A YEAR IN
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SUMMARY REPORT
09
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GOOD REASONS why Plan works in Dominican Republic
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A community installs new water pipes.
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• The country is regularly hit by hurricanes and tropical storms. Damage disproportionately affects the poorest • Up to 1 million undocumented Haitian immigrants are living in the Dominican Republic; many are exploited • 37% of children drop out of education before reaching secondary school
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Our priorities in Dominican Republic
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• Working with government to guarantee children’s rights
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• Lobbying government and institutions for a better society for children Bonao
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ANTIGUA & BARBUDA ST KITTS & NEVIS
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Country Office Plan Programme
A community organisation discusses their water supply.
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• Helping communities to improve their children’s access to health and education
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC FACTS Grande
Capital: Santo Domingo Population: 8.3 million Language: Spanish Climate: Tropical. Economy: The Dominican Republic is a developing country, with a 2007 GDP per capita of $9,208 - which is relatively high in Latin America. According to the 2005 Annual Report of the United Nations
DOMINICA
Subcommittee on Human Development in the Dominican Republic, the country is ranked #71 in the world for resource availability, #79 for human development, and #14 in the world for resource mismanagement. These rankings support evidence of a growing rift between rich and poor, corruption and unregulated foreign investment in the country.
MARTINIQUE
“Communities themselves are responsible for their own development and children and young people need to be part of that process.” ST LUCIA
– Fritz Foster, Plan’s Country Director ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES
GRENADA
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A YEAR IN
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC SUMMARY REPORT
09
FOCUS ON: IMPROVING RELATIONS WITH NEIGHBOURING HAITI For decades, relations between Dominican Republic and bordering Haiti have been tense. This hinders trade, which is vital to improving economic prospects. It also affects social cohesion given the huge levels of migration between the two counties. Plan, with a background in building relationships between people of different countries and cultures, is creating opportunities for young people from the two nations to get together, have fun and share experiences, with the aim of creating ties of friendship, mutual respect and lessening the possibility of future violence and antagonism.
TOUCHING HEARTS, ERASING PREJUDICES
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Students attend a bi-national fair in Haiti.
The Bigger Picture
Plan is working with children, families and whole communities to address the problems that Dominican Republic faces. This report can only tell a small part of that story. As a further insight, last year we also: • Financed food and toiletries vouchers for 1,500 families affected by Hurricanes Noel and Olga • Supported training for 443 teachers and teaching volunteers to improve standards of education • Helped hold a week of forums, discussions and marches as part of “Sexuality Week”, to get young people to understand safe sex, HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases • Planned to extend our work: this year we will work with 2,000 more families, mainly in the area bordering Haiti. Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these positive results. So on behalf of the communities, partner organisations, and most of all the children we work with – thank you!
“What has touched me most of all is that I am valued as a person” To learn more about Plan’s work in Dominican Republic visit plan.org.au/ourwork/southernamerica/dominicanrepublic
Produced for Dominican Republic by the Australian National Office.
eatris and Molene are both 13 years old. As teenage girls growing up in developing countries in the Caribbean, they have a lot in common. There’s just one difference: Molene is Haitian while Beatris is from the Dominican Republic.
Relations between these two countries that share the same island, Hispaniola, have been difficult for decades. In the 1930s a Dominican massacre of thousands of Haitians living in border areas created lasting scars. Yet trade between the two is vital for their economies to grow. And with huge population movements from Haiti to the Dominican Republic, co-operation and understanding is needed more than ever. But where to begin in tackling the prevailing culture of distrust? For Plan, children and young people are the starting point. This is partly because youngsters form such a large part of the population (over a third of Dominicans are 15 years old or younger). But it also makes sense to start with teenagers because their attitudes are far less fixed than adults, and with their whole lives ahead of them, they can see the value of long-term change. Bringing children together So over the past two years, Plan has brought together groups of teenagers from both sides of the borders to analyse and overcome the negative perceptions each have of the other. One way is through sports. Discussion groups and cultural fairs also make a difference. Beatris, from Comendador, a town of 12,000 on the border with Haiti, describes one of the 12 bi-national camps Plan held last year: “We play a lot and learn from one another and share important topics such as the rights of the child. We talk about the fact that children have the right to health, education, life, recreation, to a name and nationality and, especially, to equality. We are all equal and this is what Plan is teaching us; that these rights must be honoured by all.”
“We are all equal and our rights must be honoured by all.”
Molene agrees: “I have learned a lot because now I know that children have rights. I learned this by playing with other children in Plan’s encounters and I made many friends.” Beatris talks about how she’s discovered the falseness of prejudices she’s picked up since she was little: “I’ve learnt that it is not true what they say, that they (Haitians) are dirty and eat people. I know this is not the truth.” Building self-esteem Vadner, a Haitian youth who has also taken part, says: “When a Haitian used to come to this side (the Dominican Republic) they were very afraid, because they were told that the Dominicans didn’t want us there. What has touched me most of all is that I am valued as a person.” Plan continues with its work to break down prejudices. The testimony of boys and girls about how they are becoming more aware of their rights, and the interest local government on each side has expressed about these projects persuade us that we are on the right path. According to Ana America, Head of the Children’s Unit at the Mayor’s office in Comendador: “I am trying to push for our taking initiatives to continue with these sporting and cultural exchanges. These are experiences that cannot be forgotten and which help both countries to break down this negative tradition we have between us.” It’s a goal that Plan is keen to reach. That “negative tradition” costs so much in terms of economic progress and social understanding in the Dominican Republic.
Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy purposes.
plan.org.au