Humanitarian Mission to the Dominican Republic

October 7 through October 11, 2009

Mission Leaders:

H.E. Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, Francisco Lorenzo

AAI Director and Treasurer, Daniel Sheth of MSD Capital

Summary Background:

Airline Ambassadors has recently shipped over 950,000 pounds of aid in form of much needed school kits, clothing pallets, hygiene kits and orphanage modules to the Dominican Republic.  Given the current economic times, tourism revenue has fallen considerably and aid to the country has immensely diminished.  As a result, poverty levels have risen and the rate of children left homeless and parentless has been increasing at accelerating rates. 

Join Airline Ambassadors on a life changing mission by delivering aid to schools and orphanages across both the Northern and Southern Coasts of the Dominican Republic.  The Northern Coast will be a 1.5 day high intensity trip to visit multiple schools, orphanages and an HIV center while the Southern Coast of the trip will be a 2 day lower intensity trip and entail spending a few hours at two separate orphanages, engaging with the children and handing out aid that will be procured locally and from the United States.  Travelers will also have the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the beaches and a drive through the beautiful mountainous terrain as part of this journey.  Participants are recommended to attend the entire mission, but are also invited to participate in just the Northern or the Southern Coast portions of the trip.  There will be an optional additional two days at the trip’s conclusion to spend at Casa de Campo in beautiful La Romana. 

Participants are requested to fly into Puerta Plata by the early afternoon of October 7 and depart from either Santo Domingo or La Romana on October 11.

Register Now!

You may select the Donate Button and enter the $150.00 registration fee.

or send a $150.00 check to:

Airline Ambassadors International
1020 16th St NW - suite 603
Washington, DC. 20036

Please indicate:  Dominican Republic, 2009, in the memo section.

Please contact Mission Coordinator, Daniel Sheth at:  daniel.sheth@gmail.com to confirm your participation.

Detailed Itinerary:

Day 1: Wednesday October 7 – Sosua Abajo

On the first day, we will arrive into Puerta Plata, receive a key to the city by the Mayor, tour Sosua and then have a briefing dinner to prepare for the mission.  

Day 1: Wednesday October 7 – Sosua Abajo (cont’d)

4:00pm, Key to the City – We will be officially welcomed by the Ambassador and the Mayor of Sosua Abajo.  We will be taken to City Hall Chamber and receive delivery of the key to the city.

4:45pm, Sightseeing with Mayor – Sightseeing tour of Sosua with the Ambassador and Mayor to witness existing areas of poverty, what the local government is doing to address poverty as well as touring the downtown area, different parks and the Jewish Museum. 

7:00pm - Dinner. Hotel Sosua Bay.  There will also be a formal briefing for the rest of our tour. 

Day 2: Thursday October 8 – Sosua Abajo and Cabarete

We will be hand delivering aid inside classrooms to students enrolled within the schools of Sosua and neighboring towns, as well as an orphanage and an HIV center.

5:45pm - Meeting to share opinions/comments, along with some buffer time

7:00pm - Dinner

Note: During the scheduled activities, the visiting team will be joined by Mayor Vladimir Cespedes; President of the Board of Trustees Dr. Jose Mercedes Vallejo; Assistant Trustee Jorge Espaillat; International Affairs Officer Ms. Claritza Ruiz; Computing Officer, Mr. Marlon Polanco and others of the City of Sosua.

Day 3: Friday October 9 – Bonao and Santo Domingo

On the third day of our mission, we will be driving to El Cercadillo, just outside of Santo Domingo, from Sosua with a stop for lunch in Bonao, where we will be greeted by Charlie Decker and escorted to Jackie’s House.  The drive will be beautiful, going through the mountains and will give us a chance to bond and enjoy each other’s company.  Transportation is currently intended to be provided by Ambassador Lorenzo. 

In El Cercadillo, we will be volunteering with the Charlie Decker Foundation at Jackie’s House.  Jackie’s House is a habitat for approximately 40 children without parents or who have fallen victim to abusive parents that ultimately rejected them.  The children range in age from 2-15.  We will spend several hours there playing with the kids, running around, doing arts and crafts, etc. Participants must bring 3-5 toys with them for distribution to the children. 

7:30am – Departure for Bonao and Santo Domingo. 

The first 3-4 hours will be through the mountains and extremely picturesque and peaceful. 

11:30am - Arrival in Bonao for Lunch

Bonao is the capital of Monseñor Nouel province, Dominican Republic. It is located in the center of the country, to the northwest of the national capital Santo Domingo.  The city is known as “Villa De Las Hortensias”. The name means Villa of The Hortensias.  The Hortensia Flower is the local flower of Bonao.

We will be eating at Tipico Bonao, one of the most well known restaurants nationwide.  The five-page menu includes nearly every typical Dominican dish, with highlights being roast pork and Asopao with crab claw meat.  Plus the bathrooms are very clean!  There are some nueva offerings to please foreigners, including Baskin-Robbins ice cream and fresh strawberries.  If you don’t like Dominican food, there is an Italian restaurant, Monte Carlo next to it. 

Address: Autopista Duarte, Km 90, Monseñor Nouel

Phone: 809/296-6000

In Bonao, we will be greeted by Charlie Decker whose foundation has generously supported the orphanages we will be visiting in Santo Domingo and La Romana. 

1:00pm – Jackie’s House

Jackie’s House is located in 2 acres of land in a rural area called El Cercadillo, just outside of Santo Domingo.  It is home to 40 children between the ages of 3-15.  We will be greeted by Jackie and the children, and spend time playing with them and delivering toys that we have brought with us. 

