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Country 411 – *LOCATION - Caribbean, eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Haiti.
*SIZE - 48,730 sq km (slightly more than twice the size of New Hampshire)
*CLIMATE - tropical maritime; little seasonal temperature variation; Hot!
*POPULATION - 9,507,133
*RELIGION - Roman Catholic 95%, others 5%  -  SDA church - 614 churches with 248,936 members

Cost - $1,350 – Please communicate with us regarding any issues in turning in funds.  All funds must go to Spencerville Church - Attn: Youth Ministries.  We highly recommend a pre-address envelope or a return slip for donors to enclose. Many a donation goes through the offering plate and has to be tracked down.

Important Dates

            NOW – Applications, 1^st come, if accepted, and payment deadline met

            December 15 – No more applications

            December 18 – Anyone requesting to use frequent flyer miles must contact Brian Show

            January 1 – Passport applied for or you may not get it in time

            February 15 – 50% of funds in or no ticket will be issued for you

            March 10 – 90% of funds in

            March 20 – 100% funds in or we hunt you down…..

            March 25 (Wed) @ 5:00 AM – Meet at BWI & fly via Delta Airlines

            April 5 (Sun) 11:10 PM – Return to BWI

What We Do – Projects

            Ministry – VBS in villages, sports camp, door-to-door witness, church services, medical assistance, and various social evangelism programs.

            Construction – Tentatively school building in Sendro or Quisqueya and church completion in Quisqueya and anything we can find to paint anywhere

Education and Fun

            Snorkeling on island off coast and other beach visits.

Lodging

            Stay at one of the camps or retreat centers in the area. They provide cot type mattresses on bunk beds, cold water showers and cafeteria meals. The accommodations will be considerably different than when we went to Belize.  You will want to be reasonably prepared as there is not a close by convenience store.

            You must exchange money when you are there.  Few local stores take US dollars.  The currency is the Dominican Peso and exchanges at about 35:1.        

Immunization

            None required though you should be up with Tetanus and Hepatitis-B

            Most common "recommendeds" – Malaria, Hepatitis-A and Typhoid
            Insect repellant is strongly recommended

            Please consult the CDC website or http://mdtravelhealth.com/destinations/mamerica_carib/dominican_republic.php for more information

Previous Health Issues

            Dehydration, sunburn, dust related asthma, exhaustion related to dehydration

Supervision

            Students are closely supervised with a 3 to 1 student to staff ratio.  When someone is not where they are supposed to be we know it quickly.   No one is just a chaperone, our multi-talented staff's job description starts with:

                        Works exceptionally well with students

                        Patient under stress

                        Possesses a skill(s) we need

                        Chaperones well

            Those interested in joining the team as staff need to apply and will be interviewed.  However, at this time all positions are filled.