The Samaritan Trust, Peurto Plata, The Dominican Republic

 

Here is a job for anyone who enjoys television’s Changing Rooms…

 

The Samaritan Trust was started 10 years ago by Elio Madonia, a Canadian national. The Trust has built over 1,000 houses for destitute Dominican families and migrant Haitian slum dwellers. Mission Direct has financed and helped to build nearly 100 of these homes. The houses are built in villages that become fully-fledged communities with their own schools, churches, shops and small enterprises providing employment. The construction is funded entirely by voluntary contributions with many volunteer teams from the USA, Canada and the UK to working alongside the local builders.

The placement is to work alongside the families to customise their new houses, making them into personal homes. This will include designing personal painting schemes, producing simple carpentry items and other decorative and other practical items  . Funding for the basic material costs will need to be raised by volunteers before arrival.

 

The country is Spanish speaking and the local people do not speak English. Therefore some knowledge of Spanish is highly desirable. It is an ideal placement for those wishing to improve their spoken Spanish.