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CIEE Service Learning Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic Fall 2014 Newsletter
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Fall 2014, Issue 1
Service-Learning, D.R.
2
Exploring Rural
and urban contexts
From the breezy coastal plains, to the bustling city, to the lush, mountainous country-
side, this small island offers visitors a diverse montage of scenery. Students have had
the chance not only to admire these uniquely breathtaking terrains, but to explore the
way in which communities in these settings practice development. Each community has
its own way of interacting with its environment, its economy, its leaders, and its interna-
tional visitors or volunteers. CIEE´s Service Learning students have come to understand
that the surrounding context, whether it be rural or urban, greatly defines the culture,
which dictates these interactions. In this issue, students reflect on the work they’ve
done in Santiago, along with the experiences they’ve had in many other regions of the
country, in order to make comparisons between rural and urban contexts.
3
contents
Learning to Soar
—Victoria Ware, Stonehill College
The Service-Learning Program
Service-Learning: Rural vs. Urban
—Kimiko Kasama, Transylvania University
Program Excursions: Where Have We Been?
The Power of the Machete
—Erica Modeste, University of Richmond
4
10
12
Building a Botica
—Hannah Currens, Macalester College
6
8
14
4
Walking into the barrio (neighborhood), there were a number of
things that could have immediately caught my attention: the
clean laundry drying on barbed wire fences, the patchwork
wood and metal scraps that made up the walls of houses and
stores, the piles of trash filling up the nooks and crannies of the
dirt road and the half-finished sidewalks, or the barefoot children
running around without parental supervision. Although all of
these things did register with me, what was actually most dis-
tracting to me was the surprising amount of tattered plastic bags
tangled in the power lines. It took me many days to figure out
what they were and why there were so many caught up in the
lines. It wasn’t until I saw some of the local children on the side-
walks tying sticks into a cross with some bits of string and plas-
tic bags sewn together that it clicked in my mind; those tattered
plastic bags had once been kites. Many times since then, I’ve
seen children poking through piles of trash to find materials,
pulling out whatever they can use for string, bags, and sticks to
make their kites.
Due to the educational system in the Dominican Republic, these
children spend only half their day in school. Unless they are
lucky enough to be enrolled in afterschool programs like Ninos
con una Esperanza (Children with a Hope), many of these kids
end up with lots of unstructured free-time on their hands. Ninos
con una Esperanza is located in Santa Lucía, Cienfuegos (One
Hundred Fires) the poorest barrio in Santiago. The program was
founded with the intention of giving kids a safe, structured, and
educational space to go to after school. It was also designed to
stop some of the worst forms of child labor in the community
taking place in Rafey, the vertedero (landfill) on the outskirts of
the community that employs a large portion of the residents in
Santa Lucía. The poverty level of the area, among other social
issues, forces many of the families to scavenge for recyclables
in Rafey simply to make ends meet. Frequently, children are
forced to join their parents in the landfill to make more money.
Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that kites are not the only toys
that the kids make out of the trash they find in the community.
The amount of trash in the community, however, has given the
neighborhood of Cienfuegos a bad reputation in the rest of San-
tiago. People will sometimes shamelessly refer to the people in
the area as trash. Santa Lucía has even garnered the name La
Mosca (The Fly) because there you will see large clouds of flies
swarm the area as a result of the location of the vertedero.
The landscape of Cienfuegos is a sharp contrast to the fertile,
green countryside of Río Limpio (Clean River), a small town in
the mountains along the border of Haiti where we spent a week
learning about sustainable agriculture, life in a rural community,
and local and grassroots organizations. Despite the fact that the
two areas couldn’t be more different, Cienfuegos reminds me of
Río Limpio in a few important ways.
It wasn’t until the end of the trip that I realized how isolated Río
Victoria Ware
Global Studies/Spanish
Learning
to Soar
5
Limpio really is, since I spent most of our initial trip passed out
in the back seat of the guagua (bus) recovering from chikungun-
ya (a mosquito-borne disease that results in fatigue and joint
and muscle pain). As we arrived in Río Limpio, I remember
standing outside of the guagua thinking that it felt like home
since the rural setting of the community is much more like my
quiet hometown of Middlefield, Massachusetts, than the bustling
city of Santiago. The major difference is that in Río Limpio, peo-
ple live much more simply. They are often without electricity or
running water; and both cell service and internet are nearly un-
heard of, something I can’t imagine even in the middle of no-
where in Massachusetts.
