- T
- P
I. The Problem
The community of Las Malvinas, a northern suburb of the capital city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, is a low-income neighborhood where the well-being of local residents is negatively impacted by inadequate health education and poor access to basic health services.
II. The Goal
The goal of the Lifting Communities project is to empower the people of Las Malvinas to improve their personal well-being by providing basic health, nutrition, and fitness education and improving access to affordable medications.
III. The Project
The project is built on 3 distinct branches, each one leveraging volunteer labor, previous Practivistas Dominicana projects, and donations in-kind to maximize the impact on the community while minimizing the cost. We expect to assist the entire community, approximately 3,400 people, with improved access to affordable medicines, provide basic health education to 320 youths and adults, and provide sports and fitness equipment and training to 120 community members of all ages.
a. Public Pharmacy
i. Finalize Construction of the Pharmacy
The first branch of the project is to open a public pharmacy. In the Dominican Republic, a public pharmacy or “botica popular” is a very small pharmacy which sells government-subsidized medications.
Photo: Public pharmacy in 2015.
These pharmacies are located in low-income neighborhoods where residents cannot afford the medicines sold in larger pharmacies nor the transportations costs to get there.
Photo: Final concept renders for the public pharmacy by Colectivo Revark.
For the last couple of years, students from the Practivistas program have been working on building an environmentally friendly building to host a public pharmacy. Built with recycled materials and powered by solar-energy, the building is nearly complete but needs a few finishing touches before it can be opened.
Photo: First concept render for the public pharmacy by Colectivo Revark.
Remaining to be completed are such tasks as installing the rainwater catchment system, replacing the water pump, connecting the solar panel to the building’s electrical systems, finishing the floors, and painting. We will also stock the pharmacy with basic office furniture including chairs, a desk, shelves, a cash box, and ledgers for record keeping. These steps must be completed before the building can meet the basic requirements to received government-subsidized medications.
ii. Operationalize the Pharmacy
Once the building is completed, the Project Leaders will work together to request the necessary permissions from the government. This process can take a long time and requires regular follow up and visits to government offices. The Project Leaders are better able to procure these permissions on behalf of the community because of greater mobility and government connections.
Photo: Recent photo of the public pharmacy or botica popular. (It now has metal door and window. More on how it was built.)
The completion and opening of the public pharmacy was identified as one of the top three needs of the Las Malvinas community at several community meetings. Finalizing this project will bring much needed low-cost medications to a community which otherwise does not have access. (A small side benefit to the project is that, once the permissions are received and the pharmacy can open, the government will pay the salaries of the local community members who will staff the pharmacy, leading to income-generation for a few people.)
b. Health Education Workshops
i. Youth Workshops
The second branch of the project is a series of health education workshops. The younger community members will be split into two groups – 12 to 14 years and 15 to 18 years. Both age groups will have 2 sessions of approximately 45 minutes each. The focus for the 12-14 year age group will be standard personal hygiene as well as basic human reproductive systems education. For the older youths, the topic will be more advanced reproductive health as well as basic nutrition information.
Photo: One of the groups of 25 teenager students currently taking classes in the new Las Malvinas plastic-bottle schoolroom.
The workshops will be held in the local elementary school and will be managed by our Medical Consultant. We expect to reach approximately 160 youths with these workshops and will then train 3-6 young adults (aged 20-30) on how to lead such talks in the future. These workshops will help to give the young people of Las Malvinas the information they need to adopt healthy habits and make informed choices about their bodies, which will help them improve their overall health and well-being.
ii. Adult Workshops
The adult workshops will be for community members aged 19 and above. The focus of these workshops will be nutrition and disease prevention and maintenance. The nutrition portion will include details about basic nutrition as well as nutritional concerns for children and the elderly, all with an eye on meal preparation with a very limited budget and limited access to high quality natural foods. The disease prevention and maintenance portion will focus on both dietary, exercise, and other lifestyle choices which can help prevent and/or mitigate the impact of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and high blood-pressure.
Photo: Community Center where workshops will be held, and will also be managed by our Medical Consultant.
We expect to reach approximately 160 community members and will then train 3-6 adults (aged 20 and above) on how to lead such talks in the future.
Photo: Workshop at Las Malvinas Community Center.
