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June 11, 2021 by Brett Scuiletti

Dominican Republic: Semester of Service (Program Blog for June 25 – August 20, 2021)

Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!

Here are a few things you can expect:

  1. We typically receive 1-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
  2. Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
  3. Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.

For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.

-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team


Click here to jump down to the most recent posts!

BLOG POST FOR JUNE 25, 2021

¡Bienvenidos a la Republica Dominicana!

Wow, are we excited to be together!

After some very long flights, our Semester of Service students have arrived safely to Indalo Lodge, where we will be staying for the summer.

We had a relaxed day playing cards and doing some swim tests.

We also got to enjoy this beautiful sunset!

We are looking forward to our two months together and can’t wait to share everything we learn with our friends and family back home.

-The GLA Team


BLOG POST FOR JUNE 27, 2021

It’s been a busy first few days!

After learning more about our big project for the semester, we got to check out the site where our project will be put.

We visited the small community of La Colonia, where we will be helping to plan, engineer, and construct a water system to give the uphill residents of the community access to clean water.

We got to talk with the locals in the community and hear about their thoughts about the water tank project. It was a great opportunity to learn about how development projects work in small communities like this one. There are so many factors to consider!

We got to return to La Colonia the next day to work with another group in constructing some homes. We put up chicken wire and are using old plastic bottles as a sustainable insulation for the walls. We made a lot of progress. We got to mix cement by hand and even use a hand saw to cut some wood.

Because we will be here for eight weeks, we will get to see these homes progress from the simple foundation, to the sturdy structure of a house.

Also, we got good news today – our COVID tests came back negative so we are able to hang out with another GLA group, too!

More to come!

-Semester of Service students and the GLA team


BLOG FOR JULY 1

Today the semester group went to Cabarete Caves to look at the freshwater and frogs. After a delicious lunch, the team went to La Colonia once again to assess how electricity could be implemented into the community and listen to various ideas from the locals.

BLOG FOR JULY 2

Today we headed out to La Colonia to continue work on our bottle house. We were able to get a whole wall finished and the project is coming along. After heading back to home base we did an hour long Spanish class before our dinner. After dinner we headed to the beach for a talk with Dave about non-governmental organizations. We learned a lot about the flaws in the system and what causes them.

 


Global Leadership Adventures


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About Brett Scuiletti

Brett Scuiletti is the Editor of The Young Leader. He is passionate about young people having meaningful travel experiences and enjoys sharing their stories. Brett resides in San Diego but always has his passport handy!

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