Two Years of Service in Dominican Republic

The computer lab in Tireo’s high school had originally been equipped with 20 new computers. However, the lab had not been in use for two years and many of the computers were no longer functioning. Since the community felt no ownership of the computer lab, the first step I took was to organize a committee that would take responsibility of the computer center during after-school hours. This committee was composed of community leaders, teachers, and students who were interested in the sustainability of such a business for the technological advancement of the community. They would be in charge of finances, hiring of teachers and personnel, marketing computer classes, and establishing low-cost prices for services. Once the committee was established, we held community fundraising events to raise awareness and ultimately, bring in revenue. The money raised went towards computer repair, marketing costs, and the hiring of a teacher. By September, we were ready to begin our first courses with more than 50 students which were co-taught by the teacher and me. I taught her didactic ways of teaching and she taught me how to handle misconduct in Dominican Republic. Half way through the course, we identified key youth who would excel as teacher assistants. During the winter break, I facilitated training for these youth and in January, I was handing over the torch. The project no longer needed my help every step of the way. The courses then began to be taught by the hired teacher and one assistant, both of who were being paid competitive wages for their work. The extra revenue that the center was creating went to establish the first Internet connection in Tireo during my time. Community members no longer had to travel 30 minutes to a nearby town to be connected with the rest of the world. Simultaneously, I began to give computer and teacher training to the nine teachers working during school hours at the high school. The training had to begin from basics as most of the teachers had never used Microsoft Office. The end result was to train them on using educational computer games as an additional tool to engage their students. After the training, teachers began to take their students into the computer lab on a regular basis. This served two purposes: 1) students who were previously disinterested in subjects such as math, reading or science were now opened to learning because it was through a new medium; 2) students were forced to be engaged and teachers were able to see what areas students needed most help with; and 3) students who had never turned on a computer were now using it for educational purposes. Through interaction with the teachers and through the computer courses opened to the community, I realized that a lot of youth were having trouble reading and writing. I was faced with the challenge of going beyond computers and reaching out to those who were illiterate. I was able to integrate ICT and educational reading games to help those who could barely write their name. I am proud to say that after many months, most of my students are able to read and write full sentences. As a secondary project, I began a youth group where I trained peer educators on HIV/Aids, drug and alcohol abuse, and teen pregnancy. Every week we would meet and discuss additional topics such as domestic violence and marriage at a young age. After six months of training, they began to recreate these sessions in the local high school. Currently, they are training more peer educators to join the cause. Lastly, my final project was translating for American doctors who would come for one week at a time to give free health care for host country nationals in Tireo. During my first medical mission, I noticed that there were no Haitian patients. When I suggested we should market the Haitian population, the Dominican counterparts to the medical mission were apprehensive. However, by carefully lobbying for the inclusion of Haitians, by the third medical mission, the doctors had hired a full-time Creole translator, thus opening the door to Haitians.