo' supermecado. Food can be very expensive here and a lot of it doesn't have the price on it.
It may take a while for the local gift shops to realise that you aren't a tourist, so you will be an amigo/a to all of them. It's a good way to practice your Spanish if nothing else.
The Multi Media work I did here was very enjoyable and working at the school, the hospital, at the Ayuntamiento, interviewing the Mayor. It feels very rewarding having produced film that can only show Aldeas de Paz in a positive light and perhaps create opportunities for future grants.
There is some amazingly beautiful scenery here on the Samana peninsula to explore. Whale watching during February and March, El Salto de Limon (waterfall), the amazingly beautiful Playa de Cayo Levantado and Los Haitises are some, but every so often you catch the beauty shown by the people; typically on the beach, with Bachata music playing as couples dance, as others play table games and still others lay back in the sun with a Carribbean kissed cocktail ready to sip, wrapped in not much more than the hot breeze drifting off the gentility of the ocean.
I have experienced a few of these kinds of cultural immersion trips now and felt genuinely emotional about leaving a group of people, whose heart tells them they want help a society, which at the moment is not able to give the same chances as most of us have back in our own countries.
Manfred is a great man and I have a lot of respect for him. He makes a lot of effort to help make your experience a useful and happy one. I came here to have an adventure, learn more Spanish and help a very worthwhile charity. I leave feeling like a better person, with what I have accomplished. Thanks Manfred, I have had an amazing experience, which will stay in my memories for a very long time to come. I hope our paths meet again in the not too distant future! Bye I'm off to Costa Rica.
My general experience
I have been working at Aldeas de Paz for 2 months from June to July 2016. There are many opportunities of careers with the diversity of programs and many possibilities to share and develop new skills even if you are not qualified for a specific field. Great chances to learn professionally and on many aspects of a stay in a foreign country. Hours are flexible. Aldeas de Paz is a small organization with very good contact with volunteers, local partners and host families. Manfred and Julia are like a "bridge" between the locals and the volunteers. They are flexible and very helpful. The organization has an excellent Spanish teacher, Elson and a very good learning program for kids with special needs, especially thanks to the Program Manager Yunior. Thank you very much for allowing me to experience this amazing adventure !!!!
Things to improve
Give much more information before the arrival. It would be great to give more details about the weekly schedule or a typical week at ADP (no work on Friday, compulsory meeting on Friday...) for example.
A Skype interview would be great in order to reply to all the questions possible. This is also a very way to test the Spanish level of the volunteers.
It would be nice to put a section on the website where we get to know Manfred, Julia, Yunior, Elson... "
My name is Kevin Murton and I have just finished my 7 weeks in Samana, Dominican Republic, volunteering for Aldeas de Paz helping with the Multi Media output.
As everyone would be, I was a little nervous about how the experience would turn out for various reasons, particularly in relation to my age and lack of intermediate Spanish ability.
I quickly realised I didn't have to worry on either account.
Although I was encouraged to speak Spanish whenever I could, particularly in the Spanish lessons, I felt comfortable at all times that my English would get me by, and that was the common language we generally used in any meetings I was involved in.
In relation to my age, genuinely I felt no difference in my relationships with the volunteers as the younger ones did with each other. Having a young open mind and respect for each other was plenty for everyone to generally get along.
I offered my unique set of skills, capabilities and energies and others did the same. I suppose you kind of adopt a role within a temporary family setting, which obviously changes as people come and go.
So when I initially arrived, I had an amazing welcome from Manfred and the rest of the volunteers. I made sure I had no expectations as to the place I was coming to and made myself aware of the fact that cultural differences would be inevitable. A mindful, moment-to-moment approach, without too much judgement, helped me through those initial few days.
Bit-by-bit I felt more and more comfortable with any security concerns I may have had. A healthy awareness of what was going on around me, like I do in London, and common sense decisions became part of my everyday living. It feels very safe here.
Getting used to the heat, changes in diet and the variety of nature that you see (from experience a clean room and a spray every month of insect repellant deters anything that may want to come inside), can all be viewed positively, and some may not be concerned with these changes at all, but if you are, taking the initiative to find the best way you want to deal with these issues quickly is a good idea.
Eating the Plata del Dia or buying vegetables at the local market or the colmardos near to the apartments can make food here quite cheap, but be aware of buying too much at the 'gringo' supermecado. Food can be very expensive here and a lot of it doesn't have the price on it.
It may take a while for the local gift shops to realise that you aren't a tourist, so you will be an amigo/a to all of them. It's a good way to practice your Spanish if nothing else.
The Multi Media work I did here was very enjoyable and working at the school, the hospital, at the Ayuntamiento, interviewing the Mayor. It feels very rewarding having produced film that can only show Aldeas de Paz in a positive light and perhaps create opportunities for future grants.
There is some amazingly beautiful scenery here on the Samana peninsula to explore. Whale watching during February and March, El Salto de Limon (waterfall), the amazingly beautiful Playa de Cayo Levantado and Los Haitises are some, but every so often you catch the beauty shown by the people; typically on the beach, with Bachata music playing as couples dance, as others play table games and still others lay back in the sun with a Carribbean kissed cocktail ready to sip, wrapped in not much more than the hot breeze drifting off the gentility of the ocean.
I have experienced a few of these kinds of cultural immersion trips now and felt genuinely emotional about leaving a group of people, whose heart tells them they want help a society, which at the moment is not able to give the same chances as most of us have back in our own countries.
Manfred is a great man and I have a lot of respect for him. He makes a lot of effort to help make your experience a useful and happy one. I came here to have an adventure, learn more Spanish and help a very worthwhile charity. I leave feeling like a better person, with what I have accomplished. Thanks Manfred, I have had an amazing experience, which will stay in my memories for a very long time to come. I hope our paths meet again in the not too distant future! Bye I'm off to Costa Rica.
