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PUNTA CANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
A graduation trip to the Dominican Republic was about more than just lounging on the beach and swimming in the Atlantic Ocean for a group of students from Fort Simpson.

Thomas Simpson School Grade 12 students who went to the Dominican Republic were back row, from left, Tyrone Stipdonk, Dwight Hardisty, Jordan Villeneuve, Steven Thompson, Rylan Hardisty-Gillis, Tyler Pilling, Charles Gargan and Adrien Tremblay; front row, from left, Hayley Nitsiza-Lafferty, Victoria Nirlungayuk, Jonah Sanguez, Shelly Hardisty, Leanne Sanguez and Jackie Norwegian. - photo courtesy of Shane Thompson

For their Grade 12 trip, 16 students from Thomas Simpson School spent from March 29 to April 5 at a resort in the Punta Cana district of the Dominican Republic. Three excursions that took the students outside of the resort were among the highlights of the trip.

The Fort Simpson youths were left with a new appreciation of the privileges they enjoy in Canada after a tour of the surrounding countryside.

"It's so depressing over there," said Leanne Sanguez.

During the tour that was designed to show participants the real Dominican, Sanguez said she noticed a lot of the houses in the countryside are made of mud, tin or wood and lack doors and glass windows. A tour guide said residents are still recovering from floods and storms that took place 10 years ago but things are getting better.

"They try to be happy," Sanguez said.

The tour took students to a school, sugar cane fields, a candy-making business and a compound where Hatian labourers live. Shelly Hardisty said learning about the lives of Dominicans changed the way she looks at material goods and schooling. She said the tour made her realize how privileged she is. This, like many of the other participants, was Hardisty's first trip outside of Canada.

"It was amazing," she said.

Victoria Nirlungayuk said she learned how so many people are affected by poverty and never get the chance for an education or an improved standard of living.

While the countryside tour shared a powerful message, Nirlungayuk's favourite part of the trip was the boat tour to a fenced enclosure in the ocean where they were able to swim with lemon sharks and rays.

Nirlungayuk, who'd never been to an ocean before, said the trip helped her overcome a fear of sharks and rays.

"To get over my fear and to see something I'd never seen before," Nirlungayuk said were the reasons the excursion was her favourite.

Some of the students, including Nirlungayuk, had the opportunity to hold a small ray. It felt like a wet sponge, she said.

Students also had the chance to travel by horseback to a national park where they hiked 40 minutes to the mouth of a cave they rappelled into.

"It was exciting," said Amber Allen. "You didn't know what to expect."

Inside the cave, rock formations have taken on various forms to resemble figures such as Freddy Kruger and a mother holding a baby, Allen said.

Students were guided through the cave system, which included swimming through a short submerged section, before emerging and riding the horses to a location where they had a traditional Dominican lunch.

"It was amazing," Allen said about the trip. "It was a real eye-opener."

Allen said she has definitely caught the travel bug.

When they weren't on excursions the students participated in activities at the resort including a trapeze. Shane Thompson and Colinda Blondin chaperoned the group.

The students fundraised to participate in the trip. Each student raised approximately $800 and then covered the rest of the costs by themselves. Each student spent approximately $2,000 on the trip.

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