15 November 2010
Last weekend I had the opportunity to take a couple of kids from my campo community to a Brigada Verde Youth Conference outside of La Romana in the eastern part of the country. The day before we left, I was worried they might have forgotten as Peace Corps obligations had kept me out of my site for the last ten days. I was pleasantly surprised when the two boys showed up at my back door on their way home from school all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed asking if tomorrow we were really going to be leaving. Yep, so pack your stuff and be back at 6am tomorrow morning…
It was an exciting morning as it was the first time travelling farther than the city of San Juan for one of the boys, and the other had only been to and from the capital once as a little kid. As a mobile American, it is hard to imagine living on a Caribbean island and never getting the chance to see the ocean. Just one great big example of how skewed the tourism-enhanced perspective of the island can be. But, I thought it was all just turquoise waters and white sand, how could an 18 year old citizen of the country never have visited a beach? Passing through the capital was fun, as I pointed out some national monuments, and he asked the names of all the highway bridges were. These bridges I never would have thought twice about…but I was reminded of the utter lack of infrastructure in the campo where the only bridges are stepping stones, and the entire highway system suddenly became a remarkable work of artistry and architectural construction. Next up were the beautiful views of the ocean driving east out of the capital to the conference site. Watching their faces glued to the window, I couldn’t help but feel both happy and a little strange as I played tour guide to native Dominicans.
The conference part was enjoyable too. Sponsored by a Dominican organization, Alianza, Peace Corps took a back seat and mostly was there for technical and logistical support. There were Brigada Verde groups there who have been functioning sustainably without a Peace Corps volunteer in the community for several months which is nice to see. It was reassuring to be around other jovenes who were excited and fully dedicated to their groups’ efforts. Overall, a good way to get the kids in my community some exposure to people from the rest of the country and shed a little light on the larger efforts being put forth in different communities.
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| chillin in the golf cart... |
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| Certified Brigada Verde Conference Attendee! |
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