Serving to Empower the Community
Donation protected
Hi to all,
My name is Sara and I would like to thank you for taking a couple of minutes to read this. I promise to make this as brief as possible and get to the point, so please resist any temptation to move on to the next most entertaining thing and the vast web until you read everything. That being said, let me tell you what this is all about.
In the summer of 2015, I volunteered in a physical rehabilitation center in Santiago de los Cabelleros, Dominican Republic via University of Florida's study abroad program. There I observed countless patients suffering from conditions due to both environmental contamination and lack of education. The frustration I felt knowing that such limitations affect the health and future of so many people, motivated me to commit myself to help these communities. I wanted to contribute something with long-lasting effects. Education empowers by giving people knowledge that is indestructible and can be passed down through generations, so I came up with the idea to develop various workshops to provide public health education to vulnerable communities of Santiago, Dominican Republic. Over the past year, I have collaborated with Acción Callejera and University of Florida's amazing people at the spanish department to lead two trips to Santiago and work with children and adolescents at social risk.
One of the neighborhoods in which I did workshops in was Yagüita del Pastor, where I met with the director of Acción Callejera’s center in that community. During our conversation, he mentioned the lack of infrastructure for garbage disposal, which has greatly polluted the area (especially one of the main rivers) and leads to many medical visits to the local clinic due to infections. These problems are directly affecting the community, and I promised I would help. After sitting down with numerous people of the Acción Callejera and professors at University of Florida, we came up with a plan. Our idea will not only tackle the garbage disposal problem, but also turn at-risk youth into community leaders and promote citizen empowerment to solve the problem.
Here is the gist of the plan:
We will partner with Acción Callejera in training youth to be health promoters in Yagüita del Pastor, providing training, materials, and mentoring. The youth will then promote these ideas and educate to community about the problems at hand while also providing efficient solutions. Simultaneously, we will also begin to implement a new garbage disposal system using scooters to make it possible to move the waste from the narrow streets onto the main ones, where a garbage disposal pick-up truck may pass through. Lastly, we will organize a neighborhood cleanup of the river and the community, involving the health promoters, neighbors, the city, students from PUCMM University in Santiago, and UF students on the summer program.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “If we want to reach real peace in this world, we should start with the education of children.” By turning the community’s youth into leaders, we are promoting the ideas of peace and connection to the community. Violence occurs when people feel helpless, but a belief in the possibility of change creates hope for a better life in community. The project will also develop teamwork between people and bring a sense of pride by involving the residents in cleaning the community. Since the locals are involved in every step of the way, we are setting a path for self-efficiency that will decrease the reliance on outside help, and increase the probability that the improvements made will persist. The greater empowerment, access to health information, leadership development, and international collaboration will improve the quality of many lives locally and foster peace in widening circles starting in Yagüita del Pastor. I sincerely hope that you consider donating and sharing this within your social circle. Anyone can contribute and any amount will help greatly improve the community. Thank you for any contribution you can make!
P.S. I have written brief description of the location and the organization I am partnering up with for anyone who would like to learn a little more about it.
About the Location:
Yagüita del Pastor is a neighborhood in the city of Santiago. This area was unpopulated until the 1950’s when the city’s monument construction began under Trujillo’s dictatorship, and the habitants of the site were relocated to Yagüita del Pastor, with no infrastructure for water, electricity, or trash disposal, nor plans for its development. The new residents built provisional housing on a hill along a stream that eventually flows into the Yaque del Norte River. Over time, the population grew, and the lack of alternatives to reliance on the stream for drinking, bathing, and garbage disposal led to contamination and the resulting health problems. The high level of pollution cause water and food contamination illnesses, bacterial and viral infections, and mosquito-associated diseases. In addition, the high poverty rate of the neighborhood makes it difficult for many to receive education and access to health information. The combination of problems due to environmental contamination, poverty, and lack of education have been seriously limiting people’s lives.
Organization Partnership:
Acción Callejera is a non-profit organization that provides support to children and adolescents living in high-risk situations in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The organization offers various supportive programs that develop self-sufficiency in children so that they can improve their living conditions. The uniqueness in this organization lies in its integration and strong connection to the communities of Santiago. Among their many projects, their center in Yagüita del Pastor has been training at-risk youth in community leadership.
https://www.dominicanasolidaria.org/organizacion/accion-callejera-fundacion-educativa-inc/
My name is Sara and I would like to thank you for taking a couple of minutes to read this. I promise to make this as brief as possible and get to the point, so please resist any temptation to move on to the next most entertaining thing and the vast web until you read everything. That being said, let me tell you what this is all about.
