CIE
E
Fall 2014, Issue 2
Service-Learning, D.R.
2
What are we leaving
behind?
As the semester comes to a close, students explore the bigger picture of what they
have been working toward for the past four months. The experience is not just an academic
one, but a deeply immersive, reflective, and collaborative endeavor that affects real commu-
nities and real lives. Whether they were working alongside public health caseworkers to
spread information about rights of disabled children, developing resources to bring environ-
mental education into the classroom, or working to improve literacy skills among elementary
school students, their daily work in the community provided tremendous opportunity for
growth. From this learning, they developed, alongside community members, research that
would serve as the basis for tangible, sustainable projects. In this newsletter, students dis-
cuss the experiences they have had in their communities, the research and projects they’ve
left behind, and the lessons they are taking with them as they board planes to fly home.
-CIEE-SL Staff
3
contents
Until the Streets of Santiago
-Hannah Currens Macalester College
What We Can Learn from Nature
-Erica Modeste, University of Richmond
Finding Harry Potter
-Victoria Ware, Stonehill College
Public Health: A Personal Responsibility
-Kimiko Kasama, Transylvania University
Alumni Update
4
10
12
Public Dissemination/Capstone and Tangible
Projects
6
8
14
Farewell Celebration 16
4
After spending most of the last two years in the land of tall, fair-
skinned, blue-eyed, blonde people, I got used to blending in
with the crowd. My home university, Macalester College, proud-
ly calls St. Paul, Minnesota, home. The liberal political leanings,
the quirky artistic culture, and the progressive social move-
ments are all familiar to me. I’ve almost mastered my Minneso-
tan accent, and I can navigate icy sidewalks with ease. The
Twin Cities are definitely a place where I feel like I belong.
Until I spent four months in a country where I completely stand
out, I never realized how much I was used to fitting in. I am five
feet and eight inches of blonde-haired, blue-eyed, gringa
(American girl). Although I’m already taller than most San-
tiagueros (natives of Santiago), I still keep my hair tied up in a
high bun on my head to beat the heat here in the Dominican
Republic. Thanks to the skin, the eyes, the hair, and the height
(which is further augmented by the aforementioned pile of hair),
I’m hard to miss as I walk through the streets of Santiago.
As my semester abroad draws to a close, I have begun reflect-
ing on the lessons learned in my time here in Santiago de los
Caballeros, Dominican Republic. Between my classes at Pon-
tificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra and my community
partnership with Fundación Cuidado Infantil Dominicano
(Dominican Childcare Foundation, or FCID), I have gained valu-
able knowledge of Spanish grammar and community develop-
ment in a developing country. Though I know these lessons will
serve me well in future academic and professional endeavors, I
believe the most valuable lessons this semester came as I
walked the city streets.
I certainly did a lot of walking in my work with FCID. In the com-
pany of seven different promotoras (community health case-
workers), I explored more than 20 different communities in the
province of Santiago de los Caballeros. We made an average
of three or four visits every afternoon to families of children with
disabilities. In each home, we provided rehabilitation services to
the children through an adaptive system that incorporates the
families and local assets. The result is the Community-Based
Rehabilitation program that is ideal for people with disabilities
living in poverty.
It only takes a walk down one of the busiest streets in the cen-
ter of the city, Calle del Sol, to realize the extent of exclusion
people with disabilities experience in Dominican society. There
are few ramps from the curbs into the streets, the sidewalks are
uneven and filled with bustling crowds, the traffic follows no
discernable pattern, and the few visible people with disabilities
attract numerous stares. I pursued these observations through
my research this semester to determine the extent to which the
society in Santiago is or is not open to people with disabilities.
My results were interesting, to say the least. Unfortunately, they
were not at all startling. I found that 58% of the children with
disabilities who participated in my study do not attend school,
and only 14.5% know how to read. There was also a substantial
correlation between physical disability and ability to navigate
the built environment in the city. There is a 92% probability that
children who can walk experience fewer than average difficul-
ties in the communities outside their homes. There was also
evidence of significant cultural obstacles, with 31-33% of chil-
dren experiencing at least one form of discrimination due to
their disabilities, and with the parents of 46% preferring that
their child not leave the home.