These workshops will help give the adults of Las Malvinas the information they need to use nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices to protect their own health and the health of their dependents.
c. Sports and Training
i. Cleaning Fields and Providing Equipment
For the third branch of the Lifting Communities project, we plan to collaborate with fitness communities from all over Santo Domingo. Personal trainers, power lifters, body builders, and fitness enthusiasts of all kinds will be brought together for a few days of community service to guide and inspire the people of Las Malvinas. The first step is to prepare the physical space. Fitness volunteers and residents will work together to pick up trash in the community, focusing on the sports fields, and do some basic field maintenance so the land is ready for play. We will also provide the girls’ volleyball team and the boys’ baseball team with the basic equipment they need to play well and safely.
Photo: Las Malvinas Teenage Girls Volleyball Team.
Studies have shown that participation in sports can result in reduced likelihood of drug use, teenage pregnancy, and other risky behaviors which negatively impact health. We will also provide limited light-weight and easy to use exercise equipment – such as TRX bands – for the adults. This equipment will be held in the Community Center or by a Community Leader and will be available for all to use. Providing adults with simple exercise equipment will enable them to stay active and implement some of the healthy lifestyle choices discussed in the Adults Workshops.
ii. Providing Exercise Training
Once we have the space cleaned up, the fitness volunteers will run group exercise classes with the community members to demonstrate how quick and easy (and fun!) exercise can be. Four sessions will be held, each approximately 30 minutes, during which volunteers will lead the community members through a series of body weight resistance training and interval cardio exercises designed to improve the overall fitness of participants. Though we expect to have approximately 30 participants at each session, all community members will be welcome and the number of participants will not be restricted. Similar to the education workshops, we will identify a small number of enthusiastic community members (approximately 3-6, ages 20 years and above) who will be trained on how to lead similar group sessions and basic weight-lifting techniques using body weight and home-made equipment so that these community exercise sessions can continue even after the Lifting Communities project has come to a close. This will create a sustainable opportunity for community members to improve their fitness and overall well-being through regular exercise.
IV. Budget
The total budgeted cost of the project is $3,760. We have been promised $490 worth of donations in-kind from community members so the final budget we are requesting is $3,270. Because the project is run entirely on volunteer labor, over 85% is for raw materials, of which $1,200 will be spent on sports equipment for community's youths and $850 will be spent on the water pump that will serve the public pharmacy. The water pump and completion of the public pharmacy represent the largest portion of the budget with 45%, followed by the sports and training which requires 43%, and finally the workshops for the remaining 12%.
V. Background
a. Organization: Colectivo Revark
The project will be run through Colectivo Revark, a local grassroots NGO dedicated to sustainable community development. Founded in 2010, by Abel Castillo, Joel Mercedes y Wilfredo Mena, the organization has participated in projects and workshops in six different countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. In 2011, Colectivo Revark began the Practivistas Dominicana Program: a summer immersion program conducted in collaboration with Humbolt State University which brings together American and Dominican students to help communities find sustainable solutions to systemic problems. The Las Malvinas community was chosen as the primary site of the Practivistas program in 2011 and the program has returned there every year since because of the enthusiastic collaboration and profound contributions made by the local residents. Colectivo Revark on Facebook.
b. Project Leaders
i. Wilfredo Mena Veras – Team Leader
Wilfredo Mena Veras is a Domincan architect, entrepreneur, personal trainer, and philanthropist. A dedicated sustainable development advocate with a Master of Science in Architecture and City Planning from Universidad de Alcala de Henares (2009, Madrid, Spain). Later in the year, back in the Dominican Republic, he co-founded Colectivo Revark and has been the National Program Coordinator for the organization’s Practivistas program since 2011. He is also a certified personal trainer and competitive bodybuilder. Wilfredo on LinkeIn.
ii. Laura Estrella – Assistant Team Leader
Laura Estrella is an Industrial Engineer from the Dominican Republic with a great love for fitness and community involvement. She has 4 years of teaching experience and a record of service towards the Dominican community including fundraising, organizing donations for orphans and spending her free time as a mentor for young children. She is also a competitive powerlifter and hopes to be an example of female empowerment for young girls in the communities where she works. Laura on LinkedIn.
iii. Michelle Nau – Finance Manager
Michelle Nau is an American accountant and financial manager with a Bachelor of Science in Corporate Finance and Accounting and a Master of Science in Finance from Bentley Univeristy. She has over 10 years of experience working with both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations both in the US and internationally. From 2009-2011, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bostwana where she supported and managed grants from USAID, the EU, AED, PCI, and others. In 2014, she moved to the Dominican Republic to learn Spanish and work with economic and community development. Michelle has taught Latin dance and aerobics classes and is now a general fitness enthusiast. Michelle on LinkeIn.
