It´s a big deal for these 28 students to participate in the graduation ceremony. They´ve somehow managed to make it through this thing they call a school system, though some are in their early twenties. They´ve waited through the summer to receive their national exam scores and will wait again until January if they´re among those who will attend a university. One among them is my youngest host brother, another, a computer student of mine who plans to become a doctor. These two are rarities, gems to be found among stones, glimmers of hope in an otherwise dim succession of generations.
I had a log conversation with the principal of the school yesterday, as I waited for prospective students that never came (my classes are supposed to start next Tuesday, and still I have no one inscribed). Juanito has been in the education business for 22 years and knows the system well. And as we conversed, he did not attempt to sugar coat the situation, he even admitted to our next-door neighbor, Haiti, has a better school system than we do. Juanito, however, has plans to abandon his country for green pastures. He will join his wife and three daughters already in Philadelphia, none of whom speak English.
He continued by saying that the Ministry of Education is as submersed in the corruption as the rest of the country. A principal does not hire his or her teachers; they are assigned to the school. Neither can he let them go of his own accord, for they would only pay off the nearest politician to keep their jobs. The Ministry itself is given less money than the budget of the first lady (vying for future votes for her husband – who can be reelected for as long as lives) and uses that money to print its own books as a way of saying “look, we´ve done something!” Unfortunately for all that receive the books, if they ever do, they probably won´t learn much from them at all. I flipped through the book titled ¨success communication in English.” It was indecipherable.
It´s common among Peace Corps volunteers to discuss the state of the Education System we work against. Saying we work with it, would be a stretch, though I´m sure that´s what Peace Corps would have us say. In one particular conversation, we discussed just that – Peace Corp regulations, or restrictions, rather, on published content. One girl wrote an article for a small newspaper back home that merely touched upon the “corrupt government” here. Peace Corp struck that from the records. Wouldn´t let her publish it with the word ¨corrupt.” Since part of our mission is to “help promote a better understand of other people´s on the part of the American people,” I suppose politicians don´t count as people.
Anyhow, as difficult as it is know that I´m swimming up stream, that I can´t reform the education system working with only one school, I have implemented my first course of action directly relating to the students and not directly involving technological instruction. I call it PODER. I came up with that acronym all by myself. I am so proud. Poder means power, and PODER stands for Programas Organizados de Estudiantes Realizados. Realizado – realized, complete or accomplished. I introduced the program to the teachers on Tuesday (it was supposed to be on Monday, but the school didn´t have electricity, my PowerPoint and I were forced to wait) and will introduce it to the students this coming Monday, si Dios quiere.
What exactly am I introducing? PODER is an infrastructure under which the students have the support and ability to form their interest groups. It is an extra-curricular organization, designed to foster a self-determining realization and encourage creative activity. Self-determining realization? That bit of mumbo jumbo is me trying to say that these students are a product of a fatalistic society. They believe that whatever happens is or was supposed to happen; that everything in their lives is because Dios quiere. Because God wants. Therefore, for them to realize that they have some control over the outcome of their lives, is huge. For them to feel that they have the ability to speak freely of their desires, to not only form a group around their own interests, but to govern it – well that´s just revolutionary.
This isn´t to say that I´m expecting a flood of students rushing to sign up. I´m expecting quite the opposite, really. But if they want an “Escojo mi Vida” group, a “Brigada Verde,” or “Encargados del Futuro” it´s all up to them now. It´s worked into the program that they´ll need to solicit an advisor, a teacher or community member willing to work with them and support them. I will of course, make myself and Peace Corps resources available to them, but I want them to realize that I am not a family member from The States sending remittances, that they will have to work for whatever it is they want.
The day after IST (In Service Training) concluded, where I developed the rudimentary idea for PODER, I headed out to a little place in the northern Cibao called Janico. Close to the city of Santiago, Janico´s ancestry is shown through it´s skin as having been mainly Spanish. A concern for me, as I knew our little film crew wanted to portray typical Dominican students in the struggle of a telenovela life. But, Janico has almost 24 hour electricity. It´s a lovely pueblo, and the perfect site for our character Luz to be lost and then found again.