My results proved to me the necessity of education about rights
for people with disabilities. Significant change is needed in the
Dominican Republic to improve the lives of people with disabili-
Until the Streets of Santiago Hannah Currens
Geography
5
ties, but the change is not occurring at an adequate rate. This is
not because Santiagueros do not want to include people with
disabilities in their society. Rather, the vast majority of citizens
do not realize the extent to which social exclusion affects people
with disabilities. Just as I never realized how comfortably I fit in
until I stood out, most inhabitants would not realize the obsta-
cles on the city streets until they could not step over a curb or
could not use a concho (public transportation car). Perhaps the
most debilitating aspect of life for the population with disabilities
is the lack of knowledge about their own rights. The deficiency
in awareness prevents large parts of the community with disabil-
ities from fighting for those rights they lack. That there are few
advocates fighting for the rights of people with disabilities is
hardly a surprise, considering that the majority of the community
does not have the tools to advocate for themselves.
Community empowerment first comes from education, and the
children and families in FCID are in desperate need of educa-
tion about their basic rights. For my tangible project, I created a
picture book for the promotoras to bring to their visits. The book,
¡Claro que tú puedes! (Of Course You Can!), is based off the
United Nation’s Conference on the Rights of Persons with Disa-
bilities. It is designed to spark conversations with the children
and their families about what they should be able to do, and if
they can’t, how they can try to initiate change.
In the streets of Santiago, I’ve learned lessons that shaped my
understandings of society, privilege, and ability. Most impor-
tantly, I’ve learned the weight of the word until. It presents a
notion of further knowledge waiting until a new perspective is
gained. I didn’t realize how much I fit in until I stood out. I didn’t
consider how debilitating a city could be until I saw its infrastruc-
ture as obstacles. The best part about this word, however, is
that it also provides a hint of possibility. Someone will not fight
for their rights until they know what their rights are.
.
“There was also evidence of significant cultural obstacles, with 31-33% of children experiencing at least one form of discrimi-
nation due to their disabilities, and with the parents of 46% preferring that their
child not leave the home. “
6
I love all things living: humans, animals, plants, and sometimes
even mosquitos. I believe that humans have lost their integral
connection with nature. Over the years, we have forgotten the
love and strength that we receive from nature and, in turn, we
have lost a tremendous power. When that connection is lost,
problems emerge: disease, exploitation, and destruction. My
work, over the past four months in Oné Respé (Haitian Creole
for honor and respect), an organization that works with
marginalized communities of Dominicans and Haitians,
spanned from my desire to reestablish the connection between
man and earth within the heart of communities that need it
most.
Oné Respé emerged in the community of Gurabo to overcome
and fight against the discrimination, racism, and prejudice that
exist between the Haitians and the Dominicans of the communi-
ty. Escuelas comunitarias (community schools), like the Es-
cuela Comunitaria de Arturo Jiménes (Community School of
Arturo Jiménes), were built to be sources of intercultural
Erica Modeste
Biochemistry
What We Can Learn From Nature
7
education. Arturo Jiménes, the founder of the first community
school, hoped that the intercultural education would teach the
students to live together despite their differences.
Within the school of Arturo Jiménes, I spent many days within a
ten by ten foot room with about 30 rambunctious third and fourth
graders. Most days, I served as a classroom aid, helping out
with activities when necessary. My best days, however, were
always when I had the opportunity to teach. Some days, I would
teach basic English vocabulary, such as the parts of the body or
numbers, and other days, I was given the chance to facilitate
discussions about the environment. I enjoyed the discussions I
had with the students so much that I decided to focus my inves-
tigation on the perceptions, opinions, and information retained
by the students about the environment.
My investigation sought to explore whether the students in the
third and fourth grade had an environmental consciousness.
