The IDDI Service Academy
JULY 16 - AUGUST 2, 2007
 Service Projects in Rural Communities in the Dominican Republic.
This course provides an opportunity to live and work alongside residents of rural communities while undertaking projects designed to improve their living conditions. The project will be a construction project that does not require any special skills. The culture and history of the Dominican Republic are explored and the problems of under-development are examined. This course is sponsored by IDDI, one of the preeminent Non-Governmental organizations in the D.R. IDDI has a particular philosophy about the way in which community development projects ought to be approached and of how sustainability can be insured. You will be exposed to that view and one of our goals is to get you to think about how that view compares with other approaches to solving the problems of disadvantage communities. This course also offers a rather unique experience and will spend time on reflection about the educational value of that experience.
So if you are interested in living and working alongside members of rural communities, if you want to understand their problems and think about how they might be overcome, if you want to reflect on the reasons why you want to commit time and resources to have a chance to work with the disadvantage in a culture different from yours, if you want to think about the value of such an experience, this course is for you.
There will be an opportunity to visit important sites the city of Santo Domingo and during weekends there will be a chance to go to the beach. Students may be housed with local families during part of their stay and should know that these communities, in the main, have no modern facilities. The cost of the trip covers housing, meals, and transportation. The course is taught by people with years of experience in community development work, which have conducted trips involving American students in a number of occasions.
This is International Service Learning at its best.
Cost: $2800.00 (Includes: Course fees, Room & Board, in-country transportation. It does not include airfare)
Dates July 16th-August 2nd.
Course Leader: Dr. Pedro Bernal, professor of chemistry at Rollins College, in Winter Park, Florida. Rollins College was founded in 1885, is Florida's oldest recognized college, and is consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of "America's best colleges." Dr. Bernal was born in the Dominican Repulbic and for the past 20 years, has taken students to the Dominican Republic for a variety of service learning courses, particularly focusing on safe drinking water projects in rural communities. Dr. Bernal is also the president of the Dominican Foundation.
If you are interested in learning more about the IDDI Service Academy, please contact Professor Pedro Bernal at pedro@dominicanfoundation.org or (407) 992-6982.
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