Global Community Engagement is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that sponsors service learning projects in Santiago, Dominican Republic working in underprivileged neighborhoods with elementary schools and the Dominican and Haitian children who live and work on the streets. We work with Dominican non-governmental organizations that provide services to children as well as those in need in the local community.

Our projects introduce students and others from the developed world to the lives and realities of underprivileged children growing up in the Dominican Republic. Participants get the opportunity to play with and teach young boys and girls, aged 5 to 17, many of whom live on the streets of the city struggling to make a few cents a day. On weekday mornings some of these children are able to visit Acción Callejera, a social service organization that provides a safe environment as well as meals, clothing and basic medical services. El Nucleo de Apoyo a la Mujer, another of our partners, provides counseling and services to young women and girls who are survivors of sexual and domestic violence.  Participants join us for one week in the Dominican Republic, providing educational and other programming to the children. You will also have the opportunity to visit some of the cultural and historical sites in and around Santiago.

The focus of your assistance to the children while in Santiago is flexible. Although Global Community Engagement tends to focus on issues of literacy and social development, if you bring special skills or knowledge, we encourage you to share with us ways in which you would like to contribute. The group you travel with will spend one week (Saturday through Sunday) in the Dominican Republic; mornings will be spent working with the children, afternoons visiting various sites of interest in and around the city and early evenings we will engage in reflection activities that will provide context and the chance to share your impressions and concerns with your group.