Dominican Republic Trip A Call To Service For Toms River Students

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Most teenagers might think of a trip to the Dominican Republic as a chance for a vacation in a warm locale. But when a group of students from the Toms River Regional Schools flew to the Caribbean island nation in November, they were there for something far better.

The trip had a higher purpose: to build homes for two families as part of the Village Mountain Mission project, according to Toms River East student Sal Esposito.

The trip, from Nov. 4-11, involved 18 students from Toms River East, two from Toms River South and one from Intermediate South, Esposito said in a summary of the trip on the Toms River Regional Schools' website.

The Village Mountain Mission Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to provide housing, education, and medicine to those in need in the Dominican Republic.

The group of students, called Raiders in Service, separated into two groups to each build a house — one for twin brothers, the other for a family of five.

And in building the homes, Esposito wrote, the students gained a deeper appreciation for the lives they lead.

"Students saw firsthand how bad some people in the world have it," Esposito wrote.

At the end of each day, the two groups gathered and shared some reflections about the day’s work or just the day in general.

"There was little to no service during the trip so they were talking to each other without a screen," he wrote.

Both families showed nothing but gratitude for the group building the homes, and the father of the family of five even went to the extent to cook the group a large lunch, Esposito said.

Many of the students realized at the end of the last work day that the house was not the only thing achieved in the trip.

"Some students went into the trip with one friend. At the end of the trip, they were family that now share a bond none of them will forget," he said. "The house was in the forefront of the trip because the families needed a place to stay, but the trip was spiritually and mentally cleansing despite the work involved with building the house."

The Raiders in Service 2017 included:

Karly Maul; Josemartin Pezo; Kristian Cosme; Mikayla Youngman; Sal Esposito; Iván Rosales; Miraj Jiyani; Diana Cisneros; Jake Ryan; Andrea Morejon; Destinee Vehock; Hailee Sicknick; Virginia Moctezuma; Mackenzie Casais; Gabby Cleven; Carolyn DeCicco; Tim Irons; Nathalie Solorzano; Robert Cataraso (Toms River South); Gabriel Rodriguez (Toms River South); Giselle Rodriguez (Toms River Intermediate South) and chaperones Liz Rodriguez and Maribel Cataraso.

Photos via Toms River Regional School District website