A HAMILTON DISTRICT CHRISTIAN HIGH PUBLICATION SPRING 2026 Vol. 19 Issue 3
Making Connections in the Dominican Republic through Missions ~Submitted by Cassidy Tigchelaar, HDCH Staff & EduDeo Co-Impact Mission Trip Chaperone
This year I was so glad to have the opportunity to chaperone my second group of HDCH students on their EduDeo Co-Impact trip to the Dominican Republic. Over March break, our principal Mr. Todd, Margarita Todd, Joel Knight and I took 26 HDCH students to Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic. On our work days, we split into two groups and headed to two different local Christian schools, La Esparanza (which means “Hope”) and Espacio De Gracia (which means “Space of Grace”). Our students were challenged to make connections with Dominican students in grades K-12 despite the language barrier. What may have initially seemed like an impossible and awkward task quickly morphed into lively games of dominoes, colourful block tower building, hilarious dance lessons, and some pretty intense rounds of 3 on 3 basketball. In addition to making connections, HD students were assigned some pretty hefty construction projects to improve the building facilities in these schools. The group at Espacio De Gracia was tasked with hand mixing mortar and laying block walls to add a fourth story of classrooms to the school. It should be mentioned that this project included much lugging of supplies up three flights of stairs, as well as an innovative pulley system! The group at La Esparanza was charged with the beginning stages of the construction of a set of concrete stairs up to the second floor. This project was derailed slightly by the discovery of an old septic tank under The La Esparanza crew did preparation work for the addition of the existing walls which needed to be removed for concrete stairs to lead to a second floor. safety. The team adapted quickly and moved into demolition mode to assist in tearing down the block wall over the tank so that it could be properly removed or filled in. Throughout the trip, I was continually amazed by the patience and the enthusiasm of our students in all situations. It was such a joy to watch our students approach these tasks with confidence, eagerness, and a humble attitude of gratitude to our hosts in the Dominican Republic!
The group at Espacio De Gracia worked to add a fourth story for future classrooms.
Following our return to school, Mr. Todd sat down with some of the students from the trip to hear some of their reflections of their time together: CONTINUED...