Vacation and Work in the Dominican Republic

Clean Water Work Team 2013.   La Romana, Dominican Republic

                Following two very successful work teams from Rotary District 7810 to RD 4060, in 2011 and 2012, the next Work Team is planned for January 30 to February 6, 2013. These teams travel in support of the BioSand Water Filter Program at the Good Samaritan Hospital in La Romana.

                The Water Filter Program has been heavily supported through Matching Grants from the Rotary Foundation, sponsored by RD7810 and Rotary clubs throughout our District. The team travels to work daily with the installation team, actually installing the filters on the bateys, the villages on the sugar cane plantations where the cane cutters and their families live.

                The work trip is the perfect opportunity to see exactly where our club, district and Foundation money is spent; further, it is an opportunity to “get our hands dirty” in support of the program itself and for the Dominican installation team members. And too, we are invited into the homes of the cane workers to install the filter, to meet the people who will be using the filter and who will enjoy the health benefits of clean water.

                This year the program has expanded into areas of sanitation and hygiene, specifically in the installation of latrines, and in hand washing education. We anticipate some “hands-on” in these projects in addition to BioSand filter installation.

                The Team trip can be considered both a work trip and a recreational visit to the DR. We stay in private villas by special arrangement in Casa de Campo, the largest resort in the Caribbean. During the days we travel to our work sites on the bateys, and evenings are used either for Rotary functions (the two La Romana Clubs meet Tuesday and Thursday) or local entertainment. One day we will make a special beach excursion to Isla Saona, a National Park seashore. Sunday February 3^rd we travel to the old colonial capital city of Santiago for a RD4060 Project Fair. Many Dominican Rotarians exhibit their Club projects at this Fair; this is an excellent opportunity for Rotary fellowship and international interchange. For golfers there is an opportunity to play at Teeth of the Dog at Casa de Campo, consistently rated as one of the top 100 golf courses in the world.

                The trip cost is ~$1300US. This includes room/board at the villa (we have a live-in house staff of cooks and housekeepers), daily travel, travel to Santiago, and the beach excursion. Not included is liquor (we can buy this ourselves at a local store), airline costs and costs from the airport to the resort. For the past two trips each team has consisted of members from around New Brunswick and Maine; thus, we do not all fly out of the same airport in Canada/US. We individually make our own flight arrangements, but do use a central travel agent and do coordinate arrival times in the DR. Destination airports in the DR are La Romana (LRM), Santo Domingo (SDQ) and Punta Cana (PUJ).

                There has already been considerable interest from Clubs in our district 7810 for the 2013 trip. The trip has been extremely successful in the past two years (and great Rotary fun!) and interest has grown. The trip size was 13 members for 2011 and 15 people in 2012. The team is open to Rotarians, spouses/significant others, and friends. There is no plan currently to limit the team size; this depends on the interest from individuals/clubs.

                The trip dates f 1/30 – 2/6/13 are more fixed by our host Rotarians in the DR and their activities, than by us (specifically the RD4060 Project Fair in Santiago). Please let me know of your interest in joining this extraordinary Rotary team experience.   bobchagrasulis@AOL.com