Summer School is Cool

The most popular place to be in my community this summer isn't the river or out in the fields picking mangoes. Instead, kids of all ages are flocking to the community center for English class and a literacy club run by me and my sister, who is spending a month of her summer vacation in the D.R. Kids have been so excited to start class that they were arriving an hour early. Dominicans are never early, as I have previously mentioned. The enthusiasm the students have for class reminds me of how my little brother and cousin would wake up early on the weekends to play video games. They went to bed dreaming of the fun they would have the next day.

Even when full the community center is very airy

It has been wonderful to see kids learning and coming back the next day impatient to learn more. However, we have only had class for one week and we are already over our maximum capacity of students. On the last day of class this week we had over forty students participating. There were enough chairs and table space for only half of those students. Station activities helped to lessen the fighting over chairs, each student got some time sitting down. But with so many students the room remained crowded leading some older students to sit outside. 

Summer classes are not the only event that suffers from a lack of space. The community center is used for a variety of events, but can only hold at most 60 people out of the 500+ residents of my community. Last week the Senator of Samana, Prim Pujals, came to speak to my community about our lack of running water, and our library project. The community center was jammed packed, with people piled up outside looking in the windows to hear the senator's speech. The Senator told us that he could do little to help us on his own but he signed a letter we wrote to President Danilo Medina, asking for his help to build a regional aquaduct and our community library. 

Senator Pujals promised to donate $30,000 peosos ($700 dollars) if President Medina does not donate funds to our library project. However, I have no idea how long we will have to wait to recieve President Medina's response to our letter. But you can support my community's library right now by donating to our project. Please help us out, as so many already have, and make our community library a reality by the start of the new school year.

Everyone packed in to hear the Senator

To submit a donation CLICK HERE!

Just a reminder: All donations are tax deductible, and 100% of donations will go to our project.  (Tax deductible means that you are allowed to deduct donations that represent up to 50 percent of your adjusted gross income on your federal tax returns. So donate and you will have to pay less taxes!)

Also, you can donate offline. Although donating on-line is the fastest way for projects to get funded, you may also donate by mail or over the phone:

Send a check to:
Peace Corps Headquarters
Office of Gifts and Grants Management
1111 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20526

Please make check payable to Peace Corps Partnership Program
Please also note the project number (14-517-025) in the memo section of the check.
(Please print and mail this donation form with your check, so Peace Corps can contact you with information regarding your donation, if necessary.)

-or-

Call the office and Peace Corps can take your credit card information over the phone at 855.855.1961 x2170.

Other things of note:

Pin the Tail on the Donkey is fun in any language

• We celebrated my sister's birthday by throwing her a party. Pin the tail on the donkey was a big hit. Our Dominican guests had never heard of the game before but they quickly took great pleasure in spinning around blindfolded participants. Some people did fall down
• The transformer across from my house blew out last night, again. It was fixed this morning, a big improvement over the last time when we were without power for over 24 hours.
• This month the D.R. introduced a new 911 system in two cities. It got so many prank calls in its first two weeks that the government is now requiring everyone in the country with a pre-paid cellphone to provide their I.D. information or else their phone will be suspended. Basically, everyone in the country has to register their phones with the government.
• When opening the metal door to the community center for a evening event, I managed to whack myself in the head with the door. Luckily I do not have any visible bruising for neighbors to question me about, but it is one more reason why you should donate to the library project. Help protect me from incurring more head injuries.

Food, Glorious Food

In less than a week I will be in America. My mind is already there, and the rest of me can hardly stand the wait. I have had a countdown going since I requested my vacation in February. I plan on seeing people and doing fun things, but most of all I plan on eating. A lot.

Doughnuts are my version of a nightcap.

The Dominican Republic isn’t so bad that I have gone without fast-food and sweets. Typically when I am in the capital I hit up McDonalds and eat a few donuts. But when I am in my community I definitely suffer from cravings that I am unable to satisfy. No bowls of ice cream or chocolate chip cookies for me.  My local grocery store doesn’t even regularly stock butter, just margarine that you don’t have to refrigerate (a great selling point here). Overall, I am probably a healthier person for not having access to as much junk food, however, when given the opportunity I will binge eat.