From my discussions, I found out really quickly that the students
knew so much about the importance of the environment in their
lives. More than 90% of the students agreed that we, as human
beings, depend on the environment to live, and we are respon-
sible for protecting it. They know all the methods for protecting
it. They know that we should plantar flores (plant flowers) and
that we should not tirar la basura en el suelo (throw trash on the
ground). Answers from the kids in my study arose from the
question about suelo. Some of my favorites : What is the
relationship between human beings and the plants and
animals? One student’s response was “Si no hay plantas, no
hay alimentos” (if there are no plants, there is no food).
Another’s response was “Todos son dependiente del otro” (we
depend on each other). The response that really hit home for
me was “el perro es el mejor amigo del hombre” (dogs are
man’s best friend). The students know so much about the need
and the role of the environment in our lives, but they have never
truly been given the chance to interact with the environment, to
learn from it, and to gain a respect for it on their own.
As a result, I have left the organization with a tangible project
that will serve as a guide for how to incorporate the environment
into the classroom and the lives of the students. I created a re-
source book that has environmental activities for teachers to
carry out both inside and outside of the classroom. The book
also contains coloring sheets for the younger students, and it
has instructions on how to begin a butterfly garden at the
school. These activities have the ability to invoke in the students
the desire to continue to take part or even lead environmental
activities within their community. This desire will not only span
the lifetime of the students, but can also be passed on from one
generation to the next.
An appreciation for nature does not stem from facts written in a
book. It is learned through experiences. One cannot understand
the true strength of nature until one feels its power for his or her
self. One cannot truly learn from nature, until one experiences
its true forces: never judge, never hold grudges, and forever
love. These are the lessons a community can learn from Mother
Nature. These are the lessons the students at Escuela Comuni-
taria de Arturo Jiménez can learn from interacting with nature.
The students know so much about the need and the role of the environment in our lives, but they have never truly been given the chance to interact with the en-vironment, to learn from it, and to gain a
respect for it on their own.
8
PUBLIC DISSEMINATION
The students´ culminating achievement after four months of working with non-profit organi-
zations in marginalized neighborhoods of Santiago, Dominican Republic, is their Public Dis-
semination. This is the opportunity they have to share the findings from their research to lead-
ers and members of their community organizations. This semester, our students conducted
community-based investigations on key topics such as Literacy, Environmental Education, Pub-
lic Health, and Rights of Children with Disabilities.
9
CAPSTONES AND TANGIBLE PROJECTS
Based on the community needs that students identified through their research
and community work, they collaborated with their organizations to create and
implement sustainable interventions to address these community issues. Their
Tangible Projects, along with their Capstones (the final written research reports),
are what they leave with their communities at the end of the semester.
Created resources for public health casework-
ers to lead community meetings with infor-
mation on the causes and symptoms of Hepa-
titis.
Kimiko Kasama—Juan XXIII:
Provided classroom supplies, such as work-
books and reading materials to help after-
school instructors improve the literacy of
their students.
Victoria Ware
—Niños con una Esperanza:
Developed a guide-
book of engaging activities to help make envi-
ronmental education more interesting and
part of the students´ daily academic life.
Erica Modeste—Oné Respé
Crafted a children’s picture
book for children with disabilities and their
families to learn about and develop ownership
over their rights as human beings.
Hannah Currens—Fundación
Cuidado Infantil Dominicano
10
Victoria Ware
Global Studies
When I was six or seven years old, I had a big problem in
school. You see, I had spent most of my before-school years
playing in the dirt and chasing around animals instead of being
in a classroom or hanging around some day-care center. Going
into kindergarten, the concept of things like letters and numbers
all seemed a bit bizarre to me. For me, reading was something
to dread. The other kids had no problems managing the words
that nearly always eluded me, and it was frustrating because it
just didn’t “click.” Near the end of the school year, the teachers
finally decided I needed help and I began to attend a few spe-
cial education classes in a small white-walled room in the base-
ment of the school so that I could get one-on-one attention for
my reading. Today, I don’t really remember the classes much,
but I do remember always walking out feeling inadequate as a
student and even more reluctant to struggle with something that
had always been so frustrating.
