About. |
Our Project With the generous endowment of the Davis United World College Scholars and mentorship of Professor Paul Austerlitz, PhD in ethnomusicology, we designed our Project for Peace for the Afro-Dominican communities of El Limón and Los Francos in the Yaguaté Valley. Our 8-week women's charlas are weekly discussion-based workshops focusing on leadership, domestic violence, beauty standards, nutrition, child education, and healthy habits. Alongside with women's community meetings, we facilitate 4 1-week children's camps of 25 children each, on topics such as diversity, environmental protection, conflict management, respect, and education. We also assist and equip weekly music lessons for children taught by a local musician. As part of the project, we build a women center in the heart of El Limón to sustain access to resources for women and mothers of both communities. |
Background
French travel writers of the 19th century, when visiting Saint Domingue, noted that people who seemed obviously of mixed African and Spanish descent consider themselves “los blancos de la tierra,” literally “the whites of the land,” to distance themselves from black identity which was often associated with slaves’ identities. As early as in the colonial time, whiteness, in the context of the Dominican Republic identity, connoted achievement of social, political, and economic privileges. Euro-centrism and racism intensified in the form of Anti-Haitianism as the Dominican Republic struggled for independence from Haiti, a country that was founded from an anti-colonial revolution. The intermingle of such a paradoxical racial notion in the context of gender inequality in the Dominican Republic creates unique challenges for women and children, who are most vulnerable to inequalities. Our Local Partner Fundación Iniciativas Cultura y Desarrollo (FICD), a local non-profit organization involved with community programs, provides us with facilities to set up our project. Their experience and insight have also helped us to successfully identify community needs and to direct the focus of our program. Ariel Roja, who grew up in El Limón, is our local coordinator from FICD, helping us to form close relationships within the community and facilitating logistics for our programs on a daily basis. During the summer, we have made direct investment in a new women center, educational resources, and music instruments, which will be managed by FICD in the future to sustain our initiatives. In addition, FICD will build upon our established summer programs with new staff and continue educational efforts for women and children. |
Results. |
New Women Center
Musical Instruments
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Educational Resources Investment
DOLLARS
Participating Women
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Total Camp Hours
Summer Campers
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Pictures & Web Design: Phoebe Do | Program Content: Mairead McCarthy, Phoebe Do & Charlotte Moreno | Please ask for permission to reproduce.