Dominican Republic Service Tour Information

3/1/08

Dear Participants,

Thank you for coming to our mini-orientation last Wednesday night.  Many of you have been seeking more information since our meeting, including:

Link to Official Yale Service Tour Website

Click on the link above to see the official website for the 2008 Yale Service Tour.  The General Information page has a link to the packing list, but you can access that directly with this address: http://alumni.yale.edu/servicetours/dr_general_info.html#pack.

Getting to the Orientation at the Yale Club NYC on Saturday, March 8

The Yale Club of NYC is conveniently located just steps away from Grand Central Terminal.  You can depart at 9:32 from Union Station in New Haven (arrive at 11:12).  Orientation begins promptly at 12 noon.  I would recommend sharing a cab ride with some friends from Phelps Gate at 8:40 because you are traveling down to NYC with luggage and will want to get a comfortable seat.  You will need to purchase your own train fare, which is $14.00 one way off-peak.  Orientation will end at 5:00pm and you should bring some money for dinner and perhaps subway fare (we'll let you know accommodations as soon as we figure them out).

Flight Information

We'll be providing transportation to JFK from the Yale Club of NYC on Sunday, March 9.  We will be leaving promptly at 6:30am, so please get a good night of rest on Saturday and carefully consider your morning routine to leave enough time to get to mid-town NYC.

March 9, 9:40am
American Airlines Flight 1529 JFK - SDQ (arrives 1:40pm)

March 17, 5:00pm
American Airlines Flight 638 SDQ - JFK (arrives 9:00pm)

MEDEX Travel Assistance Card

If you did not get a card during the meeting, you can print one out here.

Information We Need ASAP

1a) Trip Facebook Information - online survey

Please visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=uAj8byyJ_2fxc5rZcoBzdJhA_3d_3d

The facebook will include a photo, your contact information, profession, interests, and Yale affiliation. If there is certain information that you wish to have omitted from the facebook, please email that request to me. The Home, Health, and Heart facebook will be shared exclusively with your fellow participants in this program.

This survey will also tell us about your preferences and any special needs (such as diet, allergies) so we can make appropriate arrangements for you on the tour.

1b) Trip Facebook Information - Photo

We encourage you to send us a photo of yourself -- headshots are ideal -- for use in the facebook. You may send the photo electronically to This email address is hidden from email harvesters via JavaScript

1c) Trip Facebook Information - Volunteer Activities

The facebook of trip participants (alumni and students) will also include 2-3 significant volunteer experiences per participant - something that is absent from the SurveyMonkey questions.  Please email This email address is hidden from email harvesters via JavaScript and include the year range for those activities.  For example, "Joe Smith, Habitat for Humanity (2005-2008)"

1d) Trip Facebook Information - Student Permission Form

This form indicates your consent to include information about yourself in the facebook.

 2) Release Form
Click here for a release form from Yale University and Classical Movements, the travel company assisting us with transportation and accommodations. Each traveler in your party will need to sign a separate release form. Please return this completed form to the Dwight Hall main office by Monday 2/25/08.


3) Participant List
Many of you are eager to know who your fellow travelers are! I have emailed the participant list of alumni for our program to you and won't include it on this webpage for public view.


4) Recommended Reading List
Courtesy of Longitude Books and one of our fellow participants with extensive experience in the Dominican Republic, click here for a recommended reading list if you wish to learn about Dominican history, culture, and current issues. The list also contains information for ordering the books, if you would like to obtain them through Longitude.

 
5) Application Form / Participation Agreement from the Diocese of Orlando
The trip is secular, but we are working with the Diocese of Orlando because they have established relationships in this region over a couple decades.

Please note that the last page of this form needs to be notarized. (Notary public services can often be found at school or university campuses, UPS stores, municipal offices, and local banks.)  Although much of the information requested on this form was also in the application you previously submitted, the Diocese must have each participant complete their application form as well. We apologize for this inconvenience, but we are required to collect this additional form.

Please know that the Diocese is collecting this information solely for the purpose of our volunteer trip in March. Your information will not be shared with any third party (except for medical reasons in case of an emergency) or used for any other purpose.


6) Medical History
Note that this form must be signed by your physician. You can have your physicians office sign and send the form to you via fax; you do not need to have him/her sign it in person.


7) Copy of Passport
As a precaution for the trip, we must have a photocopy of your passport on file. Please ensure that on the photocopy your picture is clear and passport number is legible before you send it in.


A note about vaccinations:
Some of you have inquired about recommended vaccines for the Dominican Republic. This is an important question; thank you for doublechecking. As we mentioned previously, there are some vaccines recommended for travel to the DR and the area we will be in is considered a malaria-risk zone. Since the AYA is not a medical facility, we cannot advise you about specific medications. In the attached application youll see recommendations that the Diocese Mission Office sends to their volunteer participants. However, please be sure to consult with your own personal physician to determine what immunizations or medications you need. If you havent done so already, we urge that you attend to this immediately since some medications may not be readily available.  Yale has a terrific resource in the Travel Clinic at University Health Services and I encourage you to check it out:  http://www.yale.edu/uhs/med_services/int_travel.html

Thank you for returning the attachments as promptly as possible. You may drop them off for me in the Dwight Hall main office.

 If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!  We'll be sending another message out soon with group assignments for student participants.
 

Who are your fellow Student Participants?

Elliott Brennan '11, History of Science / History of Medicine
Peter Bull '08, Philosophy
Crystal Castanada '08, Psychology / Behavioral Neuroscience
Naima Coster '08, English (writing concentration) and African-American Studies
Sarah Hecht '08, Psychology / Behavioral Neuroscience
Christina Hueschen '10, undeclared (possibly MB&B)
Jonathan Jimenez '09, Economics
Abraar Karan '11, undecided
May Liu '10, Economics and Computer Science
Flora Mendoza '08, Latin American Studies and Humanities
Leticia Moedano '11, undeclared
Jaison Oliver '09, Chemical Engineering
Jessica Qu '10, Biology and MCDB
Sam Slavin '08, Humanities
Liza Van Gundy '10, Political Science
Kristine Vanijcharoenkarn '09, Biology and Political Science
Eileen Zelek '09, Latin American Studies

Alexei Zelenev '10 PhD, Sociology

 

Cheers,

Johnny

 


 

Johnny Scafidi
Program Director
Dwight Hall at Yale
PO Box 209008
New Haven, CT 06520-9008
203.432.2429
www.dwighthall.org