Although Río Limpio is very different compared to Cienfuegos,
there are some similarities. For example, in both communities
there has been great development of community-based organi-
zations. In Cienfuegos there is Ninos con una Esperanza, in Río
Limpio, the Centro Regional de Estudios de Alternativas Ru-
rales (Regional Center for Alternative Rural Studies) an agricul-
tural school started by former Peace Corp volunteers Mark
Freedman and Chela Lightchild in the 1980s. The school is
more commonly known by its acronym CREAR, which appropri-
ately means “to create” in Spanish. Although initially started by
Peace Corp volunteers, the program has been expanded and
continued by the community of Río Limpio. Today, CREAR is a
pioneer in sustainable agriculture that attracts students from the
community and surrounding areas. CREAR has also organized
to combat the ongoing environmental degradation that has af-
fected the area. For example, the locals have been affected by
the dropping water level of the river that used to be too danger-
ous for young children to be around because the current was so
strong. Today, the river can be crossed easily on foot. Although
some farmers who have utilized sustainable agricultural meth-
ods in the area have noticed an increase in some of their own
water sources, the region as a whole has still not recovered.
Riío Limpio hasn’t always been well known for its sustainable
methods. The most common agricultural practices used to be
“slash and burn,” a practice that is still common in many areas
of the country and one example of degradation that has affected
the area on both the Dominican and Haitian side of the island.
On our return trip to Santiago, we even witnessed a few inci-
dents of slash and burn agriculture as our guagua took us
through the winding roads and traffic. We passed smouldering
fields sending up huge plumes of charcoal smoke; a drastic
juxtaposition to the green and fertile fields that we had just left
behind in Río Limpio. A striking thing about Río Limpio is that
the soil is not really all that nutrient-rich. It is a beautiful, copper-
red, almost claylike soil that is really great for pots, but not so
great for growing crops. Through the work of the community, the
local farmers, and volunteers like Freedman and Lightchild,
however, Río Limpio has become the fertile farm land that it is
today. As one of the CREAR professors taught us, we created
abono (fertilizer) and turned camas (beds) for the plants, be-
cause it takes the sweat, blood, and tears of the community to
make a difference. With a little work, communities can learn to
help themselves.
Overall, that seems to be the most important lesson. CREAR
and Ninos con una Esperanza learned how to impact the lives
of their neighbors by working with and within their own commun-
ities to fulfill local needs. Through my own work here, I’ve been
learning, and hope to continue to learn, how to best help com-
munities help themselves.
I was reminded one day, as I was leaving Ninos con una Es-
peranza in the back seat of the Program Director’s truck and
watching one of the highest-flying kites that I’ve ever seen zig-
zagging lazily through the air: If a few kids can figure out that
with some effort trash can fly, a community can learn that with a
little hard work, they, too, can soar.
“If a few kids can figure out that with some effort, trash can fly, a commu-nity can learn that with a little hard
work they, too, can soar.”
6
Development and Globalization: D.R. Case Study
This experiential-learning course uses the Dominican Republic
as a lens to explore issues of human, economic, social, and
political development with a focus on issues of sustainabil-
ity. Students are provided a better understanding of theories
of poverty and underdevelopment in both national and interna-
tional contexts. Social Research Methods
This course introduces students to meth-
ods social scientists use in their research.
Students conduct participatory community-
based social research under the guidance
of a research committee comprised of uni-
versity professors, the Academic Director,
and NGO site supervisor. At the end of the
semester, the results of the research are
presented to important constituents in the
community and partner organization.
Directed Independent Field Research
and Capstone Project
This course is a compilation of the semester’s
work divided into two parts: the written compo-
nent of the students´ field research and a tangi-
ble Capstone project. Students learn to demon-
strate and apply what they have learned through-
out the program; and to collaborate with the or-
ganization in which their service was performed.
