Ash's Musings: La Republica Dominicana

A few weeks ago, I was blessed to travel to the Dominican Republic with a class from Baylor. Although the timing could have been better, the trip was absolutely amazing. The DR shares the island of Hispanola with Haiti, and while it is certainly the more developed side of the island, poverty is still everywhere. Throughout the trip, we were able to visit several factories, including an ice cream factory, cigar factory, and Levi's factory. The tours were an incredible experience! We also met with some economists who explained the current state of the Dominican economy and gave us a better feel for the history of the country. History is very important to the Dominicans, for they take great pride in the fact that Christopher Columbus landed on Hispanola in 1492 (he thought he was in India). His house is still standing, and the history in Santo Domingo was astounding. During the trip, we were also able to travel into the rural areas to see a genuine sugarcane field. The poverty was most evident in those areas. The purpose of our class this year will be to develop a strategy to implement businesses in the sugarcane fields that will help fund education and healthcare in those poorest areas. We are also going to be working on a project to help preserve some of the coastal areas of the Dominican Republic from high-rise hotels and other buildings that will detract from the quaint atmosphere that currently exists. We were able to visit the beach a few times, and it was beautiful. All in all, the trip was wonderful, and maybe one day I'll be able to go back and revisit the amazing sites.