Youth Leadership in the Dominican Republic

This itinerary is the starting point for your tour, but it’s not set in stone. If there are days you would like to change, or specific places you’d like to go, we can work with you to create a personalized program that fits the needs of you and your students.

Day 1: Santiago

Depart from the USA and arrive in the Dominican Republic for your ACIS Youth Leadership Program. Meet your tour manager at the airport in Santiago and transfer to your hotel before a welcome orientation and dinner. Tonight see the spectacularly illuminated Monumento a los Héroes de la Restauración on a hilltop park in the center of the city.

Day 2: Cabarete

Spend this morning in Altamira engaging in a Global Exchange with the Río Grande Abajo community. Río Grande Abajo is a small, tight-knit, rural community in the foothills of the northern mountain range. You'll be welcomed by a group of locals brought together through Brigada Verde, a Peace Corps-sponsored environmental youth group. A personalized walking tour of their neighborhood will include an introduction to the process of cacao cultivation, a crop the community has historically relied upon. You'll learn how to make traditional Dominican hot chocolate and sample a taste. Then you'll have the chance to practice your Spanish as you're invited in small groups into the homes of these local Dominican families for lunch. After lunch, continue to the Damajagua Waterfalls and prepare to get wet: You're about to swim, climb, and cascade down falls, ending in the sparkling-clean, aqua-blue pools below! Arrive in Cabarete this evening for a night's rest in your beachside hotel.

Day 3: Cabarete

Start off the day with breakfast at the hotel. Then begin your first leadership workshop with Cabarete Sostenible. Responding to a food security crisis at the beginning of 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic, Cabarete Sostenible has evolved from a food distribution program into a community pillar, leading education efforts in the areas of responsible and sustainable farming and healthy eating. During this workshop, become intimate with the reality of hunger in impoverished areas and come to understand both the organization's successes and continued challenges. You will spend some time lending a hand where needed—perhaps clearing donated farmland, transplanting seedlings, picking fruits and vegetables for distribution, or fundraising. After some time on your own for lunch, begin your second leadership workshop, with InspireDR. In the Dominican Republic, many families are impoverished, and the public schools are poorly resourced. Boys have little or no access to after-school programs, and are at risk of dropping out of school or using drugs or alcohol, which dramatically limits their future success. InspireDR provides free after-school and summer programs to teach boys practical life skills and instill positive values. Meet with some of the leaders within this organization to learn about their mission and their approach to offering solutions.

Day 4: Cabarete

After breakfast at the hotel this morning, prepare for the adventure of a half-day hike in El Choco National Park. As you explore this lush and diverse jungle eco-system that was once home to the indigenous Arawak Indians, watch for the many species of exotic birds that call its varied flora home. Then descend into the park's unique subterranean Caves of BUMBA for a swim in their pristine pools fed by freshwater springs. After lunch begin the day's leadership workshop at Jiu Jitsu de la Costa Academy, founded by revered local leader Papo Soñé, which fosters discipline, self-respect and a healthy outlet for energy and focus to the at-risk youth of Cabarete. Students will learn about the challenges faced by the students here, the programs Papo Soñé has established to help channel aggression and his motivation behind the Academy. Then students will be challenged themselves during an introductory lesson to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Day 5: Santo Domingo

A morning bus ride takes you to Luperon for a leadership workshop with Dogs and Cats of the Dominican Republic animal rescue (DCDR). DCDR was founded in 2013 when a number of friends decided to coordinate their efforts to help the animals on the north coast of the country. Many of the founders had many years of experience working with animals on their own and had seen some improvement in the overall well-being of the dogs and cats they were treating, but wanted to find a way to do more. This workshop will teach you how DCDR was created as a way to help even more animals through everyone working together, gathering support from friends and family, and bringing greater awareness of the extreme need the "Coconut Hounds" and "Coconut Cats" have throughout the island. Enjoy a seaside lunch on the bay before journeying to Santo Domingo, with time this evening to begin exploring the Colonial Zone.

Day 6: Santo Domingo

During breakfast at the hotel, prepare for this morning's leadership workshop and presentation with one of the leaders at Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico-Haitianas (MUDHA). Learn about MUDHA's mission to improve the living conditions of vulnerable communities—especially for Dominican women and children of Hatian descent—while implementing human development programs including health programs, legal assistance, and human rights initiatives. Then enjoy sightseeing in Santo Domingo, starting with a Chu-Chu Colonial historical train tour through the Colonial Zone, a UNESCO World Cultural Site and the historic central area of the city. See the Cathedral of Santa Maria la Menor, the Ozama Fortress overlooking the river, the Franciscan Monastery ruins and other historic sites.

Day 7: Santo Domingo

A morning bus ride takes you to San Cristobal. Discuss local environmental and conservation challenges during a leadership workshop with the President of the Dominican National Assembly for the Environment in conjunction with a visit to the subterranean ecosystem at the Pomier Caves Anthropological Reserve, the single most important pre-Columbian site in the Caribbean. You'll study petroglyphs and pictographs in the caves before returning to Santo Domingo. After lunch you'll further explore and apply your new knowledge of the city during an exhilarating "Amazing Race" style Culture Quest activity that tests what you've learned on the trip. Tonight's highlight is a special farewell dinner at a local restaurant. Enjoy authentic Dominican fare with your fellow classmates as you recap the previous days of amazing and unique leadership learning experiences.

Day 8: Departure

Depart for the USA.