Dominican Republic '07 Participants Raise $2,800 for Cistern Project
A few August DR participants launched a fundraising campaign last fall that raised over $2,800 for a cistern in the Duqueza batey. Construction begins this spring. The money raised surpassed the cost of the cistern, which allowed the Sabana Perdida Lions Club to buy and distribute a brand new Christmas toy to every child in the batey. And, at least one public school scholarship can be funded. Coincidentally, a decade ago in 1997 a few DR participants returned home and established the Batey Children's (Educational) Fund. Still going strong, the Batey Children's Fund has assisted and/or is currently supporting school fees for a dozen batey students to date. [www.bateyfund.org]
Each summer in the DR our groups visit one of the bateyes where sugar cane plantation workers live who are mostly Haitians. Haitian men migrate to work the long, hard days of the sugar harvest, lured by intermediaries hired by the sugar cane industry who promise Dominican work permits that only occasionally materialize. The Haitians soon learn that leaving the batey is extremely difficult. Over time, many have no choice but to stay on after harvests and start families with Haitian women who also migrated.
The bateyes are brutal, unsanitary slums, rife with health hazards. There are no public services, a responsibility theoretically assumed by the sugar cane companies and the state Sugar Council, but neither provides even basic services. Clean water is a rare resource. A cistern for Duqueza is a dream come true.
John Lennon said, "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." Congratulations to our DR August '07 participants for dreaming together to make a cistern for Duqueza batey a reality! We are so very proud of you, and Duqueza is deeply grateful.
Bill Moyers Journal on PBS aired a segment "Recovery Gone Wrong" last November. The focus was on rebuilding along the Mississippi Gulf Coast two years after Katrina…in Gulfport and Biloxi specifically. VISIONS Mississippi alumni will recognize Derrick Evans, Rose Johnson and others in this incisive piece of reporting about the scandalous status of "re-building" the Gulf Coast. View the episode online at www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11162007/profile.html
In the Winter 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine, Derrick Evans writes about the unique history of and present-day battle to preserve Turkey Creek, the North Gulfport neighborhood that is also a strategic ecological wetland-watershed. You can read Derrick's eloquent piece on line. http://switchstudio.com/waterkeeper/issues/. Click on Winter 2008 Environment Justice, then click on page 32, "Crossroads: Saving Turkey Creek"
Five Exceptional Weeks of Service Immersion
2008 is the inaugural summer for VISIONS Viet Nam-a dream long in the making. Participants will be deeply immersed in a "story-making, life-changing, contagious" country and culture of unparalleled beauty. Working with Vietnamese of all ages, we'll achieve a range of ambitious hands-on projects at a center for young people suffering the multi-generational effects of chemicals used during the war. In another small village we'll lend a hand with upgrades to the water systems and renovation of a community building. A few English-speaking Vietnamese will be our guides, and at least one of our staff leaders speaks Vietnamese.
After traveling half-way around the world, we will take full advantage of our stay with exploration and travel excursions continuously woven into the weeks. Our home base, surrounded by lush green rice paddies, is one hour from bustling Hanoi and the Ba Vi District, home to over 100 handicraft villages.
Unlike other VISIONS programs, Viet Nam is a five-week trip that promises more than several days at the end to travel to other parts of the country, including the World Heritage site of Ha Long Bay, central Viet Nam, the renowned coast, and more. Read more and see more images of Viet Nam at: www.visionsserviceadventures.com/programs/vietnam.htm.
VISIONS Nicaragua debuted last summer to uniform raves from participants and our local partners alike. If Nicaragua has never crossed your mind as a "destination", consider that most travelers to this country argue that it has by far the most breathtaking landscapes in all of Central America, surpassing even the legendary beauty of Costa Rica. Based in the northern mountain town of Jinotega, with the assistance of our local partner AVODEC and dozens of Nicaraguans working with us every day, last year's group worked on vital water sanitation projects in Jinotega and in the neighboring villages of Las Tejeras, Chagüite Grande and Sisle II.
Jinotega is in the heart of coffee production land, nestled in a stunning mountainous zone. Our excursions take us to a coffee finca, a national park, and the historic city of Granada, the sprawling Masaya artisan market, and more. We spend work and free time with our hosts and friends eating dinner together, spending nights dancing and singing karaoke, talking about culture, customs, and history.
Venga a Nicaragua! Lo va a gustar muchisimo!
For images of VISIONS Nicaragua check out our Nicaragua Photo Gallery.
2007 Visionaries came from 26 states and 5 foreign countries.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., declared Derrick Evans the nation's newest Waterkeeper, and Mississippi's first, while standing in the outdoor environmental classroom at North Gulfport Middle School built by VISIONS participants in 2006.
Among the 2007 Season Staff Were...
A carpenter / contractor / forestry technician / filmmaker and cinematographer who garnered honorable mention at the Sun Dance Film Festival for one of his indie film scripts
An NCAA Division III National Player of the Year
A Magna Cum Laude, Vietnamese-speaking Tulane University grad who lives and teaches in Viet Nam
A program director duo who met in the Peace Corps in Guinea, West Africa. He's an ethno-musicologist. She's a Carnegie Fellowship Ph.D. candidate in physical anthropology.
A University of Chicago graduate and skilled carpenter since her teens who lives in Thailand where, for a major Thai supermarket chain, she will soon launch an organic food supply, create a model organic farm for training Thai farmers and implement bio-intensive gardening production