This past weekend I went to another weekend-long camp called Celebrando el Este (Celebrating the East). This youth conference/camp is designed to be a celebration of the eastern region the DR, the DR itself and the entire globe. Over the course of 3 days we touched on issues of diversity, geography, history, world cultures and more.
All volunteers living in the eastern region were invited to attend and bring 2 youth along to participate. Fortunately for my youth and I, the conference was held just down the road from my site at Rancho Don Fernandez, a ranch founded by former gold glove-winning shortstop Tony Fernandez, who is from nearby San Pedro de Marcoris.
The Dominican educational system is, well, shit. Therefore, topics of history, geography and all things having to do with life off of this island are rarely taught and seldom learned. For example, most Dominicans think New York City and the United States are the same thing. Almost no Dominicans can find the DR on a map and few have knowledge of other cultures and religions that exist in the world.
Along with our group of Peace Corps Volunteers of many cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds sharing stories and culture, we invited volunteers from both the Korean and German equivalents of Peace Corps to share their cultures as well. The Korean volunteers did a tae kwon do lesson, which the kids ate up. We also presented info on 9 other countries around the world and give the kids passports and stamps for ‘visiting’ each of these countries. And we tie-dyed t-shirts, which was a first for our youth.
It was a fun weekend and provided valuable info to the kids. Discrimination and racism are serious problems here in the DR and any chance for youth to compartir with people of different backgrounds and educate themselves is a good thing.
Korean volunteer and youth practicing tae kwon do.
Tie-dying shirts.
With my 2 youth.
The youth with their certificates.
Nice post. Be careful when you say "no" Dominicans can find their country on a map. PCV's tend to limit themselves in connecting with only parts of Dominican society and you will find there are many very educated and worldly Dominicans. It does sort of bother me that my Domincan wife of 20 years still does not know who are the Rolling Stones or the Beatles.
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