In 1998 two Putney team members arrived in the Dominican Republic to meet with communities and set up everything needed to send the first group of Putney students. By chance they met Rolando and Licet, a couple that lives in Barahona, and Putney has been working with them ever since that first group of students arrived in 1999.

To this day, Rolando and Licet help Putney organize the communities and survey new places and activities. But most of all, they are a great support for every group that comes. They host the leaders during the preparation week before the students arrive, and they give great advice and help with contacts and activities. They have two daughters who have grown up excited to know that Putney students will be coming each summer.

Since they started, they have organized projects in six different communities! Around 650 students and 76 leaders have passed through the Dominican Republic with their help and this year, we get to celebrate this HUGE milestone with them: 20 years since Putney started coming to the Dominican Republic and 10 years of Putney working with the community of La Guazara!

We were happy to invite Rolando and Licet to our goodbye party to celebrate with us. To honor these 20 years, our group decided to work really hard to be able to build 20 houses, one for every year in the country. It was a ton of work, sometimes doing up to three floors a day, and we did it! We reached our goal!

— Juliana & Gregorio

Eng: CELEBRATE
Spa: CELEBRAR
/ˈsɛlɪbreɪt/
verb