It seems that after three days events and routines that once seemed mundane become habitual. This rule was no different during our stay in the Dominican; crazy traffic jams, annoyingly loud roosters, stares from randoms on the street were now as normal and commonplace as red soil is to Islanders. Even the habits of the group, Kelsey's near-narcoleptic sleeping tendencies, Kurt's t-shirt/do-rag, Debbie's frequent bathroom breaks, became, while perhaps not normal, at least familiar tendencies.
After breakfast at the Centre, we headed back into Santo Domingo for the day. We began the morning at INTEC, a University within the Capital, for a discussion on Gender Issues. The talk covered areas of concern for Dominicans, most specifically within poorer communities of the country where sexual and physical abuse are rampant problems, exacerbated by high levels of HIV and AIDS. Worse, in the minds of many, this domestic abuse is considered the business of the household and of no one else. The abuse endured by many people within the country is absolutely atrocious, and stories were related to us about spouses who had their hands cut off, acid thrown in their faces, or whom were murdered, often for little or no reason. While the two hours spent on this topic were certainly enlightening to the plight facing the country in terms of domestic violence, it was difficult for me to remain focused on the issues at hand. When any type of domestic abuse comes up in discussion it often turns into a generalizing and man-bashing fiesta, which in my opinion is totally counter-productive. Violence is a societal problem and thus requires a society-wide solution. It is crucial that everyone be included in working against cultural and political beliefs that allow for it to continue. This will not be accomplished so long as narrow opinions and ideologies continue to characterize and generalize all men as the source of the problem. As soon as discussions attempt to make me feel ashamed for being a man, my interest checks out.
Following a short tour of the INTEC Gender Studies Department, we traveled to the Botanical Gardens, where lunch and a tour allowed us to re-charge and to take some time among the trees and ponds to process some of what we had heard and seen over the past couple days. Indeed, after several tours and sessions, it was beginning to seem that a myriad of insurmountable obstacles faced this developing country. Every facet of society that we had seen contained a plethora of issues and problems, and solutions seemed few and far between. Our visit that afternoon would be the first ray of hope that we would see in the work of Dominicans to build a better society.
In a poor barrio outside of the city, we rolled through dusty and dry streets, lined with poorly constructed houses, with mangy dogs on their last leg staggering around, and infants happily playing wearing nothing but a smile. We were headed for a school in this community where students had organized and coordinated a day-long session on AIDS and HIV for their peers and classmates. When we arrived, we sat down across from the room from them and introduced ourselves before they began to barrage us with questions. While the laughter and joy of these children was exhilarating enough in this, our first direct contact as a group with Dominicans, there were also two very important undercurrents to remember. First of all, these were kids teaching other kids about the hazards of unprotected sex in a country over-run by sexually transmitted diseases. As many are aware, it is both incredibly daunting and empowering for youth to take on such a task and succeed. The fact that youth had taken such a strong interest in this issue and recognized it as important enough to devote time and effort to was commendable. Second, while the community surrounding this building was falling apart in many ways, this school was well established. As we would see over the coming weeks, schools are one institution that even the smallest of the small and poorest of the poor communities contained. It seems somewhat cliché to mention the ancient adage 'scientia est potentia' (knowledge is power), but in the development of this country and in the throwing off of the chains of poverty, I see little that is more important than this advancement of education.
It was a brief and exhilarating encounter, but within those 30 minutes spent at the school, coupled with the work of the micro-credit NGO the day before, I began to see the parts of the puzzle coming together, the first signs of stepping-stones out of the mire of poverty and injustice.
We made it back to the Centre considerably early, and used the additional time to decompress with a game of Frisbee down at the community baseball field. While some of the children who flocked to us as we began to play had a bit of a rough time throwing the Frisbee for the first time, and others seemed hell-bent on beating the sense out of each other for a turn with it, the smiles on their faces seemed to indicate it was all a welcome escape from everyday monotony. When we left the field to return for supper, we got some pics with the incredibly cute kids and told them in our broken Spanish that it was great to meet them. Except that little punk that stole my Frisbee.
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