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| Volunteers (minimum age 16) will be asked to work with us in the BLUE FLAG certification task force for the Cabeza de Toro Beach and the new Bavaro Lagoon Eco Park, in Cabeza de Toro (10 Miles South from the Punta Cana International Airport) in the La Altagracia Province, Dominican Republic.
We will be taking sea/lagoon water samples, planting trees, opening trekking/biking paths, growing and nurturing crabs, birds and turtles -and watching them! Also, we will be exploring -for real- some other lagoons, caves and archaeological sites. The program will be managed by the Cluster and the Natura Park Fountation, with offices in Cabeza de Toro. Logistic All 16 to 21 year old volunteers will be part -provisionally- of the Hikayagua Scout Group and they will live in the Cabeza de Toro´s beach resorts (Natura Park, Occidental Allegro Punta Cana Grand and Catalonia) for a 15–day trial period in July/August. Adult volunteers will be acting as facilitators. A special task force (the "Xtreme Path Patrol") will be working -on foot or bicycles- to reach people in trouble deep inside the countryside. In case of a hurricane, they will be part of the local Civil Defense or Fire Department Task Forces. Volunteers will need to carry their basic outdoor/surviving equipment. In case of mountain bikers, since it is a little complicated to bring their bikes with them, we are suggesting to buy one locally ($300 to $800) and then donate it to poor children. We will be watching for your personal security and your investments tough. ATVs will be supplied for advanced trail riders for medical operatives or rescue emergencies. 4wd expert-driver volunteers will be welcome either. SCHEDULE -tentative- EcoVolunteers (18+ only) -Preliminary tasks- June EcoVolunteers July/August Cost Roughly, the cost for a 15-day volunteering trip will be US$800 per person: triple occupancy, meals and beverages included. Since this is an experimental program, we cannot cover volunteers´ medical or risks expenses. U.S. or U.E. medical insurance coverage is accepted in the DR though. Please, check everything in advance. |
| Poverty in the Dominican Republic is a major problem. Roughly 25% of its 10 Millions inhabitants live under UN´s definition of line of poverty. ANOTHER 10 Millions live the other side of the frontier, in Haiti. The La Pared (the Wall) is a small town 30 Miles West Santo Domingo where thousands of Dominicans live in the mountains in extreme poverty. On any day, you can see only women, children and old people. All men are in the capital. On December 2002, the Santo Domingo-La Fe Lions Club, under the presidency of Robert Mena--an architect and avid trail ridder--helped by a group of motocyclists from the "All-Terrain Motorcyclist Association", explored the mountains looking for the elderly with vision problems. They found 5 in the first hour! That exporation, and a previous one--using Mountain Bikes--in the coast plains East Santo Domingo, were the first -and sadly- the only ones ever ever conducted in that part of the island. Humanitarian operatives are conducted, usually, in cities or small towns. Farmers, disable, old, or sick, people never have the opportunity to attend one of these operatives. They live to far. The same situation occurs in the La Altagracia Province. Worst, in the Bateyes (tiny towns for sugar cane workers, usually Haitians), far, far apart from civilization... Hence, we are preparing our first operative deep down the hidden valley of the Hoyo Claro, where some old people live -in the 19Th Century- over the clifts without power, water, music or tooth paste. This place is located only a few couple of Miles from the worldwide famous Punta Cana... |
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| Trail riders helping the elderly deep into the countryside. Join the Xtreme Path Patrol! |
| EcoVolunteering Pilot Program |
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| Coming soon in a forest near you... |