Regiopolis- NotreDame IB Students in Global Action: The Dominican Republic Education and Mentoring Project, 2007 Service Learning Trip
For seven, productive days during the first week of December, 2007, fourteen grade eleven and twelve International Baccalaureate students and two teachers from Regiopolis- Notre Dame Catholic High School in Kingston participated in a service learning trip to the Dominican Republic. The trip, which was over a year in planning, was co-ordinated by a senior group of final year IB candidates and the IB faculty coordinator, Ms. Francine Delvecchio, in conjunction with a Dominican based organization, the Dominican Republic Education and Mentoring Project (DREAM).
The plan was devised to be part of the students’ diploma requirement to complete a 150 hour service component in keeping with the international focus of the IB programme of study. The students decided to plan to assist a needy school in a third world country.In addition the students planned to use the opportunity to complete research for their group 4 Integrated Science project investigating water quality in third world environments. The teachers and students, contacted the DREAM organization and the planning and preparation had begun. Students began by raising the money for the trip and supply expenses. Students held a theatre night, wrote letters to community, church and service groups, sold free trade, organic, Dominican coffee, and ran a successful coffee house event at the school.
A second task was to plan what exactly the students could do to help. It was suggested that the students design and build playground equipment for a needy school in the town of Cabarete, located on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. Plans were sketched, engineers and architects consulted and a list of materials were prepared for consideration by the DREAM partners. After many hours of planning all was approved and the final preparations began. Students read books to familiarize themselves with the culture, took Spanish lessons and packed supplies for use by the schools’ 600 students.
November 30th finally arrived as the group flew out of Toronto for an experience they would never forget. Upon arrival the first impression was the intense heat and humidity. It was rainy season in the Dominican but the group arrived to five days of glorious sunshine, ideal for the task at hand. On the first day the group toured the school and met a group of youths who had come to welcome their new friends. While students danced the visitors began the first task: to paint the inside of the six room school in its entirety. Students prepared the walls sanding with stones and began to paint the ceilings, walls and trim in the school.
This painting would take the entire week to complete in addition to the playground work. On day two the plans were measured onto the playground and excavation began. Some went to purchase the building materials and tools were borrowed to commence the building. Over the remaining days and with one hammer, one skill saw, 2 shovels a level and several tape measures, the students and their Dominican- helper building crew managed to complete a 25 meter climber complete with monkey bars (the only such facility in the Dominican) two platforms, a tire climber and tire swing. As well students constructed a concrete pad for a basketball court, a tire jump play area and a balance beam.
One day was spent visiting another school in the hills near a "Batey", a series of villages near a huge sugar cane plantation. Students visited with Dominican and Haitian children living in primitive surroundingswith few of the necessities the Canadian students had come to take for granted. One evening also allowed attendance at a cultural celebration in a local neighborhood hall in Cabarete’.
Through all the students found time to collect water samples from various sources in the community for testing at home. Water was collected from the ocean, the taps in varied sites an local still water sites.
At weeks’ end the groups’ exhaustion was rewarded with the smiling faces of the children playing on their new equipment. The sounds ofchildrens’ voices repeating "gracias" rung through the air even as the rain poured on the final day. As the Canadians left their tears turned to smiles as they reflected on all they had seen and learned in one short week. While so much need remains in many countries like the Dominican Republic many of the volunteers vowed to return to work some day against the injustice and poverty they had witnessed.
All participants came to realize that the real service provided was by the Dominican people in opening the students’ eyes to the harsh realies faced by so many.
