The Bateyes

Hola from the ASCALA volunteer center in San Pedro de Macoris. There is much to share from our first two days in the bateyes!

The group arrived here safely yesterday in time for lunch before immediately beginning service. We began by making the trek across a neighboring field to Barrio St George, a community in which we worked last year breaking ground on a community garden. When we arrived, we met with Cilelo, the community member who is in charge of the garden. Returning members were excited to see the great progress that had been made and we all anxiously got to work clearing rocks and weeds from the area of land that will extend the garden even further. The community garden is being used to sell affordable vegetables to community members in Barrio St. George and is a project that has been well received by all. It was exciting and gratifying for returning members to see that their hard work from last year had contributed to a successful end result and though it was very hot, everyone worked hard for several hours tediously creating piles of rocks and pulling out weeds. We returned to the volunteer center tired, yet energized by the day.

Group walking to Barrio St. George

Community garden: progress made and more work to be done

Cilelo

Everyone working hard

Rocks, rocks, everywhere

Throughout our trip, we have had opportunities to come together as a group and reflect, not only on our own personal experiences, but also on the bigger issues at play here in the sugar cane fields. The challenges facing this area are significant, extremely complex, and at times, difficult to comprehend. We are currently staying in the heart of the Dominican sugar industry, surrounded by over 250 small communities (bateyes) scattered throughout the cane fields which are inhabited by migrant Haitian workers. To see a bateye is unlike anything many of us have every seen before and this morning we set off to work in Bateye Montecoca. Once there, we met Ramon, an 81 year old Haitin migrant who has lived in Bateye Montecoca for over twenty years. Ramon is currently living in a metal shack while he works to complete his house. He informed us that because he has no other source of income, he still goes out into the fields to cut cane so that he is able to feed himself. Ramon's wife passed away several years ago, and his children still live in Haiti. He has not seen them since 1998. Needless to say, we were instantly inspired by his story and eagerly began work to cement the floor of his house.

Bateye Montecoca

Ramon

Where Ramon currently lives

His house that is under construction

The group divided into two, with some students beginning the process of mixing cement and others venturing into the house to begin clearing and leveling the floor. Community members also took part in the project and by midday, much progress had been made. The group returned to the volunteer center for lunch and to rest during the hottest part of the day before heading back to the bateye for a game of baseball with local children. Before leaving at the end of the day, I stopped by Ramon's house just as the finishing touches were being put on his new front stoop. The cement should be dry by now and though there is still much work to be done on Ramon's house and elsewhere in the community, it was a nice feeling of accomplishment to see the final product.

Preparing to mix the cement

Mixing sand and cement

Just add water...

Kimmy helping to level the floor using old pieces of rock/concrete

Anna and community members leveling the floor

Brendan dumping freshly mixed cement as the floor takes shape

Floor is finished

We have also had great opportunity to engage with children living in the bateyes and it is wonderful to see how open and engaged our students are with them. Today included an impromptu beauty salon as well as a rousing baseball game. 

Haiyun getting a flower in her hair

Ashleigh and her new friends

Lynn at bat 

Kendall just before he hit a ball far in to left field

Group shot at the end of the game

I will now turn things over to Bianca and Christina who have the following reflections to share:

After doing some work yesterday in the volunteer center’s community garden, we headed out to a Bateye Montecoca. Both of us acknowledged the poverty level of the bateyes, but experiencing the atmosphere of the sugar cane workers resonated with our awareness.  We saw horrible living conditions, under nourished people, and poor hygiene. Regardless, we felt the sense of community throughout the bateye. Not only were all the residents extremely enthusiastic to help, they were vocal about how excited they were for our aid. We spent our morning mixing dry cement with sand and water to create a mixture for a secure floor in Ramon’s house. Ramon, an 81-year-old Haitian, continues to tediously cut sugar cane because he needs to feed himself.  Even with the severity of his situation, his smile was undeniably contagious.

When taking a break from the strenuous work, many of the children approached us warmly. They established a mini hair salon with most of us girls on the service trip and we received silly hairstyles with flowers in our hair. Joana, a 10-year-old girl, labeled me (Bianca) as her best friend and said “te amo mucho” which means “I love you a lot.” Seeing the children genuinely happy with the biggest smiles on their faces pushed us more to work harder and continue our service work. Working in the bateyes, we definitely want to return to the Dominican Republic to see further progress and discover other ways to help the bateye communities.

-Bianca, ‘15 and Christina, ‘16

And on that note, buenas noches! Look for the next update either tomorrow or Saturday night.