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, spollis@ciee.org

Center Director: Lynne Guitar, lguitar@ciee.org

Academic Director: Mercedes Muñoz, mmunoz@ciee.org

Resident Coordinator: Ryan Bowen, rbowen@ciee.org

Program Assistant: Dorka Tejada, dtejada@ ciee.org

Alumni Intern: Courtney Newsome, slintern@ciee.org

Visit CIEE Service-Learning

to learn more!

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