Community Partnership
This course offers an introduction to dif-
ferent schools of thought regarding lead-
ership in community empowerment and
sustainable development. The practical
portion of the course provides students
the opportunity to work with a community-
based organization or NGO in an already
existing program or project related to indi-
vidual students’ academic interests.
Advanced Spanish
Students are immersed in Spanish throughout every
aspect of their experience! Their Spanish course is
the “glue” of all the classes, designed to be conver-
sation-focused to complement the community as-
pect of the program.
THE SERVICE-LEARNING program
7
OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Fundación Cuidado Infantil Dominicano (Dominican Childcare Foundation):
FCID is a non-profit health development agency with experience in primary health care educa-
tion and community-based rehabilitation for children with special needs and their families.
—Hannah Currens is currently working here.
Oné Respe (“Honor Respect” in Haitian Creole):
OR serves marginalized Dominican and Haitian communities with ongoing
programs in primary education, preventative health, and civic services.
—Erica Modeste is working here this semester.
Centro de Atención Primaria Juan XXIII (Primary Care Center):
Juan XXIII is a public hospital specifically for communities in the Southern region
of Santiago, an economically and socially marginalized area. Juan XXIII identifies
and trains public health supervisors and caseworkers in preventative health edu-
cation.
—Kimiko Kasama is currently working here.
Niños con una Esperanza (Children with a Hope):
NCUE provides a structured alternative to risky situations for children who work in a near-
by landfill. They offer programs that encourage academic learning and personal develop-
ment.
—Victoria Ware is working here this semester.
OUR 4 STUDENTS WORK IN 4 ORGANIZACIONES FOR 4 MONTHS
8
When building a botica (community pharmacy), one should be
equipped to prepare at least three different kinds of mezcla
(cement mixture). For the building’s foundation, the mezcla
needs to have a very firm consistency, so a large portion should
consist of gravel. The mortar that holds together the bloques
(cinderblocks) requires coarse sand instead of gravel to produce
a more homogenous mixture. Finally, the smooth pañete (outer
sealant similar to stucco) needs more water and very fine sand
that can be easily spread over the bloques to create a weather-
proof seal. The different kinds of mezcla are vital to adequately
support the botica and each other.
In the rural town of La Solapa outside Santiago, community or-
ganizations are almost as common as the cacao grown here,
and equally integral to the community’s survival. While working
with community members to build a botica, I learned both how to
make mezcla and why effective community participation requires
diversity. The daily operations within La Solapa depend on the
internal structure of the socios comunitarios (community organi-
zations). Practically every adult member of the community partic-
ipates in at least one of more than 70 organizations. Just as the
mezcla serves different roles in the construction of a botica, each
organization in La Solapa fulfills different community needs. The
collective participation in areas of health, agriculture, and trade
(among others) strengthens the entire community.
When making a mezcla that will adequately strengthen the boti-
ca, one needs water, sand, gravel, and 90-lb bags of cement
mix. The formula to determine the quantity of each ingredient is
simple: If the mixture is too dry, add more water; if it is too wa-
tery, add more sand; and if it is too malleable, add more gravel.
There are also certain environmental variables that should be
considered. Particularly hot days require more water to prevent
the mezcla from drying out too quickly. Conversely, on days
when rain seems imminent and the air is full of moisture, a drier
mezcla is preferable. It is important to note that a successful
mixture is more likely when preparing the mezcla with an adap-
tive approach, rather than an inflexible and predetermined reci-
pe.
When I am not mixing cement, I spend about 18 hours a week
working with a community development organization in Santiago
that is premised on adaptation. The organization, Fundación
Cuidado Infantil Dominicano (Dominican Child Care Foundation
or FCID) brings primary healthcare strategies to impoverished
families—specifically families of children with disabilities. The
formula for FCID’s Community-Based Rehabilitation program
(CBR) is simple: provide effective rehabilitation by using the
available resources as assets, not constraints. For example, the
sensibilities of traditional institutional rehabilitation say that a
walker is needed when teaching a child to walk. If no walker is
available, however, the sensibilities of CBR say to use a crate, or
a stool, or an old cardboard box. Essentially, CBR helps children
reach and maintain the highest level of functioning possible with-
in their environment by using tools derived from the resources of
Hannah Currens
Geography
Building a
Botica
9
the surrounding community (World Report on Disability 2011,
World Health Organization).
