New Hope in Dominican Republic

We’ve had an amazing time today here in the Dominican Republic. We visited two Compassion projects and visited a couple of homes of sponsored children.

I have some amazing stories to tell but I am so tired night now that those stories will have to wait. I may not even get another chance to blog until I make it home on Tuesday afternoon but I’ll see what I can do. If I wake up early enough tomorrow I might tell you some of the exciting stories we encountered today.

In the meantime, you might like to hear a little bit more about our departure from Haiti. I spoke to Tim Long at Sonshine FM yesterday morning. You can hear our chat by clicking play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

By the way, I haven’t had the change to reply to those who have left comments over the past couple of days. I’ll thank you personally when I can but until then, thanks for your kind words and wishes.

I’ll catch you soon.



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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He previously worked in radio for about 25 years but these days he spends his time at Compassion Australia, working towards releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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6 Comments

  • What an awesome trip you’ve had Rodney and scary too. I’ve recently subscribed to your blog and have been following your journey and look forward to reading much more when you have time on your return. Bless you.

  • The Dominican Republic is one of my favorite places to visit. There is poverty there that for me as an American is hard to comprehend. Tourism fuels the island’s economy. There is a lot of resentment there towards Haitian immigrants, similar to how we in America see illegal Mexican immigrants here.

    Haiti has no tourist base and won’t be able to build one for the foreseeable future; who wants to go through what you just did? They have deforested the land out of both ignorance and need. I can’t even comprehend their politics. Haiti may well have been better off without my country’s help/interference. They need someone with vision to step up and develop some sort of national economy. Those persons will have to be educated. I hope your group succeeds in educating the numbers necessary to turn the country around.

  • Glad to hear you are all safe!!
    Now the plan is to stay safe and keep up the good work.
    Take care and safe flight back also.

  • Great to hear of the work you have been doing Rodney; a little different from our trip to India… As always God is our portion & protector. Well done to you and the team and also to the Compassion workers who do such a fantastic job out there where it really counts. God bless. Helen.

  • Java, I’m only just getting around to replying to all the lovely comments I received over the past couple of weeks.

    God kept us safe and everyone is now back home with some great stories to tell.

  • Apple, it’s great to hear from someone who has seen the conditions in Dominican Republic. The tourism side of the country is very easy to find but the poverty is not far from view.

    One of the projects we visited focuses on Haitian immigrants. It’s so hard for them there. Their own country doesn’t want them to return and their adopted country doesn’t recognise them.

    There is such a stark difference between the two countries on the same island. The deforestation has had such a devestating effect on Haiti.

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