This summer, Abby is pushing herself well outside her comfort zone and embarking on perhaps the richest cross-cultural experience of her life.  Abby will be spending three weeks in the Dominican Republic for the Global Leadership Adventure's Building a Sustainable World program.

Slow development and vulnerability to extreme weather means volunteers are needed on all fronts. Abby will work on multiple projects in the Dominican Republic, including two that she will build from start-to-finish: a stove designed to improve health outcomes for local Dominicans, as well as a community garden. She may also contribute to infrastructure projects, learning to construct “bottle buildings,” which are part of an innovative, ongoing project that helps nearby families. Bottle building construction turns used plastic bottles into a highly insulating, robust, affordable building material, which simultaneously tackles issues of unemployment, waste and lack of housing. 

This hands-on learning adventure allows participants to explore various topics in sustainable development: Through service work and nightly seminars, they will learn how crucial environmental conservation and resource management are to the survival of humanity. Abby will be able to witness firsthand how goals to eradicate poverty and discrimination can either come to fruition or be challenged by social systems.