iv. Heriberto Trinidad – Community Liaison
Heriberto “Eddy” Trinidad is a community leader, adviser and former president of the Neighborhood Community of Las Malvinas of Villa Mella, Santo Domingo Norte. Heriberto has served the community for 12 years, proposing and implementing innovative ideas for the development of the community, and always ensuring the welfare of all. During his time as president, he helped organize community projects with various institutions and organizations including Inteligencias Colectivas, Universidad Iberoamericana, Colectivo Revark, the Appropedia Foundation, the Rotary Club, and TECHO, among others. Many of the latest developments in infrastructure, education and sustainability that have occurred in Las Malvinas are due to the vision, initiative, and open-arms policy Eddy has always shown for this community.
v. Sobeida Familia – Community Liaison
Sobeida Familia is a community leader with entrepreneurial spirit and every desire to advance the community of Las Malvinas of Villa Mella. As the current President of the Neighborhood, she has been commissioned to continue the development work that has occurred in the community in recent years. She has worked closely with Eddy Trinidad in the past and, more importantly, has given a voice to the female population of the community which has always shown an interest in the healthy development of the community and their families.
vi. Cesar Cedeño – Medical Consultant
Cesar Cedeño is a Medical Doctor from the Dominican Republic. Cesar graduated from the Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) and has over a year of experience working with individuals with medical conditions as a strength coach at BodyIgnition Facility. From November 2013 to February 2014, he served as a primary care physician in Bani, Dominican Republic where he taught proper hygiene, and disease and STI prevention to various community groups such as teens, pre-teens and adults. He is currently preparing to go abroad and obtain a Master´s degree in Exercise Physiology. Cesar on LinkedIn.
Personal Note: In the past, similar projects have been run with great success. Our funding is simply not available this year. But we won't let that stop us! This community is filled with hard working people looking to improve their lives and we are going to support them in doing that. The project leaders are dedicated and experienced and are absolutely convinced that this small amount of money can be leveraged into real change in this underserved community. Every donation helps and every dollar is appreciated! Gracias!
The community of Las Malvinas, a northern suburb of the capital city of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, is a low-income neighborhood where the well-being of local residents is negatively impacted by inadequate health education and poor access to basic health services.
II. The Goal
The goal of the Lifting Communities project is to empower the people of Las Malvinas to improve their personal well-being by providing basic health, nutrition, and fitness education and improving access to affordable medications.
III. The Project
The project is built on 3 distinct branches, each one leveraging volunteer labor, previous Practivistas Dominicana projects, and donations in-kind to maximize the impact on the community while minimizing the cost. We expect to assist the entire community, approximately 3,400 people, with improved access to affordable medicines, provide basic health education to 320 youths and adults, and provide sports and fitness equipment and training to 120 community members of all ages.
a. Public Pharmacy
i. Finalize Construction of the Pharmacy
The first branch of the project is to open a public pharmacy. In the Dominican Republic, a public pharmacy or “botica popular” is a very small pharmacy which sells government-subsidized medications.
Photo: Public pharmacy in 2015.These pharmacies are located in low-income neighborhoods where residents cannot afford the medicines sold in larger pharmacies nor the transportations costs to get there.
Photo: Final concept renders for the public pharmacy by Colectivo Revark.For the last couple of years, students from the Practivistas program have been working on building an environmentally friendly building to host a public pharmacy. Built with recycled materials and powered by solar-energy, the building is nearly complete but needs a few finishing touches before it can be opened.
Photo: First concept render for the public pharmacy by Colectivo Revark.Remaining to be completed are such tasks as installing the rainwater catchment system, replacing the water pump, connecting the solar panel to the building’s electrical systems, finishing the floors, and painting. We will also stock the pharmacy with basic office furniture including chairs, a desk, shelves, a cash box, and ledgers for record keeping. These steps must be completed before the building can meet the basic requirements to received government-subsidized medications.
ii. Operationalize the Pharmacy
Once the building is completed, the Project Leaders will work together to request the necessary permissions from the government. This process can take a long time and requires regular follow up and visits to government offices. The Project Leaders are better able to procure these permissions on behalf of the community because of greater mobility and government connections.