When defining disability, one should consider the assertion that
a community disables a person far more than his or her own
body (World Report on Disability 2011, WHO; Community-
Based Rehabilitation: CBR Guidelines, WHO). This may seem
contradictory, since the CBR model proves that the community
can be utilized as an asset in an individual’s rehabilitation. The
example of La Solapa proves how collective participation in
development empowers a community through its own capacity
for cooperation. Social stigmas and environmental obstacles,
however, still inhibit full social inclusion for marginalized peo-
ples all over the world. Programs such as CBR could administer
effective rehabilitation to every person with a disability, but the
realities of discrimination, unpaved roads, and inaccessible
buildings (to name a few) would still be debilitating.
As the mezcla sits between the bloques of a botica, it hardens
and becomes an integral part of the structure. As community
members participate in their own processes of development,
they become vital to sustainability. Presence is key. Mezcla
cannot support a botica if it is not shoveled into a bucket and
carried to the construction site. People cannot benefit their
communities if they are not given a space in which to do so. As
seen in Santiago and La Solapa, grassroot efforts in the Domin-
ican Republic have strengthened both the community and the
individual. These forces, however, operate independently. The
contributions of people with disabilities remain a largely unex-
plored resource because communities lack the means to fully
integrate every individual. In this context, community inclusion
for people with disabilities presents a frustrating conundrum,
similar to building a botica without a shovel or a bucket.
“When defining disability, one
should consider the assertion that
a community disables a person far
more than his or her own body.”
10
The flight into Santiago was a breathtaking sight that captured
the panoramic view of winding dirt roads, tropical plants, moun-
tains, and more. It was my birds-eye view of the city and its
surrounding parts. Every frame in my mental snapshot wel-
comed in new and exciting landscapes. Upon arriving, I met
other students who were also with CIEE but in the Liberal Arts
program. It was refreshing to know I wasn’t the only one trying
to make the mental switch from English to Spanish while pass-
ing through Customs. Finally, I made it through Customs and
walked outside, where I was met by a hot rush of Santiago air
and two CIEE staff members. The other students and I were
picked up in a guagua (bus) to head out to meet our host fami-
lies. From the window of the airplane to the window of the gua-
gua, my eyes never missed an opportunity to explore. I was
intrigued by the infrastructure and how the buildings were not
the typical brick-and-shingle-roofed edifices I was used to; they
had tin rooftops, concrete-painted walls, or looked like shacks. I
was equally fascinated by every driver who more than frequent-
ly used the car horn as punctuation for their driving. I didn’t
know where exactly I was in relation to where I was going, what
I should first say to my host family upon meeting them, or what I
could anticipate as a foreigner and as a Service-Learning stu-
dent.
Before I was fully submerged in the CIEE Service-Learning pro-
gram, my knowledge of it was based solely in theory that I
learned in my Community Partnership class at Pontificia Univer-
sidad Católica Madre y Maestra or PUCMM, the local university
where all our academic courses are held. I understood that
“service-learning” carried a heavy meaning, but I didn’t feel its
full weight until I experienced both my first Retiro de Trabajo
(work retreat) and immersion into the community where I am
presently carrying out my practicum and research project. Pre-
viously, I understood that service-learning, at its very roots, re-
tains equal value in both service and learning. It is simultane-
ously based in academics and field work, and the field work
relies on reciprocity between the students and the agencies that
host them. During the Retiro de Trabajo, I worked alongside
men, women, and children in a rural community to complete
Construction of a botica (community pharmacy) for the locals.
In this rural setting, I connected this idea of reciprocity and com-
munity engagement that the Service-Learning program pro-
motes. Between the service provider and the service recipient,
there needs to be a balance of benefits, where focus is equally
placed on both the service for the community and learning for
the students. Additionally, this exchange of knowledge and
abilities between the two allows for cultural diffusion to take
place. It is here where the community and the service providers
thrive in engagement.