For example: Only once have I seen bacon at the grocery store. There was one package, and I bought it even though it was turkey bacon. I ate the entire package over three days. I ate it so quickly because 1. bacon is delicious, and 2. I was afraid the bacon would spoil because my house only has power 50% of the day.

As I count the days until my arrival in the U.S. I have been making a list of all the food I want to eat while I am home. The list is now over 20 items long and includes everything from risotto to Mallomars. I expect to gain at least seven pounds during the two weeks I am home. I know a Volunteer who gained five pounds per week, so I know my estimate isn’t ridiculous.

I am telling you all this so you can prepare for my arrival. I apologize in advance if I talk about food too much, or if I already did. However, I promise not to take pictures of every food item I eat, unlike another Volunteer I know.

One last thing: While I am in the States my community will still be working hard on our library. Please help us out and donate here. Thank you!

You Can Help

“Oh my gosh, what you are doing is sooo great! How can I help?” For the past 15 months I have heard family and friends ask me how they can help, to which I have responded, “Eh, it’s kinda tricky to send things to the D.R., I’ll let you know if something changes.” Well, family and friends, the time has come to step-up to the plate. My community and I need your help!

The library will be on the right-hand side.

Since 2011, my community has been working towards building a community library. I arrived one year ago to help the library become a reality. Construction began last month, and we need your help to close our funding gap. My community has already fund raised $23,728.42 via donations of construction materials, books, labor, land, grants, and cold hard cash. We just need an additional $5,628.09, to help cover our remaining construction costs.

You can donate to our project by going to our project’s webpage on the Peace Corps website. Or you can look up my project on donate.peacecorps.gov. Search via my last name, Stine, or my project code, 14-517-025.

The leaky zinc roof will be replaced by a cement roof.

Many readers are probably thinking, “Why should I donate?” Here are some reasons why:

- The idea to build a library was developed by my community not by an outside group.

- The average family makes less than $125 dollars a month, and yet the community has fund raised 80% of the library costs, $23,728.42.

- None of the three local primary schools has a library. The closest children’s library is located in the capital, an expensive three-hour bus ride away. 

- Classrooms at all grade levels do not have enough textbooks for every student, if they have even have textbooks.

- The library will provide community members with access not only to books but also to computers. Of the 151 houses in my community, only 47% have a book in their home, and less than 10% have a computer.

After 7 months of cutting red tape, the bridge is functional.

- We spent seven months fighting, successfully, to get a permit to build an access bridge from the road to the site of the library. We will stop at nothing to make the library a reality.

- My community and I had to submit a lengthy grant application, which includes: essays, goals, monitoring and evaluation plans, a timeline, and a detailed budget. If you want any of the information we submitted please contact me at scstine@gmail.com.

-Check out our project’s webpage for even more reasons.

Now that you are convinced that my community’s library is a worthy cause, here is some information about the donation program, the Peace Corps Partnership Program:

Reading with a neighbor.

 - Every penny that you donate will directly fund my project. No part of your donation will be used to cover staff or overhead costs of running the Partnership Program, as the office is supported by congressionally appropriated funds to the Peace Corps.

 - All donations are tax deductible! Once the donation has been processed a thank you letter will be sent, which can be used as a tax receipt. The name on the tax receipt will reflect the account owner on the credit card or check.

 - You can donate offline. Although donating on-line is the fastest way for projects to get funded, you may also donate by mail or over the phone:

Community member repairing library walls.

Send a check to:
Peace Corps Headquarters
Office of Gifts and Grants Management
1111 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20526

Please make check payable to Peace Corps Partnership Program
Please also note the project number (14-517-025) in the memo section of the check.
(Please print and mail this donation form with your check, so Peace Corps can contact you with information regarding your donation, if necessary.)

-or-

Call the office and Peace Corps can take your credit card information over the phone at 855.855.1961 x2170.

Many, many thanks to all of you who donate funds. My community has a lot of dreams, especially for their children, and with your help we can begin making them a reality.

The Library Youth Committee meeting (in my house).