Jackie’s House

809-533-7382, 809-906-8746

3:30pm – Depart Jackie’s House for Santo Domingo

4:30pm – Arrive at BQ Santo Domingo.  Relax, Nap, Tour Santo Domingo

BQ Santo Domingo

Avenida Sarasota

Bella Vista, Santo Domingo

(809) 535-0800

Approximate Rate, Including Taxes and Breakfast: $85.00

7:00pm – Dinner

Day 4: Saturday October 10 – La Romana

On the fourth and final day of our volunteer work, we will be visiting Orfanato Niños de Cristo.  It is located on the north side of the town.  The orphanage houses, protects and loves the children who are abandoned, orphaned, abused, or whose parents are imprisoned, drug addicts, mentally ill or unable to care for them.  It was founded in 1996 by Sonia Hane. 

Currently, there are 140 children in residence of which 80% are female.  They range in age from 1 to 18 but are mostly teenagers.  We will be delivering food and toys to children that we will procure locally at Plaza Lama, the Wal-Mart of the Dominican Republic, on the way to La Romana.  The orphanage, in order to function, must face many monthly expenses and such expenditure is covered only partially by a private donor, and therefore at times, the staff and children find themselves in difficulty.

5:00pm – Depart for hotel, which is the Catalonia Gran Dominicus All Inclusive, located along a white-sand beach of La Romana.  Mission participants will have free time for the rest of the trip and can stay as long as they would like.  Approximate rate is $125.00.

Estimated Budget per Participant

Given the aid that Airline Ambassadors has already delivered to Sosua and the generosity of the Mayor’s office and Ambassador Lorenzo, this trip is inexpensive.  Cost and travel booking will be the responsibility of the participant.  An approximate breakdown of costs is as follows:

Airline Travel:

Tourism Entry                                                                                                $15.00

Flying to Puerto Plata on October 7                                                              $200.00

Departing from Santo Domingo on October 11                                            $200.00

  Subtotal                                                                                                        $400.00   

Road Travel between Cities:

Compliments of Ambassador Lorenzo and Mayor’s Office                         $0.00

Meals:

Food at approximately $25.00 per Day                                                         $100.00

Hotels:

Two Nights in Sosua                                                                                      $0.00

One Night in Santo Domingo                                                                        $85.00

One Night in La Romana                                                                               $125.00

  Subtotal                                                                                                        $210.00

Required Donations:

Sosua - Schools, Orphanages and HIV Centers                                            $0.00

  (Provided already by AAI)

Jackie’s House                                                                                               3-5 Toys

Ninos de Cristo – aid procured locally on 10/10/09                                      $40.00

  Subtotal                                                                                                        $40.00

Optional Donations:                                                                            Up to Participant

Approximate Cash Costs before Optional Donations:                             $750.00

Recommended Donation to AAI for Benefit of DR:                                   $250.00

Total Cost with Recommended Donation:                                                 $1,000.00

Primary Contact Information

Prior to Trip:                  Daniel Sheth: (917) 748-2544, daniel.sheth@gmail.com

During Trip:

• Northern Coast:         Claritza Ruiz (809) 776-9951, Daniel Sheth 917-748-2544
• Southern Coast:         Charlie Decker (809) 350-0188, Deborah Sigmund (202) 258-7396,           Daniel Sheth 917-748-2544

Appendix: Key Statistics

Children

• There are 260,000 orphans in the Dominican Republic.
• 9% of children 5-14 years old are used as child labor.
• 41% of children are involved in child marriage.
• The population under age 18 in 2003 was 3,358,000.

Dollars and Sense

• Disease and poverty are inseparable; an increase in poverty will invariably lead to greater disease, disability, and death rates.
• 25-40% of Dominicans live below the poverty line.

Education

• Of every 100 children that enter 1st grade, only 53 finish 8th grade.
• Only 12% of the population has graduated from high school.
• The illiteracy rate of the Dominican Republic decreased from 16.4% in 2000 to 15.6% in 2002 while in Latin America it decreased from a rate of 12.7% to 11.4%.
• UASD, the oldest university in the Americas and the largest public university in the Dominican Republic (150,000 students) estimates that only 30% of enrollees graduate.

Violence against Women

• In the first six months of this year, more than 1,000 crimes and 309 rapes committed against women were reported.
• The study “Violence Against Women in the Dominican Republic” found that 24% of Dominican women between ages 15 and 49 have been physically abused at least one time.  This rate goes up to 40% for women separated or divorced.

Public Health

• The rate of infant mortality in the Dominican Republic was 43 per 1000 live births and 33 in Latin America.
• The Dept. of Parasitology reports that 72% of children in public schools have parasites.
• The Deputy Secretary of Health and Nutrition stated that 29% of school children between ages 5 and 14 suffer from anemia.
• Infants and children often suffer from poor hygiene, anemia, malnutrition, parasites, and lack of treatment.
• La Altagracia, the largest maternity hospital in the capital, reports that 27% of the children born in 2004 were to adolescents between 11 and 19 years old.
• Public hospitals are plagued by poor conditions, lack of beds, equipment, and medicines, and corruption.  Patients often must buy their own medications.
• There is a $25 million (US) dollar market in counterfeit medicines.

Backup Restaurant in Bonao if Time is Short

D'Madera which has variety of tasty and filling Dominican recipes such as Mondongo, Mofongo, Mangu, La Bandera Dominicana, Picapollo, Chicharrones etc.  It is a small family run restaurant is owned by Sra. Soledad Madera, and best known for serving inexpensive and tasty local food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The ambience is very friendly and laid back, and the restaurant itself is spotless.

Address: Avenida Circunvalacion No. 29, Bonao; Phone: 525 4661

Directions: Found on the wide avenue that circles Downtown Bonao. About 10 minutes walk from the Parque Central.