I need your help!

Celebrando El Cibao is a diversity and leadership camp for the youth of the Dominican Republic. It is a 3 day, 2 night conference completely led by Peace Corps volunteers with lectures, panel discussions, learning activities, and games. Youth here don't really get the opportunity to travel and get to know people from other parts of the country, so this is a great opportunity for them to see a different region, meet people their age, and learn about important topics. Because the conference is entirely led and organized by Peace Corps volunteers, we need to raise funds to cover all of the expenses. Below is a link which allows you to donate money online, and you will receive a tax-deductible receipt in the mail.

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=517-290

Thanks so much!

Informal Volunteer Work

As a Peace Corps volunteer, I have certain projects to which I devote my time. These include teaching three English courses, attending weekly youth group meetings, teaching a course on sexual health, and forming sports teams. However, I have found that some of my most rewarding work has come from the informal activities that I do.

There is a group of kids under 6 years old that constantly hound me to play with them. Chino (6 years old) wants to play dominoes, Inoche (4 years old) wants to color in my coloring book, and Jamison (2 years old) wants to read with me. These simple activities are ones which we all take for granted back in the States. For a long time I didn’t understand why these young kids come to me to play, especially since my patience often runs thin and I end up booting them out after 2 hours. But then it occurred to me: when these kids are with me, I am constantly telling them how intelligent they are, giving them encouraging words, high fives and pats on the back. One example that comes to mind is when I was coloring with Inoche. Every 2 minutes she would ask me what I thought of her picture, and I of course, told her it was beautiful and that I wanted to put it on my fridge. However, her family criticized the drawing, telling the 4-year-old that she was coloring too hard and out of the lines and that her picture ugly, and her hearing those things about her personal accomplishments only lowers her self-esteem and self-confidence.

In addition to the fun activities, I try to make everything educational. When playing dominoes or card games with Chino, I force him to count up the points to help with his math skills. When coloring I ask Inoche what color she is using, to practice her vocabulary and color recognition. And when I read with Jamison, we go over the sounds that the animals make. I have always thought that these questions (“what color is this?” and “what does a cow say?”) are what everyone asks little kids, but not here. The parents here leave the kids alone, and only give them attention when they are getting punished.

And while it seems like common sense (especially since I grew up in a home overabundant with unconditional love and encouragement), these kids do not receive that type of communication in the homes. These kids are constantly being yelled out when they do something wrong, ignored when they so something good, cursed at, spanked with a belt or tennis shoe. Their home environments are not healthy, but when they are with me I try to give them the type of home (at least for a couple of hours) that I grew up in.

And now that I have my own house, I can put my own rules on the kids’ behavior. They all now know that they are not allowed to cuss (you would not believe the words that come from their mouths!) or call someone stupid, and they must always say please, thank you and you’re welcome. The kids (and adults) think I am totally crazy for putting these rules into place, but hopefully it’ll start to rub off on their behavior outside of my house too.

New House!

Whew! I finally did it. After living with total strangers for the past six months, I have now moved into my very own house. A house that is much bigger than what I need (the better to host visitors. wink wink), and it also is probably the nicest house in my neighborhood. It’s brand new, has 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a kitchen, living/dining room, and a small front porch. Reasons why it’s nicer than the other houses: it’s made of cement, not wood; it has running water (although the cistern is broken now, so I’m collecting rainwater in buckets); wiring to put in electricity (once again, these aren’t currently working so I’m stealing the electricity from the house next door); and the bedrooms and bathrooms have doors (usually there is only a curtain to separate the rooms). Woohoo!

I am totally siked, although I’m starting to realize that living alone has its drawbacks too. I am constantly sweeping and mopping. I mop the floors once a day, and sweep about three times a day just to keep the house in decent condition. Additionally, the house I used to live at had a generator for when the lights went out. I do not have this luxury, and so when the lights go out at night, I light my little gas lamp and huddle around it to read or write. I actually don’t mind this, and it makes me feel very “peace corps.”

I have been waiting for this moment since I arrived in the Dominican Republic in August because I thought I would finally have privacy, and peace and quiet. The new house has not provided me with this. I have now tapped into a whole new group of friends: the 6-11 year old crowd. When I open my front door in the morning, I hear a chorus of “Lauren’s awake! Lauren’s awake!” and about 2 minutes later, the kids start arriving. Sometimes the kids are even sitting on my front porch before I open the door at 8 a.m. We sit on the floor and play card games and color until I kick them out about 4 hours later. They then leave for school, and when school’s out, they show up at my house again until I kick them out because I want to go to bed.

Community Diagnostic

All Peace Corps volunteers are required to work on a community diagnostic during the first three months of their volunteer service. Then we are required to present the diagnostic to various community groups. The point of the diagnostic is for me to understand the strengths and weaknesses of Baoba, and to also understand the opportunities for development and the threats that could cause problems in my work here. Posted below is a much shorter version of the diagnostic in the hopes that you can get a clearer picture of where I am working and what I am doing.

Baoba del Piñal is a rural community on the northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic with a population of about 300 houses or 1,500 people. Baoba consists of five neighborhoods – Los Pajuiles, La Central, Ochoa, Pueblo Nuevo and Línea Quince – but, because I live in Los Pajuiles and my youth group meets in Los Pajuiles, I will focus my volunteer work on that specific neighborhood.

Strengths of Baoba

• Education: There is a primary school, middle school and high school located in Baoba. Many small towns do not have schools in their sites, and the kids have to travel long distances to receive just their basic education, so this is definitely an advantage for the kids living in Baoba. There is also a library in the school, although no one seems to use it. And the majority of the teachers (including the 2 school principals) live in Baoba; therefore they are invested in the education of the students.

