Volunteer Programs in Santiago, Dominican Republic

I had the most amazing week with BLUE. Disconnecting from my stressful life and being in nature with new people brought me more peace than ever. Meeting people in a different place who don’t live in the greatest of conditions but are so happy inspired me and made me feel so connected to the friends and peers I traveled with. I will never forget the fun I had and how full my heart was by the end of the trip to know that BLUE made such a difference for so many people!

I had the best time in my life during my trip with Blue Missions to Dominican Republic. I learned to be humble, to empathize with other's situations and to put in order the priorities in my life. As a teenager I valued a lot material things but after this trip I know my priorities are back where they should have been. I made connections with the community i will never forget and even if I though this trip was to help them, I feel I received much more from them than what i was capable to give them. I will recommend this trip to all my friends.

I feel as though words aren’t enough to describe what one week in the DR truly was for me, but I will try my best. For 7 days, immersed in simplicity, I was surrounded by over 20+ strangers that I’d never met, in a country I’d never been with little to no cell service. You would think I would feel scared or uneasy, but easily within the first few days that country became home and those strangers became family. It is there where i realized the beauty of the campo. A place free from social, cultural, economic and political barriers. A place where there is no room for superficial love, electronic distraction, meaningless conversations, anxieties, or loneliness. Instead it’s filled with community, kindness, friendliness, teamwork, laughter, music, dancing, bonding, bucket showers, mosquiteros, slapping down dominoes, living in the moment, real true love and a lot of hardworking people all trying to achieve one important goal. Blue missions truly figured out the secret to a perfect service trip.

I'm beyond glad that my first ever service trip was with BLUE Missions. Overall, it was a quite humbling and eye-opening experience. With my track record in community outreach, this type of mission was something I always wanted to participate in. Connecting with the community, locals, and volunteers/BLUE staff; helped me understand our greater purpose. Not to mention made the entire trip come full circle. The trip chaperones were very professional & enthusiastically lead the group day in, day out. The BLUE Staff/construction team demonstrated great camaraderie. By day three of the trip, I was convinced that I wanted to participate again. I can easily recommend a BLUE Missions trip to anyone I know. Excited to see what happens next year.

This trip was extremely eye opening and reminded me of how grateful I should be for everything that I have. I would love to intern in the future and be able to volunteer with BLUE more often. I felt truly moved by this experience and I only wish the best for BLUE's organization so that it can grow and more people can experience what I have.

Going in this trip for the second summer in a row was one Of the best decisions I have ever made. I made became really close with a bunch of girls I never thought I would become friends with. Also knowing that I was helping so many family’s get something we here take advantage of all of time made me feel amazing and like I was actually doing something.

Blue missions taught me to be neat and resourceful. I loved everything about blue especially the social connection between the campesinos. If I were able to go on more than one trip I so would. I love the food the living conditions, it really helps people learn to survive.

Going on a blue missions trip was probably one of the best decisions I’ve made. In only 8 days I learned many different things. This experience was definitely an eye opener to appreciate everything we have back at home.

I’ve been on two blue missions trips. Both of these trips were amazing and helped me to grow closer with my friends and open my eyes to different cultures and ways of living. My leaders were amazing and engaged with us. We all became close friends and are still in contact! I made such amazing connections with the BLUE workers who live in the Dominican (which is crazy because I don’t speak any Spanish), especially, Lolo! I had an amazing time and can not wait for my BLUE trip this summer.

No matter how many times anyone expresses how amazing a BLUE trip is, there’s no comparison to when you actually live it. Never would I have thought that I would find myself wanting to lift up a pick-axe, or hike up a mountain, or get my hands dirty, but after being received by such a loving and grateful community, the final goal always seemed more than worth it. The drive and ambition that BLUE showed me is something that I cannot repay in any way; in those 7 days I learned how to pickaxe, how to glue pipes together, how to work together, how I want to spend the rest of my life, how to love, and even some magic, but most importantly how important it is not to take things for granted and to give back whenever you can, because something as simple as a smile or a hug made the people of the Altos de Guaranal community happier than you could imagine. The second they saw the water spill out of the pipes, that our work had been fruitful, their joy was indescribable.

Had the time of my life. I Loved everything about the trip. BLUE took care of everything so I was able to live in the moment and appreciate the experience. I will definitely be going again next year.

This trip taught me a lot about life. I learned to be more appreciative with what I have back home and to live in the moment. I made amazing new friends and had a time ill never forget. My Blue Missions trip was definitely the best trip I’ve ever taken.

I have been going on BLUE's mission trips for 3 years now, and they continuously blow me away. Each trip involves deeply engaging in a community of the Dominican Republic, not only bringing them clean water or proper sanitation, but also getting to know the people that live there and their daily needs. These trips open my eyes to existing issues in the developing world such as the clean water and sanitation crisis. They push me to serve others not only while I am there, but to continue to do so in my daily life. BLUE is very successful in not only changing the lives of thousands in the Dominican Republic, but also shaping thousands of future leaders of the world instilling in them a desire to always serve those in need.

BLUE Mission's trips have truly shaped my life path. The way the trips are structured and the leaders they place on trips makes the trip one that is inspiring and culturally immersive. I feel that I have made a huge impact. I've been lucky to have been on both sanitation and water trips and both are once in a lifetime experiences. We stay in a school with Campesinos who cook and take care of which allows us to get to know Campesinos on a personal level. Kids will come to play and hang out with the group during our breaks which was so much fun getting to disconnect from what's going on back home and play with local kids outside. The work is hard but so worth it, as we work the community is working alongside us making it even more inspiring because as we're working to get these locals clean water or build a bathroom we're getting to know the community we're helping and seeing first hand how we impact them. BLUE does a really awesome job at making the community a priority as well as our reflection time to process what we're doing. BLUE showed me that service can and should be fun.

Best trip of my life! Made new friends, memories, and had the most incredible time. The leaders are by far amazing and I cant wait to do it again! Forever grateful for this amazing opportunity through Blue Missions for Building Love Uniting Everyone

I loved my Blue experience for the most part. There were a few things that bothered me on the other hand. My group was not able to have a party with the locals the last night and we took many pictures on our leaders camera, but she barely posted the ones of us with the locals.

I cannot put into words how life changing the trip was for me. As soon as we arrived in the campo, a sense happiness overcame me. Seeing all the families in Los Guayuyos have smiles on their faces showed me that we take a lot of things for granted. “Live in the moment” is a motto that I will never forget and it has taught me that a simple life is a happy life. I feel that I am a totally different person when I am in the campo, the best version of myself. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything and I hope to join BLUE Missions again next year.

Extremely humbling experience. Teaches you how to serve others and not always putting yourself as the primary concern. I loved this trip so much. I enjoyed meeting the people from the community and making the latrines. The happiness on the people’s faces brought me a lot of joy and made me feel like I did something really good for people who don’t have as much as we do. Kids day was super fun and I had a lot of fun with the kids. We danced, colored, and sang songs. The bond I made with the people on the trip is so strong and will always be something I will look to to bring me happiness. I’m so happy I went on this trip with my friends and also the people that I met and got closer to. I really hope I get the opportunity to go again because it was a life changing experience that I will remember forever.

i absolutely love the trip and would recommend to all of my friends. I had such an amazing experience and loved the whole trip and would never have gotten the same experience anywhere else. I loved being with my fiends and it made us bond so much more. The campo magic was the most amazing thing and my leaders were honestly the best people ever and we still keep in touch to this day.

Blue missions was a life changing experience. I loved it so much. It taught me so many things and showed to be grateful for the things I had. I also taught to me help others and how people can be happy with such small things. Can’t wait for next year!