Punta Cana

Well I finally made it to the Dominican Republic. Our stay was in Punta Cana at the beautiful Gran Bahia Principe Esmeralda.

Apple Vacations sponsored our trip. We were joined by 110 of our fellow travel agents.  This is a great all-inclusive resort with nice beaches. I especially enjoyed all of the mature palm groves on the beaches.

One of our agents had suggested a company that supported a local grade school. She contacted them and arranged for each agent to bring a book bag with school supplies

 Later on Sally and I along with two other of our agents booked an excursion through this company, Jungle Outback Safari, to see more of the island. Part of the excursion was to stop in for a visit to the school they support.

We were allowed to donate more school supplies or candy but never money. They do not want to teach the children to beg. They told us many of these children walk five days a week 2-4 miles up rough country roads to get to school. There are two sessions per day. It's not unusual for the first group of kids to have siblings that attend the second session. They may even share uniforms.

If the parents are unemployed the children can not get a free education. There's a high unemployment rate here. Groups like Outback Safari step in to sponsor schools so these children can go to school. They also sponsor a clinic/hospital so that people in this area can have medical care.

This excursion was one of the most rewarding parts of our trip.