About

A few years ago, kids in Dom Rep's Punta Cana region didn't go to secondary school. The nearest was 50 km away and getting to school meant hitching a ride on a passing truck.

Now the children have their own well-equipped polytechnic. Nearby are primary schools and a free medical centre for the community. All were set up by the Puntacana Foundation, a non-profit charity run by the biggest resort developer in the area, Grupo Puntacana.

About

A few years ago, kids in Dom Rep's Punta Cana region didn't go to secondary school. The nearest was 50 km away and getting to school meant hitching a ride on a passing truck.

Now the children have their own well-equipped polytechnic. Nearby are primary schools and a free medical centre for the community. All were set up by the Puntacana Foundation, a non-profit charity run by the biggest resort developer in the area, Grupo Puntacana.

The charity works along side an environmental organisation, the Puntacana Ecological Foundation.

The ecological foundation manages the local environment and studies ways to reduce the impact of tourism on coastal habitats. It has installed the Dominican Republic's most sophisticated recycling, water harvesting and waste treatment systems. It runs an organic farm fed by hotel waste and manages an important rainforest reserve in the heart of the resort.