Photo: Recent photo of the public pharmacy or botica popular. (It now has metal door and window. More on how it was built.)The completion and opening of the public pharmacy was identified as one of the top three needs of the Las Malvinas community at several community meetings. Finalizing this project will bring much needed low-cost medications to a community which otherwise does not have access. (A small side benefit to the project is that, once the permissions are received and the pharmacy can open, the government will pay the salaries of the local community members who will staff the pharmacy, leading to income-generation for a few people.)
b. Health Education Workshops
i. Youth Workshops
The second branch of the project is a series of health education workshops. The younger community members will be split into two groups – 12 to 14 years and 15 to 18 years. Both age groups will have 2 sessions of approximately 45 minutes each. The focus for the 12-14 year age group will be standard personal hygiene as well as basic human reproductive systems education. For the older youths, the topic will be more advanced reproductive health as well as basic nutrition information.
Photo: One of the groups of 25 teenager students currently taking classes in the new Las Malvinas plastic-bottle schoolroom.The workshops will be held in the local elementary school and will be managed by our Medical Consultant. We expect to reach approximately 160 youths with these workshops and will then train 3-6 young adults (aged 20-30) on how to lead such talks in the future. These workshops will help to give the young people of Las Malvinas the information they need to adopt healthy habits and make informed choices about their bodies, which will help them improve their overall health and well-being.
ii. Adult Workshops
The adult workshops will be for community members aged 19 and above. The focus of these workshops will be nutrition and disease prevention and maintenance. The nutrition portion will include details about basic nutrition as well as nutritional concerns for children and the elderly, all with an eye on meal preparation with a very limited budget and limited access to high quality natural foods. The disease prevention and maintenance portion will focus on both dietary, exercise, and other lifestyle choices which can help prevent and/or mitigate the impact of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and high blood-pressure.
Photo: Community Center where workshops will be held, and will also be managed by our Medical Consultant.We expect to reach approximately 160 community members and will then train 3-6 adults (aged 20 and above) on how to lead such talks in the future.
Photo: Workshop at Las Malvinas Community Center. These workshops will help give the adults of Las Malvinas the information they need to use nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices to protect their own health and the health of their dependents.
c. Sports and Training
i. Cleaning Fields and Providing Equipment
For the third branch of the Lifting Communities project, we plan to collaborate with fitness communities from all over Santo Domingo. Personal trainers, power lifters, body builders, and fitness enthusiasts of all kinds will be brought together for a few days of community service to guide and inspire the people of Las Malvinas. The first step is to prepare the physical space. Fitness volunteers and residents will work together to pick up trash in the community, focusing on the sports fields, and do some basic field maintenance so the land is ready for play. We will also provide the girls’ volleyball team and the boys’ baseball team with the basic equipment they need to play well and safely.
Photo: Las Malvinas Teenage Girls Volleyball Team. Studies have shown that participation in sports can result in reduced likelihood of drug use, teenage pregnancy, and other risky behaviors which negatively impact health. We will also provide limited light-weight and easy to use exercise equipment – such as TRX bands – for the adults. This equipment will be held in the Community Center or by a Community Leader and will be available for all to use. Providing adults with simple exercise equipment will enable them to stay active and implement some of the healthy lifestyle choices discussed in the Adults Workshops.
ii. Providing Exercise Training
Once we have the space cleaned up, the fitness volunteers will run group exercise classes with the community members to demonstrate how quick and easy (and fun!) exercise can be. Four sessions will be held, each approximately 30 minutes, during which volunteers will lead the community members through a series of body weight resistance training and interval cardio exercises designed to improve the overall fitness of participants. Though we expect to have approximately 30 participants at each session, all community members will be welcome and the number of participants will not be restricted. Similar to the education workshops, we will identify a small number of enthusiastic community members (approximately 3-6, ages 20 years and above) who will be trained on how to lead similar group sessions and basic weight-lifting techniques using body weight and home-made equipment so that these community exercise sessions can continue even after the Lifting Communities project has come to a close. This will create a sustainable opportunity for community members to improve their fitness and overall well-being through regular exercise.
IV. Budget
The total budgeted cost of the project is $3,760. We have been promised $490 worth of donations in-kind from community members so the final budget we are requesting is $3,270. Because the project is run entirely on volunteer labor, over 85% is for raw materials, of which $1,200 will be spent on sports equipment for community's youths and $850 will be spent on the water pump that will serve the public pharmacy. The water pump and completion of the public pharmacy represent the largest portion of the budget with 45%, followed by the sports and training which requires 43%, and finally the workshops for the remaining 12%.
