The Dominican Republic: Over Thirty Years of Friendship

This year, we’re going to do our best to shine a light on a place where we have worked with people to turn the tide of chronic poverty for over thirty years: the Dominican Republic. This beautiful country is known as a tourist hotspot, but outside the boundaries of these hermetically sealed resort-style communities, Dominicans struggle hard for a meager standard of living.

It’s a place that inspires and excites us. It’s a place where we’ve collaborated with local people to reforest miles and miles of desertified hillsides, where together we’ve built roads and schools and aqueducts and greenhouses and much more. We’ve seen fantastic progress in the Dominican Republic and it continues to be a place where we simply enjoy seeing our friends.

Rainbow Choi, who coordinates overseas volunteers for HOPE International Development Agency, recently led a team to the Dominican Republic, and she’s recorded her experiences in a blog. It’s well worth visiting, especially if you are someone who has wanted to experience a different way of life, in a less materialistic, more vibrant kind of community. If you’re someone who is interested in deeper friendships, you’re probably a great fit for our volunteer programme, UNION.