This journey is an in-depth educational experience. Learn about Fair Trade issues developed by Equal Exchange, an employee-owned Fair Trade cooperative in the US. Have the opportunity to raise money for your trip through the sale of Fair Trade chocolate, visit the cacao-growing cooperatives in Yamasa, and help process the same chocolate you have learned about. Visit a micro-finance project of Esperanza International, stay at an eco-lodge, and visit the most significant pre-Columbian site in the entire Caribbean Basin. You will come to appreciate just how much of a difference you can make.

Highlights

Dominican Republic

  • Stay with Dominican families in Altamira while volunteering at the local community school and playing baseball with the local youth
  • Learn about Dominican-Haitian relations by meeting with members of the women’s organization MUDHA (Movimiento de Mujeres Dominíco-Haitiana)
  • Experience the pre-Columbian Cuevas de Pomier Anthropological Reserve with its incredible indigenous art (both petroglyphs and pictographs)
  • Examine Fair Trade practices while working with a cacao-growing cooperative and a Dominican NGO

Unique Aspects

Centered around a Fair Trade curriculum, this itinerary allows participants to truly see how their daily decisions impact the world. By examining Fair Trade issues through a common medium – chocolate – students will learn the complexities of trade and sustainability, and will leave feeling empowered to create positive change upon returning home.

Accommodations

Hotel with private bath for three nights, two nights in an eco-lodge on Tubagua Plantation, and a home-stay with a host family for two nights.

Best Time to Go

October – June

Duration

8 days

Sustainable Elements

  • Locally based projects support, and produce a positive impact on, local communities.
  • Matching of travelers’ carbon offset contributions, offsetting the carbon impact of your travel.
  • Support of local communities by using locally owned lodging, restaurants and shops, and hiring of local guides where possible.
  • Economic, environmental, and cultural factors are taken into account when selecting destinations.
  • Support of eco-projects and Fair Trade organizations.

Cost

For personal pricing to meet your budget needs, please e-mail Wiser World Travel, or call 303-443-0604, USA toll free 1-877-743-0604.

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