The beautiful Caribbean island of Hispaniola is shared by the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC and Haiti. First discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the island traces its influence to the Spanish, its neighboring former French colony of Haiti, and its African slave trade past. It is a lush island of immense beauty with mountains ranging over 10,000 feet and expansive white sandy beaches. Dating back to pre-Columbian times, it has the largest subterranean cave system in the Caribbean whose importance parallels the pyramids of Giza and the caves of Lascaux in France. Just beyond the dynamic urban streets of Santo Domingo are rural mountain villages and picturesque coastal fishing communities.
SAGE OFFERS a variety of in-depth educational experiences in the Dominican Republic. Learn about Fair Trade issues with SAGE's Fair Trade chocolate curriculum (developed by Equal Exchange, an employee-owned Fair Trade cooperative) and then visit their cacao-growing cooperatives in Yamasa and help process the chocolate. Experience the pre-Columbian "Cuevas de Pomier Anthropological Reserve" with its incredible indigenous petroglyph art. Stay with Dominican families in Altamira while volunteering at the local community school and playing baseball with the youth. Learn about Dominican-Haitian relations by meeting with members of the women's organization MUDHA (Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico-Haitiana). Visit a micro-finance project of Esperanza International and see what an impact these projects have. On a trip to the DR with SAGE, students will come to appreciate just how much of a difference they can make.
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