V. Background
a. Organization: Colectivo Revark
The project will be run through Colectivo Revark, a local grassroots NGO dedicated to sustainable community development. Founded in 2010, by Abel Castillo, Joel Mercedes y Wilfredo Mena, the organization has participated in projects and workshops in six different countries throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. In 2011, Colectivo Revark began the Practivistas Dominicana Program: a summer immersion program conducted in collaboration with Humbolt State University which brings together American and Dominican students to help communities find sustainable solutions to systemic problems. The Las Malvinas community was chosen as the primary site of the Practivistas program in 2011 and the program has returned there every year since because of the enthusiastic collaboration and profound contributions made by the local residents. Colectivo Revark on Facebook.
b. Project Leaders
i. Wilfredo Mena Veras – Team Leader
Wilfredo Mena Veras is a Domincan architect, entrepreneur, personal trainer, and philanthropist. A dedicated sustainable development advocate with a Master of Science in Architecture and City Planning from Universidad de Alcala de Henares (2009, Madrid, Spain). Later in the year, back in the Dominican Republic, he co-founded Colectivo Revark and has been the National Program Coordinator for the organization’s Practivistas program since 2011. He is also a certified personal trainer and competitive bodybuilder. Wilfredo on LinkeIn.
ii. Laura Estrella – Assistant Team Leader
Laura Estrella is an Industrial Engineer from the Dominican Republic with a great love for fitness and community involvement. She has 4 years of teaching experience and a record of service towards the Dominican community including fundraising, organizing donations for orphans and spending her free time as a mentor for young children. She is also a competitive powerlifter and hopes to be an example of female empowerment for young girls in the communities where she works. Laura on LinkedIn.
iii. Michelle Nau – Finance Manager
Michelle Nau is an American accountant and financial manager with a Bachelor of Science in Corporate Finance and Accounting and a Master of Science in Finance from Bentley Univeristy. She has over 10 years of experience working with both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations both in the US and internationally. From 2009-2011, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bostwana where she supported and managed grants from USAID, the EU, AED, PCI, and others. In 2014, she moved to the Dominican Republic to learn Spanish and work with economic and community development. Michelle has taught Latin dance and aerobics classes and is now a general fitness enthusiast. Michelle on LinkeIn.
iv. Heriberto Trinidad – Community Liaison
Heriberto “Eddy” Trinidad is a community leader, adviser and former president of the Neighborhood Community of Las Malvinas of Villa Mella, Santo Domingo Norte. Heriberto has served the community for 12 years, proposing and implementing innovative ideas for the development of the community, and always ensuring the welfare of all. During his time as president, he helped organize community projects with various institutions and organizations including Inteligencias Colectivas, Universidad Iberoamericana, Colectivo Revark, the Appropedia Foundation, the Rotary Club, and TECHO, among others. Many of the latest developments in infrastructure, education and sustainability that have occurred in Las Malvinas are due to the vision, initiative, and open-arms policy Eddy has always shown for this community.
v. Sobeida Familia – Community Liaison
Sobeida Familia is a community leader with entrepreneurial spirit and every desire to advance the community of Las Malvinas of Villa Mella. As the current President of the Neighborhood, she has been commissioned to continue the development work that has occurred in the community in recent years. She has worked closely with Eddy Trinidad in the past and, more importantly, has given a voice to the female population of the community which has always shown an interest in the healthy development of the community and their families.
vi. Cesar Cedeño – Medical Consultant
Cesar Cedeño is a Medical Doctor from the Dominican Republic. Cesar graduated from the Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) and has over a year of experience working with individuals with medical conditions as a strength coach at BodyIgnition Facility. From November 2013 to February 2014, he served as a primary care physician in Bani, Dominican Republic where he taught proper hygiene, and disease and STI prevention to various community groups such as teens, pre-teens and adults. He is currently preparing to go abroad and obtain a Master´s degree in Exercise Physiology. Cesar on LinkedIn.
Personal Note: In the past, similar projects have been run with great success. Our funding is simply not available this year. But we won't let that stop us! This community is filled with hard working people looking to improve their lives and we are going to support them in doing that. The project leaders are dedicated and experienced and are absolutely convinced that this small amount of money can be leveraged into real change in this underserved community. Every donation helps and every dollar is appreciated! Gracias!