The urban community I currently work in Cristo Rey Arriba
demonstrates the notion of community engagement in a less
unified way, where there exist principal agents for bringing the
people together. These agents are known collectively as the
promotoras (public health case workers), thus it’s not so much
the people in the community who themselves come together for
a common good, rather the promotoras who bring them togeth-
er or meet with them in small, informal groups. There are differ-
ent promotoras for different branches of public health, but all
Service-Learning:
Kimiko Kasama
Spanish/Biology
Urban vs. Rural
11
promotoras act as the eyes and ears for both the public health
system and for the community. They are an interactive unit
comprised of people (typically women) who go into their respec-
tive communities to promote health through giving charlas
(informational meetings) or providing interventions or therapies,
for example, in the case of families who have children with disa-
bilities. The experience I’ve had thus far with my promotoras at
the organization, Centro de Atención Primaria Juan XXII
(Primary Care Center ) has been wonderful. I’ve been able to
go door to door and get to know the families and individuals
who live in the community—and hear their stories and their ex-
periences. My engagement in the urban setting involves my
promotora and me meeting individually with community
members in their homes, rather than meeting collectively with
people in another location, like I did during the Retiro de Trabajo
in a rural community.
The difference between the urban and rural experience is also
highlighted by the population of students and the population of
the community. When I participated in the Retiro de Trajabo, it
was not just me; there were numerous other students and a few
program coordinators there as well to balance the ratio between
service providers and the community members and to create a
greater impact in such interaction. Here in my community, there
isn’t that advantage in number of students providing a service;
however, the equal focus on service and learning remains the
same. In regard to both the rural and urban settings, the
application of different methodologies of research in a campo or
in the urban community has been better conceptualized for me
because they have been put to practice through service. The
methodologies that encompass the social sciences and the tool
of participant-observation have greatly contributed to my
learning of the social and economic realms of both communities
in a way that no theory bound by the four walls of a classroom
could have demonstrated.
If I consolidate the two experiences, I can best express that
community engagement through service-learning can be under-
stood by Aristotle’s declaration that “the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts.” Each member of the community, for the
cause of social change or development on a sustainable, hu-
man, or local level, must come together to engage with other
social actors of empowerment and ability to improve the com-
munity as a whole. I am almost to the half-way point of my jour-
ney here in Santiago, and each day I feel as if I grow more and
more into the type of worldly student I desire to become through
the Service-Learning program .
“This exchange of knowledge and abili-
ties between the [service providers and recipients] al-
lows for cultural dif-fusion to take place.”
12
During CIEE program excursions, the group takes learning outside of the
classroom, exploring mountainside communities, biodynamic farms, na-
tional parks, crystal-clear oceans, and more. Through engaging with com-
munity members in each region and reflecting as a group, students delve
into themes such as development, sustainability, and human rights.
SANTO DOMINGO
Rich with history dating back to the Colonial
times, the country’s capital is where students
explored paradigms of development.
RIO LIMPIO
Near the Haitian-Dominican border, students
spent a week learning from CREAR, a farm
school that promotes sustainable agriculture.
LA SOLAPA
During the Work Retreat, students engaged a
rural community in constructing a small phar-
macy that will help better meet community
health needs.
SAMANÁ
On the northeast coast, students visit Los Hai-
tises National Park and hike to Salto Limón to
appreciate one of the country’s most ecologi-
cally diverse regions.
13
Dominican Republic
See Where We’ve Been!See Where We’ve Been!See Where We’ve Been!
Playa Ensenada La Solapa
Santo Domingo
Samaná Jarabacoa
Santiago
Dajabón
Rio Limpio
Salcedo
DAY TRIPS
Short-term Adventures
The group visited the Mirabal Sisters Museum in
Salcedo, explored the crowded Dajabón Market
along the Haitian-Dominican border, swam with
the fish at Playa Ensenada, and toured the
Colonial Zone!
14
Negra, the adjective for black in Spanish, is who I am here.
When I first arrived in the Dominican Republic, I would often get
tense and feel disrespected when I heard the word negra being
used by Dominicans to describe me. I yearned to define myself
within Dominican culture without the inclusion of the color of my
skin. I found out quickly that this goal was impossible. Calling
people by their color of skin is deeply ingrained in Dominican
culture… and there is no escaping it.