Eventually, summer came around, and I was grateful that
somewhere in those empty hours, I happened to pick up a Har-
ry Potter book. Today, I’m thankful for the combination of bore-
dom and curiosity that made me crack open the covers of that
book that day. Looking at the front cover of the book, I didn’t
know I’d spend all summer reading the series and leave my
teachers wondering why I had ever been placed in a special
reading class when I went back to school in the fall. Picking up
that book I didn’t know that it would make me go from the worst
reader in the class to being able to read at a middle school and
high school level while I was still in elementary school. And little
did I know that today in my junior year of college, 1,556 miles
away from home, it would make such a difference.
Signing up to study abroad in the Dominican Republic, I didn’t
really know what I was getting myself into, especially when I
decided that a typical study abroad program just wouldn’t work
for me. Now that I’m so close to the end of my study abroad
“In a class of twenty six, only six of the students could read. This means that 77% of the class faces similar difficul-ties to what I encountered as a student
learning how to read.”
Finding Harry Potter
11
experience, I recognize that I wouldn’t have wanted it any other
way. This semester I worked with Niños con una Esperanza
(Children with a Hope) as a part of the CIEE Service-Learning
Program. Niños con una Esperanza is an after school program
in Cienfuegos, the poorest barrio (neighborhood) of Santiago It
isl ocated next to the community’s big employer, the local land-
fill, Rafey. I spent my days in Niños con una Esperanza helping
the kids with English and computer homework, handing out the
daily merienda (snack), and working with the first and second
graders in their classroom. From day one, the children there
welcomed me with open arms. They didn’t always listen to me,
and they most certainly couldn’t always understand me, but like
it is for most kids, these sorts of things don’t really matter. What
mattered to them was who I sat next to, who needed my help,
who played with my hair, and how many of them could hug/hold
my hand at the same.
The first few weeks in the community were confusing and won-
derful as I got to know all the kids and learn more about the
organization itself. Later, when it came time to pick a research
topic with my director, I hardly expected it to be a topic that hit
so close to home. Somewhere along the way, I began a se-
mester-long research project on the very subject that caused
me so many problems years before: lectoescritura (literacy).
What I discovered with the first and second graders who partici-
pated in my study speaks volumes about the educational sys-
tem in the country. You see, while I had been an exception in
my elementary classroom, not being able to read here is the
norm. In a class of twenty-six, only six of the students could
read. This means that 77% of the class faces similar difficulties
to what I encountered as a student learning how to read. Fur-
thermore, only two students in the class could write the whole
alphabet with few errors, which places many of these students
at around a kindergarten level, even though they are supposed-
ly in first, second, and third grade. All of the older students, from
ages eight to twelve, were among those who couldn’t read; the
six students who could read were between ages six and seven.
One of the students in the aula (classroom) faces extreme diffi-
culties in lectoescritura as a result of not being enrolled in
school and only being able to learn what is covered in the after-
school program. Another one of the older students still had not
learned how to write his name.
As a part of the tangible project I’ve left behind for Niños con
una Esperanza, I gathered a series of classroom materials and
wrote a guide of potential activities for the teachers to do with
the class that will help them focus on improving their abilities in
lectoescritura. I also managed to secure some books that the
teacher has started using in the aula. As I was saying goodbye
to the students on my last day, I reflected on the little improve-
ments that they have already made in the short amount of time
that I got to spend with them, and I knew that with the new ma-
terials they will continue improving. Looking around at all of their
faces one last time, I left hoping that they find their equivalent of
my Harry Potter, because every child deserves to have the op-
portunity to let all the pieces that lead to literacy finally click into
place.
12
Houses side by side, some with tin roofs or cement ceilings.
Laundry drying on clotheslines, pavement, front porch, rock-
ing chairs, chickens, dogs, cats running through the streets,
and friendly smiles around every corner. This was the
everyday visual landscape of my community where I spent
almost four months working alongside my two promotoras
(public health caseworkers) collecting and updating medical
information and making house visits with the community
doctor. The neighborhood of Cristo Rey, where I drew my
population sample for my research, is a community that ex-
periences burdens created by low wages and health pro-
blems that are exacerbated by very contaminated streets,
water, and air. After spending hours getting to know the
community and observing these issues, I was prompted to
carry out a research investigation about the environment
and its relationship to public health.