In the summer of 2015, I volunteered in a physical rehabilitation center in Santiago de los Cabelleros, Dominican Republic via University of Florida's study abroad program. There I observed countless patients suffering from conditions due to both environmental contamination and lack of education. The frustration I felt knowing that such limitations affect the health and future of so many people, motivated me to commit myself to help these communities. I wanted to contribute something with long-lasting effects. Education empowers by giving people knowledge that is indestructible and can be passed down through generations, so I came up with the idea to develop various workshops to provide public health education to vulnerable communities of Santiago, Dominican Republic. Over the past year, I have collaborated with Acción Callejera and University of Florida's amazing people at the spanish department to lead two trips to Santiago and work with children and adolescents at social risk.
One of the neighborhoods in which I did workshops in was Yagüita del Pastor, where I met with the director of Acción Callejera’s center in that community. During our conversation, he mentioned the lack of infrastructure for garbage disposal, which has greatly polluted the area (especially one of the main rivers) and leads to many medical visits to the local clinic due to infections. These problems are directly affecting the community, and I promised I would help. After sitting down with numerous people of the Acción Callejera and professors at University of Florida, we came up with a plan. Our idea will not only tackle the garbage disposal problem, but also turn at-risk youth into community leaders and promote citizen empowerment to solve the problem.
Here is the gist of the plan:
We will partner with Acción Callejera in training youth to be health promoters in Yagüita del Pastor, providing training, materials, and mentoring. The youth will then promote these ideas and educate to community about the problems at hand while also providing efficient solutions. Simultaneously, we will also begin to implement a new garbage disposal system using scooters to make it possible to move the waste from the narrow streets onto the main ones, where a garbage disposal pick-up truck may pass through. Lastly, we will organize a neighborhood cleanup of the river and the community, involving the health promoters, neighbors, the city, students from PUCMM University in Santiago, and UF students on the summer program.
In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “If we want to reach real peace in this world, we should start with the education of children.” By turning the community’s youth into leaders, we are promoting the ideas of peace and connection to the community. Violence occurs when people feel helpless, but a belief in the possibility of change creates hope for a better life in community. The project will also develop teamwork between people and bring a sense of pride by involving the residents in cleaning the community. Since the locals are involved in every step of the way, we are setting a path for self-efficiency that will decrease the reliance on outside help, and increase the probability that the improvements made will persist. The greater empowerment, access to health information, leadership development, and international collaboration will improve the quality of many lives locally and foster peace in widening circles starting in Yagüita del Pastor. I sincerely hope that you consider donating and sharing this within your social circle. Anyone can contribute and any amount will help greatly improve the community. Thank you for any contribution you can make!
P.S. I have written brief description of the location and the organization I am partnering up with for anyone who would like to learn a little more about it.
About the Location:
Yagüita del Pastor is a neighborhood in the city of Santiago. This area was unpopulated until the 1950’s when the city’s monument construction began under Trujillo’s dictatorship, and the habitants of the site were relocated to Yagüita del Pastor, with no infrastructure for water, electricity, or trash disposal, nor plans for its development. The new residents built provisional housing on a hill along a stream that eventually flows into the Yaque del Norte River. Over time, the population grew, and the lack of alternatives to reliance on the stream for drinking, bathing, and garbage disposal led to contamination and the resulting health problems. The high level of pollution cause water and food contamination illnesses, bacterial and viral infections, and mosquito-associated diseases. In addition, the high poverty rate of the neighborhood makes it difficult for many to receive education and access to health information. The combination of problems due to environmental contamination, poverty, and lack of education have been seriously limiting people’s lives.
Organization Partnership:
Acción Callejera is a non-profit organization that provides support to children and adolescents living in high-risk situations in Santiago, Dominican Republic. The organization offers various supportive programs that develop self-sufficiency in children so that they can improve their living conditions. The uniqueness in this organization lies in its integration and strong connection to the communities of Santiago. Among their many projects, their center in Yagüita del Pastor has been training at-risk youth in community leadership.
https://www.dominicanasolidaria.org/organizacion/accion-callejera-fundacion-educativa-inc/
Organizer
Sara Kurtevski
Organizer
Gainesville, FL
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