The Dominican Republic is a mix of Spanish, African, and Taíno
(the indigenous peoples of the Island of Hispaniola) cultures. As
a result, there are Dominicans of all different skin colors. In re-
sponse to the variety of skin tones, Dominicans have developed
a system of descriptors for every possible shade of skin ob-
served here. Dominicans do not distinguish one another by
race, but use skin tone to identify a person. For example, walk-
ing down the street, I may hear someone call to me, “Hola ne-
grita (Hello, little dark-skinned girl).”
The whole objective of CIEE Service-Learning is to connect
knowledge and experience. Sometimes the acquisition of
knowledge comes before experience; however, more often, the
knowledge follows the experience, as in my case. My first time
encountering the significance of skin color in the D.R. occurred
at my community organization, Oné Respe (Haitian Creole for
“Honor and Respect”) where I teach English and ecology clas-
ses to students in the third and fourth grades. Later, I learned
about the historical integration of cultures within the Dominican
Republic that has brought about the vast differences in skin
color in the country, and this deepened my understanding of
how physical appearance is linked with identity.
The core Service-Learning values of knowledge and experience
can also be found within the agricultural school of CREAR in
Riío Limpio, a small pueblo (town) located in the isolated moun-
tain region near the border of D.R. and Haiti. CREAR stands for
Centro Regional de Estudios de Alternativas Rurales (Regional
Center for Alternative Rural Studies) and is a technical school
of organic agriculture for high school students. Founded in the
Erica Modeste
Biochemistry
The Power of the Machete
15
early 1980s, this school set out to train the people of Río Limpio
and its surrounding communities the art of sustainable agricul-
ture. It teaches the students the techniques of agriculture in a
classroom setting, and then takes them out to the fields to put
these techniques into practice. Via the knowledge and skills
obtained through CREAR, the community is then able to expand
its economic opportunities through organic farming. This in-
creased economic opportunity helps improve the well-being of
the community.
In Río Limpio, once again, the experience preceded the
knowledge, and within a short amount of time, I learned very
quickly the meaning of hard work. Marcos, one of the field in-
structors of CREAR, often called me a flor (flower). Not only
was I not cut out for the hard work that farming entails, but I also
somehow attracted many bees. Realizing my difficulties with the
manual labor of agricultural work, Marcos took away the palas
(shovels) and ganchos (pitchforks) that surrounded me and
handed me a machete instead. My initial thought was that flores
(flowers) shouldn’t handle machetes, but Marcos insisted that
this was the right tool for me. After careful instruction, Marcos
left me on my way to chop up the stalks of the banana plants we
were using as fertilizer for the plant beds my group was learning
to make. As I got into the motion of slashing the pieces apart,
an intense feeling of pride and strength overcame me. It was in
this moment that I recognized the feeling of empowerment. Em-
powerment tramples fears, discomfort, doubt—and boosts confi-
dence. I have felt empowered in many ways here and was able
to reclaim the color of my skin in Dominican culture. Diverse
skin colors represent the rich history of cultures that continue to
influence Dominican people today.
As I left the rural community of Río Limpio and returned to Oné
Respe, an organization that works with marginalized communi-
ties of Dominicans and Haitians, I established a new goal for my
work in the classroom: to empower the students. My job in the
classroom is not to teach the children grammatically correct
English, but to instill in them the desire to want to learn more, to
facilitate the desire to ask more questions, and thus to empower
them as individuals.... Everybody deserves to feel the power of
the machete.
“Empowerment tramples fears, discom-
fort, doubt—and boosts confidence. I felt
empowered in many ways here and was
able to reclaim the color of my skin in
Dominican culture..”
16
For more information, contact:
CIEE Advisor: Susan Pollis, [email protected]
Center Director: Lynne Guitar, [email protected]
Academic Director: Mercedes Muñoz, [email protected]
Resident Coordinator: Ryan Bowen, [email protected]
Program Assistant: Dorka Tejada, dtejada@ ciee.org
Alumni Intern: Courtney Newsome, [email protected]
Visit CIEE Service-Learning
to learn more!
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