• Sports: There are two basketball/volleyball courts and three baseball fields located in Baoba. The majority of the time the sporting facilities are occupied by men, but there are designated times for women to play. Women get to use one of the basketball/volleyball courts every day from 3 – 5 pm, and they can use one of the baseball fields every Saturday afternoon. The children here often take advantage of the streets and farms to play sports and games when the basketball/volleyball courts and baseball fields are unavailable.

• Churches: There are about 8 churches here in this small town of 1,500 people. The churches are of three religions (Catholic, Evangelical, and Adventist), but the majority of people are Catholic. In every neighborhood, there is Catholic youth group that meets weekly, and the other churches have masses or religious services at least once a week.

• People: The people here are great. There are kids with enthusiasm, talented and motivated adolescents and teenagers with a lot of free time, and parents and adults who are willing to help their kids and have a strong interest in seeing the kids here succeed. There are also two other Youth Peace Corp volunteers within a relatively close distance (1 hour or less).

• Health: There is a rural clinic here in Baoba that is open Monday-Friday, 8 am-5 pm. Two nurses work in the clinic, and they live in Baoba so that if there is an after-hours emergency, they can open the clinic. There is also a pharmacy with limited medicines located beside the clinic.

• Natural beauty: Baoba is gorgeous. It’s surrounded by farms, so it is very green and fertile. There are two rivers that run along the border of Baoba, and it is about a 10-minute walk from the beach.

Weaknesses of Baoba

• There is no community center where groups can meet, nor are their family-friendly places to hang out.

• There is a lack of infrastructure, such as lights, streets, and of course internet.

• The streets are actually dirt roads and are in extremely bad condition. They are full of potholes, and when it rains hard, no one can drive on them.

• There is no trash collection system in Baoba; therefore there is trash in the farms, streets, rivers and beaches. In addition to that type of pollution, many people burn the trash from their homes, which then creates air pollution.

• There are limited sources of income. Most of the men work in the farms, producing cattle, milk, coconuts, or rice. The majority of the women work as housewives, or they clean other houses/businesses. Many people travel to the closest larger cities (about 40 minutes) to find better work opportunities.

Opportunities for development (the same as “strengths”)

Threats to development

• Thieves: Because Baoba is near the beach, many tourists pass through the town, leaving it more vulnerable to burglaries

• Drugs, alcohol, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases

• Many youth and adults leave Baoba to find better work and/or educational opportunities. Almost every single family here in Baoba has an immediate relative living and working in either Puerto Rico or the United States, who regularly sends them money.

• The northeast gets the most annual rainfall in the country. This rain damages the streets here in Baoba, and also causes children and adults to miss school and meetings. If it is raining, work does not get done.

After analyzing this data, I was able to plan my work for the next year. Below is what I hope will happen within the next 12 months. Wish me luck!

• English Class (already started, woohoo!)
• Running Club with the youth
• Informal volleyball tournament and formation of a girl’s volleyball team
• Start searching for funds/planning to build a community center
• Talk to mayor about starting a trash collection system
• Arts Camp in the summer for young kids
• Book Club
• Paint a world map mural in the school with my youth group
• Girl’s Club to empower young girls; take 2 girls to a week-long all girl’s conference called Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World)
• Form a youth group called Escojo Mi Vida (I Choose My Life) to teach them about making safe decisions, sexual health, condoms, HIV/AIDS, alcohol and drugs; take youth to regional and national Escojo conferences to give them more life skills and the chance to see a new city and meet new people. (The kids here almost never have the opportunity to travel).
• Take 2 youth to “Celebrando el Cibao” conference to teach them about diversity
• Work with the Padres, Madres & Amigos de la Escuela (like PTA) and teach them better communication and discipline skills
• Work with youth group to pick up trash and place trashcans in Baoba
• Private tutoring with kids in elementary school who need help with basic reading/writing/math skills
• Strengthen the library by getting more/better books, having a daily story hour, etc.
  

Only in the Dominican Republic

I went to a birthday party last night for my 30-year-old lawyer buddy. It was a neighborhood party and he works with my youth group, so there was a mixture of youth and adults there. And the adults gave the youth alcohol, so much so that every single person was drunk except for me…and I’m including the 8 and 9-year olds. Only in the Dominican Republic, is it totally acceptable to give children shots of rum to “liven up the party.”

People here have been bugging me to form a Mother’s Club to discuss topics relevant to the development of their children. So I visited all of the churches in Baoba and announced that we were going to have an interest meeting and start the club. When it was time for the meeting, not one single person showed up. Only in the Dominican Republic, will no one show up to a meeting because it “looks” like it might rain.

I went shopping for things for my house because I am going to move soon, and I found it all to be so expensive. Only in the Dominican Republic, will I complain about spending $186 on a bed, $6 on a pillow, $44 on a 50-lb gas tank, $37 on a stove top (no oven because no one here cooks with an oven), $20 on plates/cups/utensils/coffeemaker, and $34 on monthly rent for a brand new 3-bedroom/1-bathroom house. (*prices are converted into US dollars*)

All of the youth volunteers are meeting up for a conference where we will present our community diagnostic (analysis of the resources and opportunities for development in our communities) and tell each other about what we have been doing during the past three months. I made three visuals and prepared a 10-minute speech for this presentation. And I just noticed that the corners of my posterboard have been chewed up. Only in the Dominican Republic, will I be totally content to give a presentation using visuals that have been gnawed at by the mice living in my bedroom.

Everyone here uses homemade remedies to cure various ailments. Only in the Dominican Republic, will people eat aloe to cure the flu, squeeze cherry juice into an eye to cure conjunctivitis, and hang clear bags of water inside houses to get rid of flies.