Our cast was composed entirely of high school students, even the adult roles, and I was so pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm and professionalism they displayed throughout the shoot. Their memorize/repeat educational structure became apparent through their acting, as they had to be told exactly what to do every time the slightest change to the script was made. Improvisation was not really within their capabilities. But like I said, they were great kids. And it was amazing to see their reactions when we showed them a teaser, a short compilation of the work they had done over those few days.
If they couldn´t improvise, I think the crew made up for it in spades. We had a group of people that just made things happen. If we needed a boom mic, we tied a regular one to a broom stick. We did the same thing with a light bulb to illuminate a shot. We fastened tin foil to a poster board to create a reflector and made a bed in a corner look like a whole room. Most of the crew had never worked in television or film before, so it was insane. But wonderful. Before the next shoot, in which we´ll be aided by proper equipment from an established production company in the capital, we are going to have a film 101 session, so that our squeaky machine purrs by the time we´re done. “Me Toca A Mi” (It´s My Turn) might even have it´s run on Dominican television, if the production company get´s its way, though it´s main purpose is simply to accompany the manual to a Peace Corp youth group promoting healthy and life-bettering decisions.
My travels over the past 2 weeks didn´t stop their. From Janico I went to Imbert, a larger pueblo very near the northern coastline. What´s in Imbert? Well, aside from being the residence of a fellow volunteer and dedicated crew member, it´s right up against the 27 Charcos. If you´ve ever wanted to feel out of time, even out of body, this is the place. I, of course, did not have my waterproof camera, since it had recently broken. And, of course, they were out of disposable ones for sale when we got there. So I have no photos of the 27 pristine pools and waterfalls, of the lagoons and caverns that snake along, open to the sky and rain. I have no pictures of me being hauled up a natural water slide by one of the guides or of Becca jumping of a 30 foot ledge surrounded by the most beautiful fauna that I could never name. I cannot show you the limestone formations, the stalactites and stalactites on the rock that bordered a gently flowing, crystal blue river, or the utter serenity, the complete detachment from the world that you experience traveling through this system of cascades and charcos. But I can tell you that neither words nor photos can capture it.
After a stopover in the Capital, where the heat immediately became a reality once again and the humidity a force to recon with, I headed back up to Miches to participate in a round of reef checking. We were up at five on Saturday morning to be out on the water by seven. At 9:04 exactly, our boats engine quietly rolled over and died. Thankfully, we had cell reception, better than we do on land actually, and were able to alert the Park from which we had departed. They didn´t seem to think much of the situation, however, and four hours later, a boat came bouncing off the waves toward us with six Dominicans and a rope. Well, we didn´t get more than some small measurement of distance before they´re engine cut, too. They were out of gas, and ours wasn´t going to cut it. Their engine needed gas mixed with oil, which we didn´t have. So about another hour goes by before another three Dominicans come speeding up, oil container in hand and we´re finally on our way back to shore. Not a single reef survey taken. But we did discover a new place we might one day survey. We dubbed it Stranded Reef.
The next day was more or less a success. We did a single dive in a reef near a ship wreck and relocated a concrete lobster house, all out of a fisherman´s fiberglass boat. I was really excited for when we might get to continue with those other dives that had been on hold, as they are supposed to be some of the best in the area. But, lo and behold, I´ve caught the gripe (gree-pe) and cannot dive this weekend even if my congestion cuts itself in half. But I will film this special event the dive shop owners (Paul and Diane) are sponsoring – a gathering of eco-tourism leaders and environmentally concerned Samaritans. They say even that I might be able to use the footage in my documentary…
“Submerge yourself in the waters of the coral reefs, into a world that battles for survival against the nets and harpoons of fisherman who struggle feed themselves and their families.” This documentary will both educate the Dominican viewer on alternative methods to both provide for themselves and conserve their habitats as well as introducing the outside world to the splendors of the Dominican island and how their support of eco-tourism can help to affect a positive revolution of their economy. More on that later. The ship is still being built to sail.
In the mean time, enjoy what is left of your summer. Subscribe to the site if you wish to have email notifications of it´s being updated, and leave comments to let me know you´re reading! Fare thee well for another few weeks.
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