SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - It will be the fourth trip to the Dominican Republic for Yellowknifer Dane Mason, but every time he makes the journey, the message still hits home for the 27-year-old when he sees how much help is needed.

Dane Mason, left, Erika Wall (from Inuvik) and Candace Seddon, second last on the right, are seen standing with a Haitian family outside their newly built house in Agua Negra, Dominican Republic in April. Mason is planning another trip to the country in March with a group of NWT residents. - photo courtesy of Dane Mason

Mason, along with about four other people from the NWT, are heading to Sosua, a small town in the north of the country in late March for about 10 days to build a house for a family in need. Although fundraising efforts are going well, Mason said he needs more people on board to carry out the work.

In the past, a team from the NWT has worked alongside a larger group of Nova Scotians, but this year the NWT are on their own as the east coasters are holding off on their trip until next year when they have more resources.

"We've already got the resources, all we need is people," said Mason.

Mason said through a donation of $5,000 from the Rotary Club of Yellowknife as well as fundraising efforts in Yellowknife and Inuvik, the group is in a good place.

The cinderblock house the group will build for a family costs about $5,000. Mason said fundraising for remaining costs to cover the meals for workers, translation services and groceries for the house is coming along well.

"The biggest thing for me is people. We've already got the house paid for, other than that, we can cover it. We're in good hands fundraising-wise."

Mason said he hopes he can get a group of at least eight people from the territory to make the trip down. Although the trip's development is independent, Mason said the group works with a number of organizations once on the ground such as Servant’s Heart, a non-profit missionary organization.

The price tag of the trip is made up of airfare, about $400 per week for accommodations and $225 to cover administration costs and ground transportation. Mason said the experience, however, is life-changing for everyone involved.

"You have your reference points here and you think you have a world view, and then you go down and you see kids that probably are not going to make it to next year," he said. It definitely changes your world view. It not only makes you appreciate a wonderful country like this one that we come from, it makes you conscious that it's not everywhere."

He said as well as building a house for a family, the group is building a bridge between cultures.

"It's on both sides. You're building so much potential there. It's not just a house. It's the rest of these kids lives that we're able to change and on this end too, we're changing lives," said Mason.

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