This was an incredible experience for both myself and my students. The connections they made with the Dominican children will stay with them and the exposure they had to the culture there was something they couldn't get from reading a book. Our EF tour director was amazing, as was our bus driver. They quickly established a supportive bond with our entire group that caused us to tearfully leave them at the airport. I highly recommend this tour! show less

There is so much to say about this wonderful service trip. Our EF guide and the leader of the non-profit really made sure that we had a thoughtful culture experience. We all felt that we got so much history and different perspectives that made us better understand the schools we were in and the students we were teaching. I was often moved by my students and fellow teachers as we processed this experience together during reflections at night. What a beautiful way to see a country and culture. So excited to plan our next service trip. show less

I had the time of my life in the service trip to The Dominican Republic! I experienced new things and took in the culture, it was a blast. Teaching the kids was so fun because they were eager to learn and that's something we take for granted here in America, seeing the smile and motivation in there faces is something I will never forget, knowing that I made a difference in their lives is what I went there to do and I feel accomplished for doing so. And I want to continue helping the less fortunate. Thank you EF and Outreach360 for providing such a great and well organized tour for us, it was truly amazing. show less

During this trip I found a part of myself I have never seen before. The partnership bectween EF and Outreach360 truly changed my life and my view on the world. I wish to continue this and further my experience and help the kids in the Dominican Republic. I am already saving for next year. show less

I had an amazing time in the Dominican Republic, teaching children English. I would recommend that everyone should go on a trip like this before they graduate. I would suggest changing the EF backpacks. They aren’t very accessible and it would be much more useful if they were similar to a normal backpack. show less

This trip provided an opportunity to meet the people that would be impacted by our service, get to know them, and make personal connections. show less

This was by far the most rewarding experience of my life. Our hotel was clean safe and had all the necessities needed for a comfortable stay. Our tour director went above and beyond to help our stay and work environment very comfortable. I cannot say enough about my experience and how much it has changed my life in just 8 short days. show less

On my recent trip with EF I volunteered for the empowering children program in the Dominican Republic. The organization we worked with was one that EF had contracted, outreach 360 in Monte Cristi. First I'd like to start by saying I did enjoy working with the kids there in an English camp they put on, however I felt more like we were babysitting the kids and teaching them English in a way that was also teaching them american culture. While American culture is great and all, I felt it would be better for them to learn English in a context that was more relatable to their lives and their culture, that way these kids grow up without losing their strong cultural identity. Meanwhile I felt the camp was not run very well, with a few 6 month long volunteers being the sole people running the camps and our trip. These volunteers do not neccesarily know how to work with kids or have any teaching experience, and I didn't think this was the best way to teach kids to speak English, and we ended up mainly just baby sitting the kids without them learning much English. Furthermore, outreach 360 was a program that just spoon fed us the Dominican culture, by feeding us each meal mostly american food and making us negotiate to be able to eat Dominican food and not acknowledging allergies. I have a friend who was on the trip with us who is allergic to pineapple, and even after continually notifying them of this, it took several days for them to stop putting it in every meal. We were only allowed to go to a few approved locations in town a few times and therefore did not get to really talk to the townspeople or learn about their culture from them, which I believe is the best way to learn about a culture, from its people. Instead we were exposed to "culture talks" most nights from the American volunteer leader. While there, I also became friends with one of the organizations 2 month volunteers who dislikes how strict outreach 360 is, making her eat every meal alone for a week for attending the funeral of a friend who helped the organization, a funeral that someone higher up in the organization should have been at to pay respects, if anything just for the deceased support of them. Finally I found it a little ridiculous that we had to wear outreach 360s tshirts everywhere, including just when leaving our hotel rooms to go eat dinner in our meeting room where only members of the tour were allowed. Anyways, I did appreciate the guide from EF, she was fantastic and as were the few excursions that outreach had planned. I would suggest talking with the organization and examining how they run their program, and if the actual volunteer work and how they run that can't be changed to bring in real teachers for the kids that can teach them English within their own culture, please at least take a closer look at the other elements of the service trip that I mentioned above and set some guidelines for them in exchange for continuing to contract them. I know I and many others on the tour I went on and others who have worked with this program as well would appreciate it if you took the time to look into this. Thank you! show less

My child shared with me her trip was an educational, cultural, and fun experience. She enjoyed helping students learn. show less