March and April were two truly crazy months of my Peace Corps service. I made a trip home a year after I left, to the day, to celebrate my cousin (aka sister) and her engagement. Back in my site later in March, my site mate, Jessica, and I had two trainees visit to observe us in school and also for us to answer all of their burning questions. Their visit brought some serious energy back into my life with their fresh eyes and excitement. Early April I had the pleasure of running in the Punta Cana half marathon. It was a gorgeous run, even if we did start before sunrise. That actually made it more beautiful watching the sunrise on the horizon of the Caribbean on the beach. Of course that weekend I also watched by Spartan boys play in the Final Four. Even though they did not pull out the win, I was still incredibly proud they made it (GO GREEN!)
Amidst all of this chaos, there were two events related to one of my projects that stood out the most in these two months. In January I started my Brigada Verde (Green Brigade) group. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, this is a group of eleven 7th-9th graders that meets with me to learn about different topics relating to environmental science. Mid-March was the annual Youth Environmental Conference in Jarabacoa, La Vega. This conference is an opportunity for collaboration between a 7th grade class from a school in California and the various Dominican students that participate on behalf of the Brigada Verde groups across the country. The setting was perfect; the Institute where the conference is held is in the mountains, lush with green trees and plants and a variety of wildlife. Because of this change in scenery from my typical brown desert dust and landscape, I was refreshed and from the moment I stepped on the campus I felt the energy from the nature around me.
The first day we arrived in the afternoon, so we focused more on the objectives of the conference and getting to know one another. We were all split into 5 groups, with a mix of Dominican schools and the American students. Our goal as a group was to choose the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development we felt was most important and create a PSA about it as our final project.
Our first full day focused on a series of six different projects to help around the campus. We dug holes to plant trees and learned how they make organic compost. On the Institute’s hillside terrace, we worked on planting a line of herbs in order to help stabilize the landings on the hillside in order to decrease possible erosion. We conducted water quality tests on the campus lake, which showed us how contaminated that body of water really is. We helped build a bridge to connect the forest trail to the campus, filled bags with soil that would later be used to plant seedlings in the arboretum. And finally we helped beautify the campus by painting fences. Learning about water quality in this country was most important for our Dominican students because we have been dealing with a drought for many months now and based on my observations around the country, people do not seem to understand the severity of the drought.
Everyone was pretty exhausted after the labor-intensive activities and was very excited to continue onto our next excursion, a natural river up the road in the mountains. What we did not realize was how cold the river would be! But the kids and most of the volunteers still enjoyed it. After dinner we had a fun cultural exchange planned for the kids. We had a dance party to teach the American kids how to dance bachata, merengue and salsa. The Dominican students loved it and I could not believe how good the American kids learned the various dances, and so quickly too! We danced for over two hours, eventually switching to more American music and showing some "dances" from the States. The intermingling of the students from both sides was really heart-warming to see.
The next day we focused on making our PSA video. Our group focused on the goal called "Partnerships for the Goals", which promotes forming alliances internationally in order to reach the entirety of our sustainable development goals. If we do not work together in a world that we share, how can we ever truly fulfill our goals? Our creativity flourished in this video and we were all very proud of it. All of the groups produced wonderful videos.
We finished our last night with a pizza party then said our goodbyes to the group of American students. The conference came and went like the wind and I found myself leaving the next morning with a pit in my stomach, sad and in disbelief that it was already over. Working and collaborating amongst such great minds surrounded by the environment put me back in my element.
Although we left the conference, the work did not stop there. My counterpart returned to school a force, motivated to begin a variety of projects. Within three weeks of the conference she had already facilitated her two eighth grade class projects: creating trash bins using plastic water bottles.
To continue educating our students through collaboration, our querida (dear) Brigada Verde president, Elizabeth (PCV), put on a regional conference for the Cibao (North). This past weekend, April 27, seven different Brigada Verde groups reunited in Monte Cristi.
Some of the students at the Institute came to lead two activities; the first focused on solid waste and the second on making something beautiful out of recycled materials. The issue of solid waste in this country is one of the biggest I have seen in my time here thus far because no one is very conscientious about where trash goes and drop it wherever they stand. This has affected mainly our waterways, creating another grave issue here in the DR. Unfortunately, it seems the country still does not have an advanced infrastructure for waste or recycling, so even if there is a trash pick up in a community, no one knows where the men drop it off.
The recycling activity was useful to our students because, in the schools especially, everyone loves making flowers. By using the plastic cups that are so readily used here daily for soda, water or beer, instead of throwing those away we can reuse them to beautify a space with artificial flowers. Of course this is a small thing one can do to reduce and reuse plastic, but at least it is a start.
To finish our conference, we took the participants on a tour of the Mangrove forest on the coast of Monte Cristi. Our tour guide was wonderful and very informative. I did not realize the vastness of the Mangrove National Park, and we only saw a small portion. Mangroves have incredible qualities that are useful to the environment and also human populations. They help purify the water of sediments and any pollutants from the mainland, beneficial to marine wildlife. The root system helps prevent soil erosion and also provides shoreline protection from hurricane storms. Mangrove restoration should be a priority here in the DR, and also in Florida (in my humble opinion).
We finished this conference sweaty and exhausted, since it was entirely led by volunteers. But the excitement of the participants afterwards was gratifying enough. There was a group that had never left their small campo or been on a boat, so everything else aside, if they did not gain anything from the activities, at least we gave them the opportunity to travel a little outside of their home town.
After these two spectacular conferences I am moving forward in hopes that my students that have shared these experiences with me will help propel the rest of our group into action in our own community. We have a big waste issue that has impacted our waterways. Because of the trash that is thrown on the street, it blocks our rivers and creates stagnant water, which in turn provides the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos. And we definitely do not need more mosquitos. I am hopeful we can begin an environmental movement here in my little town, and maybe in my last year of service we can start to see a change for the better of our environment.