Summer High School Programs in Dominican Republic with Rustic Pathways

Over the past summer, I got the opportunity to join a Rustic Pathways Trip to the Dominican Republic. This trip was an extremely valuable experience for me and allowed my to come more out of my shell. Before attending this program, I was just a shy high school student who was a little too afraid to put myself out there. When offered the opportunity I was scared but ready to try and enact positive change in the world. This experience has offered me the opportunity to meet and work with new people and collaborate with others in an efficient way. Thanks to this program I have now become more open and I have been able to take more leadership in day to day tasks. I am forever grateful for this life changing experience and I hope this review helps you decide whether or not to join Rustic Pathways.

I did this program because I would like to go into the medical field. This trip showed me the types of health facilities in the Dominican, and how people live and work. This program also helped me get my Wilderness First Aid Certificate. The class was very fun and informational. For a few days we mixed cement and built floors for multiple houses. We also finished working on a latrine. For two days we went to four different villages to weigh children and hand out vitamins to the village residents. For the final two days we went to the beach and hung out. The entire trip is one that I will never forget. I highly recommend this program for anyone wanting to go into the medical field and is not afraid to shovel lots of dirt and mix a lot of cement.

What was the most fun on this trip? Perhaps it was running around the community late at night, playing Cops and Robbers with the local kids. Or, falling in the river one afternoon and laughing so much that it made swimming difficult. It could very well have been frolicking at the beach. One of the highlights was our third to last night. We were camping in the mountains, and it began to pour. So we rushed into our tents, mine stuffed with 6 people, and waited for it to end. Only, it didn't. So after half an hour, my friends and I recklessly left our tent to dance in the rain. It was freezing, and maybe a little foolish, but it was tremendous fun.
And what was the most impactful part of the trip? Maybe the long, informative bus ride through Santo Domingo and into the mountains. We experienced a completely different setting, climate, and culture. And the most unexpected impact was the bond our group built over those 9 short days. I cried the night before we left, and again at the airport when we all had to part.
But the definitive answer to both of these questions is service. It was during our service that we interacted with the community, learned about their lives and culture, and got to eat Dominican food!! Service is physically demanding, but insanely fun and a wondrous opportunity to learn.

This summer I went on a service trip to the Dominican Republic. My trip was titled “public health in the Caribbean.” I have always been interested in medicine and public health, but I didn’t know what to expect. As soon as I showed up to the airport i was greeted by so many amazing girls and I immediately knew that it would be a great trip. We stayed in an amazing base house, and went to very informative and interesting NGO’S (non-government organizations) regarding women and children’s health and rights in the DR. After we learned the issues we had a man named Gary teach and certify us in first aid, cpr, and other wilderness first aid skills to use in the community health workshops. After this we went into the Batey communities and saw first hand the many issues that people in these communities face. Although they faced so many hardships, the people in these communities were so outgoing and caring. One of my favorite memories was when we were pouring a concrete for a family of 5, and the abuela gave us fresh mangos and coconuts. Her compassionate personality really stood out to me, and my whole group formed a really amazing and tight bond with her over the 5 days we worked to help the sanitation in the community. After doing the construction projects like pouring cement floors and building latrines, we used our knowledge of wilderness first aid to do public health workshops that went to 4 communities in the bateys. This was definitely the highlight of my trip, because we really got to know and understand what the families in the communities go through. We gave them anti parasite medicines, weighed and measured babies, gave vitamins and much more. When I got home, I realized how fortunate we all really are, and how important it is to help others who may not be in the best situations. Forming bonds with different people around the world is one of the things I love to do most in life, and this rustic trip really helped me do what I love.

My trip in the Dominican provided me with the experience of a lifetime. I got to meet some lifetime friends while working with a local NGO called Fundemar, but also got my eyes opened up to the impact of climate change on our oceans. The programs allowed me to create valuable and close social connections with fellow program members; and the program leaders passion for this cause drove my heart towards this cause as well. Thank you Rustic for giving forever friends and an unforgettable experience.

I don’t know where to start!! My program was amazing and was such a relief opening experience. It’s been almost a month since I went on my trip and I would do anything to be with my group again. In the summer leadership program, I was able to get so close with the people in my group and the kids we supervised. I highly recommend traveling with rustic because they accommodate to your needs and make you feel safe throughout your whole trip. The people I meet I will never forget and I will forever cherish the memories I made with the most amazing people in the world.

This summer I traveled to the Dominican Republic with Rustic Pathways. This was my second Rustic trip, and definitely not my last. The program was life in the Batyes, on this program we worked on building a house, latrines and floors in communities called Bateys. This was a critical Issues program, meaning we also learned about the issues and the history of the Bateys, the sugar cane industry, and workers. We also got a chance to run a summer camp for the kids from the Bateys, and we had some time to relax and great beaches. Throughout this program the work was satisfying and meaningful, we developed wonderful relationships with the people from these communities and among our student group. It was so hard to leave the Batey on our last service day, and say goodbye to everyone at the airport. The program leaders are inspiring, kind and very knowledgable they took great care of us 24/7. I have never felt so at home with strangers. I felt happy, safe and secure the moment I met my PL's and my group. On this program you learn so much not only about the Bateys and their history, but you live it by being a part of the community where you gain an understanding of what is truly important in life. Since the moment you sign up for a Rustic program to years after, Rustic makes you feel like part of an amazing community. I am so thankful for the opportunities Rustic has provided me. I am looking forward to next summer to create more wonderful memories with them.

This summer I traveled to the Dominican Republic with Rustic Pathways. This was my second Rustic trip, and definitely not my last. The program was life in the Batyes, on this program we worked on building a house, latrines and floors in communities called Bateys. This was a critical Issues program, meaning we also learned about the issues and the history of the Bateys, the sugar cane industry, and workers. We also got a chance to run a summer camp for the kids from the Bateys, and we had some time to relax and great beaches. Throughout this program the work was satisfying and meaningful, we developed wonderful relationships with the people from these communities and among our student group. It was so hard to leave the Batey on our last service day, and say goodbye to everyone at the airport. The program leaders are inspiring, kind and very knowledgable they took great care of us 24/7. I have never felt so at home with strangers. I felt happy, safe and secure the moment I met my PL's and my group. On this program you learn so much not only about the Bateys and their history, but you live it by being a part of the community where you gain an understanding of what is truly important in life. Since the moment you sign up for a Rustic program to years after, Rustic makes you feel like part of an amazing community. I am so thankful for the opportunities Rustic has provided me. I am looking forward to next summer to create more wonderful memories with them.