Every Monday through Thursday afternoon, after
classes at the university ended, I would head to my commu-
nity in the “K” concho (public transportation car). The “K”
would drop me off at the corner of the main street near Cris-
to Rey, and I would walk ten minutes until I reached the
stoop where I would patiently wait for my promotora, Mella,
to arrive (keeping in mind that in “Dominican time” she
would be arriving after the time we scheduled). When Mella
arrived, we would greet each other with the customary hug
and kiss on one side of the cheek—this was one of my
favorite parts about meeting my promotora because I always
felt more welcomed and received by her as a foreign
student. From there, we would go to a particular house to
work with a child with a disability or walk through the streets
making stops to update family medical records for the
Ministerio de Salud Publica (Ministry of Public Health).
These recordswill eventually be put into a digital database at
the public hospital, Centro de Atención Primaria Juan XXIII
(Primary Care Center Juan XXIII). Every day as I worked in
my community, although it sometimes seemed monotonous,
Public health: a personal responsibility
Kimiko Kasama
Spanish
13
I always learned something new or saw something that wasn’t
there before to add to the constantly evolving perspective I
have of Cristo Rey. I will take away many things from my
experience in the community, especially a new appreciation
for community workers who have roles similar to those of my
promotoras. Community development is slow, and is often
delayed by economic setbacks; however, those who go out
every day, despite the adverse circumstances, to continue
working closely with members of their own community, to
improve public sanitation, educate about illness and disease,
or assist in family planning, are the real agents of positive
social change.
I believe my research project on the environment and public
health is helpful for the community. From the results, I got to
know the terms on which the people based their understand-
ing of the environment and public health, and the relationship
between the two. Additionally, I investigated what they knew
about how certain communicable diseases within this country
were transmitted, and I discovered the majority had wrong
information or didn’t know. For example, in the case of the
vector-borne viral disease chikungunya, which is spread
through mosquitoes, only 32% of those surveyed knew that
this illness is spread by mosquitoes. In the case of malaria,
only 34% of the research population knew that it, too, was
transmitted by a certain type of mosquito.
With these results in mind, I developed a tangible pro-
ject, with the help and insight of my promotoras, to educate
the community about the causes
and symptoms of hepatitis, and
the differences between hepatitis A, B, and C. The Dominican
Republic has been reported as having a high risk for exces-
sive cases of people with hepatitis A. In the community of
Cristo Rey, only a little over half of the research population
demonstrated knowledge of hepatitis A. Therefore, to help
educate the population on this subject, I created materials for
a charla (community talk) that can be disseminated by promo-
toras in six communities in the area, and I instructed the pro-
motoras how these materials can be used to inform members
of their community about the disease. Each charla package
includes a binder with the important information and a set of
10 brochures to hand out to charla participants, so they can
easily follow along as their promotora presents them with the
information. To ensure the sustainability of my project, I de-
signed and purchased materials that can be reused for
months and. hopefully, years, to come. For example, the bro-
chures are made with durable, laminated paper; promotoras
can share the brochures with many people without worry
about them getting damaged and can also make copies if they
wish. Similarly, the binder materials are kept in plastic sleeves
and include copies to assist in spreading the information.
Through all the laughs, frustrations, and opportunities
for personal growth, I would say my work in the community
strung together many facets of my experience as a service-
learning student, as an individual, and as an exchange stu-
dent in a host university. The relationships fostered through
community work and the cultural exchange that occurred
throughout the process has been an irreplaceable experience
that has helped to shape me into the more globalized student I
intend to be. I am so thankful for the struggles because, in
them, I found a strength in me I didn’t know I had, and I am
eternally grateful to the community and people at Centro de
Atención Primaria Juan XXIII for enabling me to be immersed
in a new culture and to impact lives at the same time that mine
was being changed.
“I investigated what they knew about how certain communicable diseases
within this country were transmitted, and I discovered the majority had wrong in-
formation or didn’t know.”
14
Alumni Update Get a glimpse of what our alumni are up to! Two past students who have be-
come a community organizer and a non-profit founder, report on the impact
the CIEE Service-Learning program has had on their lives after graduation.
