Hi,

I went to the North of DR and I read about this. So I took a few goody bags of pencils, erasers, pens, paper - what I could scrounge from work really, this went down very very well. Also left a tip and, as many people do anyway, leave what was left of shampoo, toothpaste etc (its not like you've used it and put it back, they can use what is left) the maids/cleaners are extremely grateful as these are supposed to be quite expensive over there, and you don't have to carry the things back.

Dawntra

although some items were a bit bizzare like sanitary provisions etc, I think I would be insulted if someone left me stuff like that

I can't speak for the DR but in Cuba the sanitary protection for women is dreadful and disposable towels etc expensive. Think pre-1970s here and you'll get the picture. Tampons simply aren't available most of the time and when they are, they're priced out of the reach of anything but tourists. I always take plenty with me just in case because of the problems I saw friends having when trying to buy something suitable when they 'came on' whilst we were away. We were passing over a few tampons here and few there as we realised and could work out how to share the collective supply out between us! Never again! Ever since I've always taken plenty with me and discretely passed over to local women anything I've got left over at the end. Far from being insulted, they've always been very grateful because anything you'll have taken there from the UK, whether towels or tampons will be so much more discreet and comfortable than they can get locally at affordable prices. So it wouldn't surprise me to find that women in the DR might also be equally grateful - it's still a very poor country.

SM

I'm lucky in that I can obtain cosmetics from a factory shop so I take a carrier bag half full for distribution among the staff. It goes down a storm with both the women and the men, who like to take a gift home for a loved one, the fact that we usually go just before Christmas probably makes that more relevant.

We did have one strange request from the maids, for paracetamol, evidently they are very expensive to buy there and they were very grateful of them.

I honestly don't think they would be offended by anything you gave them, they are more than happy to have any clothes or shoes you don't want to take home even if it means washing them but you will often have to give them a note saying you have given them or they can get into trouble if they are searched when leaving.

Whatever gift you leave, if they don't want it themselves they will sell it on and can usually get more for imported items than the couple of dollars in cash that most people tip.

Before I used to take the cosmetics I used to buy a couple of items in The Pound Shop every time I went and put them away for gifts, one year I ended up with so much I would have had hardly any room for clothes had I taken it all so beware.

Thanks for all your responses.

I'll definitley take lots of dollar bills.

Still a bit unsure about the goody bags, maybe i'll see how much space I have left in my luggage before deciding!

I'm a site admin on a another vacations site (not mentioning the name here, it might not be welcome ) - this is a lot of what we've picked up there

Money goes own well with the adults - they can use it to buy the stuff that they need, assuming they can find it in the shops (in Cuba that can be a difficulty)

If you give any gifts to the staff at any resort, then write on a piece of paper what you have given them and your name & your room number, then date & sign it - so if they get stopped by resort security, they have something which will stop them losing their jobs.

What to take:

• The people want thier kids to have a better life then thay have and they recognise the importance of education
• Exercise books - you can get these in small packs in tesco / asda for maybe a pound or two
• ball pens and other stationery supplies (£1 bins in the bigger tescos) - pass these out in ones and twos, if you pass out a whole pack - it might just get sold to the next bunch of tourists (but then I suppose that helps the local economy too)
• colouring books & Crayons (poundshop?)
• Get your kids to go through their cupboards and find wear able stuff that doesn't fit any more (trainers even) - just put then through the washer (pass out in half filled carrier bags on trips) - you recognise the most needy families, the kids don't have shoes!
• Go through your cupboards - you got stuff you won't wear again (don't bother if you are of a heavy build - your stuff wont fit them)
• tooth brushes & toothpaste
• underwear ?
• simple pharms (aspirin, paracetamol. ibuprofen) - run safety instruction through google translate & print in spanish
• simple toys - that don't need batteries
• reading glasses (2 dioptre = 50cm focus)? - poundshop? (help the older people)
• as someone has said before - tampons

What not to take

• don't give the kids money - it encourages them to beg rather than going to school
• sweets/candy - There is a diabetes problem there, also dentists need paying for

I'm sure other people can add to this

(don't bother if you are of a heavy build - your stuff wont fit them)

But in a 'make do and mend' economy everybody will know somebody who is a good seamstress. As long as the fabric is in good condition, a garment can and will be unpicked and re-made into something else. A man's cotton shirt contains more than enough fabric to make a small girl's dress. We've forgotten the skills that enable people to re-cycle clothes in lots of inventive ways but those living in poorer countries haven't. To me as a dressmaker and quilter, the dressmaking fabric on sale in shops over in the Caribbean seems really cheap, even if not of the best quality, but then I have to remind myself that if I compare the prices to local wages then it is actually very expensive for most locals to buy.

On a related note, though again I am talking about my experience in Cuba rather than the DR, because of this I've found that haberdashery items often go down well too. I first did it because I thought that the props and costume staff of the dance company I have an association with could make use of sewing thread, decent quality hand and sewing machine needles, zips, buttons etc but I soon realised that this was a gift that many women would fall on with delight. I do a lot of sewing and I'm always accumulating stuff that then hangs around in one of the workbaskets so I have a clear out before each trip now. It can be really difficult to get scissors sharpened here but not there so next time, having treated myself to some new shears, the old ones will be going with me too. It's easy to forget that so much of what we take for granted is either difficult or expensive to come by in less consumerist societies than our own.

SM