Talia Brock
CIEE SL Student
Spring 2012
Graduated from:
Denison University
Spring 2013
Degree: B.A. in
English Literature
As an SL student, Talia created a curriculum for the
student leaders called the Lideres Defesores de Nues-
tro País (Leaders Defending Our Country) at Niños con
una Espernza. After graduation she spent a year vol-
unteering and became the Bilingual Tenant Organizer
at Latino Economic Development Economic Center
(LEDC) in Washington, D.C. She has been working as a
community organizer with LEDC since August 2014.
Q: What do you miss most about your community?
I am constantly floored by the wisdom of young people, and I miss the conversa-tions and the learning experiences I had with my students at Niños con una Es-peranza.
Q: How did your semester in SL serve you in the rest
of your college career and life beyond the program?
I would probably not be where I am today without my study abroad experience because it was during that trip to Santiago that I solidified my interest in social justice work. I left the DR feeling certain, at long last, that I was going to become an activist. After I returned to college in the Fall of 2012, I was changed irrevoca-bly. I learned so much about the inner workings of non-profits, the type of dedi-cation it takes to be an organizer, and the importance of community building from my time at Niños con una Esperanza. I draw from these past experiences often when navigating my work at LEDC.
Favorite Dominican
Foods: Tostones,
arepitas, guandules
Favorite Memory: Her
six fellow classmates
(aka: “siete locos”)
15
Jacob Taddy
Jacob worked with Arte a Mano, a group of artisans in
Santiago, during his semester abroad. After community-
based research to try and discover the most pressing
needs of the group, he ultimately helped to finalize Arte a
Mano’s bylaws, researched the process to formally form a
cooperative within the Dominican Republic, and sub-
mitted the first steps for this application. Now, Jacob is
running his own non-profit that works with Dominican
communities to provide micro-enterprise development
services.
CIEE SL Student Spring
2011
Graduated from: Univer-
sity of Wisconsin, Madi-
son
Degree: Non Profit Man-
agement and Religious
Studies
Favorite Dominican
Foods: Rice, beans, fried
plantains, fresh Domini-
can chicken
Favorite Memory:
Rural Stay in Río Limpio
Q: How did your semester in SL serve you in the rest
of your college career and life beyond the program?
Throughout the CIEE SL curriculum, we asked tough questions about service learning, volun-tourism, and community development. We learned to keep our '“privilege” in check, understand to work toward our strengths and, similar to the Paul Farmer pairing of anthropology and aid, to put the understanding and the needs identified by the community as our utmost priority. Working with Arte a Mano was my first hands-on experience in micro-enterprise development. These concepts led to further research on successful ways to do international aid and, ultimately, I formed a non-profit organization, Onwards. Onwards is work-ing to address poverty and transform the travel industry. We provide micro-enterprise development services to aid entrepreneurs in developing countries looking to start or expand a tourism-based business. These businesses then pro-vide a set of authentic, adventurous, sustainable, and cultural travel opportuni-ties, and we serve as a non-profit travel agency to support these businesses.
Q: What’s one thing you will always remember about
CIEE SL?
Our Rural Stay in Río Limpio. The community seemed to be such a great example of community development, with projects ranging from sustainable agricultural production to a budding local tourism industry, and it showed me the necessity of community ownership of projects for success.
For more information about Onwards, the non-profit founded by Jacob, visit: Onwardsinc.org.
16
Farewell Celebration
“Tonight we look back on all that we’ve accomplished this
semester and realize none of it would’ve been possible
without the amazing support of our host families, profes-
sors, community organizations, friends, and CIEE staff.
Many thanks go out to our support team. Gracias!”
Muchas
gracias!
Suerte!
Felicidades!
17
Thank you!
Congrats!
Good Luck!
18
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 Bown, [email protected]
Program Assistant: Dorka Tejada, dtejada@ ciee.org
Alumni Intern: Courtney Newsome, [email protected]
Visit CIEE Service-Learning
to learn more!
Ciee-slsantiago
Twitter SL Santiago DR
Facebook CIEE SL, DR
Study Santiago, DR SL
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