A very memorable day for the gardening volunteers

By: Amber BrookmireAmber is a graduating senior at the City College of New York, majoring in Anthropology and Jewish Studies. She is participating in the 2012 CCNY-InteRDom Service Learning Program, and will serve as the InteRDom Correspondent in the CUNY system. To read more about Amber and her participation in the Correspondent program, see her profile here.

Week four has sadly come and gone for my stay in Santo Domingo. Our strong start this past week led us to reach our gardening goals and finish early! Tuesday was our last day working with the families that participated in the project. It was a very memorable day for all of the volunteers as we looked back on our experiences with the families of Cielo and Bayona this past month.

We celebrated the success of the project by gathering at a vegan restaurant to revisit some memorable moments through hilarious photos and stories. It was nice to spend our last night with the volunteers out of our normal gardening environment, yet it will be missed. Although it made us sad to leave, our circle of friends made it a wonderful despedida (goodbye party) for our CCNY group.

Our final presentations for InteRDom and the project took place in the Art Gallery of FUNGLODE. My co-intern HP and I discussed our observations and suggestions regarding inclusiveness in the project. Through various interviews and personal conversations, it became evident that our observations would need further evaluation after the project has developed for some time. Due to the short length of our stay and the scheduled days for gardening, some members of the family were not available at the time of installing the gardens. However that did not consequently mean they wouldn’t play an active role in sustaining the gardens.

As I reflect on the challenges and successes of my experiences from this project, I feel excited and motivated to continue. Despite my departure from this beautiful island, I am able to maintain communication with the friends I have made and stay updated on the progress of the gardens we created. I hope to apply what I have learned in my own life and encourage others to nurture their connection to nature and food. It is important to better understand what sustains our lives, and gardening has proven to be an exciting way to get hands-on with exploring food production. My family is already requesting that I help with a garden for them when I return!

And the gardening continues!

By: Amber Brookmire

Amber is a graduating senior at the City College of New York, majoring in Anthropology and Jewish Studies. She is participating in the 2012 CCNY-InteRDom Service Learning Program, and will serve as the InteRDom Correspondent in the CUNY system. To read more about Amber and her participation in the Correspondent program, see her profile here.


We have continued our gardening project this week in Bayona, an urban community neighboring Cielo. Most families do not have a space with soil to begin a garden, so we have shifted our approach to accommodate their situation. Rather than planting directly into the ground as we did in Cielo, we have created raised boxes within which a vegetable garden can successfully grow. Upon completion of our first box, one of the beneficiaries was so thrilled that she wrote her name on the side to claim it as her own!

Although we are no longer digging in the ground, we must use our strength to carry the heavy boxes and 150 lb. bags of soil to rooftops and back patios. So far, we have completed 9 gardens in Bayona. Only 16 left until we reach our expected goal!

Aside from the gardening project, I have been enjoying the beauty of island as much as possible. On our first InteRDom excursion we headed north to Santiago, the second largest city. We had an excellent tour of Central Leon, a cultural center in Santiago where we learned all about the country from its beginnings through present day. We then headed to visit Reyna’s (the InteRDom Internship Coordinator’s) parents’ home. Her father showed us how to chop down a plantain tree and uproot cassava – two main staples in Dominican cuisine.
Our second InteRDom excursion was to La Cueva de Maravillas. As we ventured deep into the cave I could feel the temperature drop in the darkness that surrounded me. Motion-sensor lights lit the way as walked through to see the naturally formed stalagmites. I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was hard to imagine how something so beautiful was naturally formed below the earth’s surface. The tour guide pointed out the various cave paintings created by the Tainos, wonderfully preserved in this cave of wonders!

My personal exploration finally came to a full circle when CV (a CCNY intern) and I decided it was time to test out the chaotic public transportation! We headed toward the busy street of Máximo Gomez with no prior knowledge on how to get around. Within minutes we were squeezing into the back seat of a carro publico with two other passengers, on our way to La Zona Colonial! Despite the discomfort with no air conditioning and little space, it was exciting to finally understand how everyone moves about this city without emptying their pockets (only RD $25 for a ride!).
The carro público left us at el Conde - a pedestrian street lined with vendors, shops and restaurants. I soon realized this would be the place to buy souvenirs (and practice my bargaining skills!). Once we worked up an appetite, we hopped in a guagua and headed toward Barra Payan – a 24-hour spot famous for their sandwiches and fresh juices. I ordered one of the combo meals, complete with a sandwich, fresh juice and to my surprise, a KitKat bar!
As I enter my last week in this exciting country, I look forward to reaching our gardening goals and making more memories with my wonderful new group of friends. The adventure doesn’t end here…

Who would have thought gardening is quite an adventure!

By: Amber Brookmire

Amber is a graduating senior at the City College of New York, majoring in Anthropology and Jewish Studies. She is participating in the 2012 CCNY-InteRDom Service Learning Program, and will serve as the InteRDom Correspondent in the CUNY system. To read more about Amber and her participation in the Correspondent program, see her profile here.





After spending two weeks working alongside the families of Cielo, we have successfully reached our gardening goals! Each day, we divided ourselves into two groups and headed into the depths of the village to meet a new family and to discover new plot of land. It was quite an adventure to reach some of these gardens. This week alone, I traveled through plantain forests, balanced on logs to cross streams and trudged through a large river with my backpack over my head!

Using a pick, shovel, gardening hoe and rake, we must first till the soil to prepare the canteros and camellones (soil beds). This has been the most challenging aspect of the project because it requires strength and stamina. Thankfully we have a very motivated group of volunteers, so the hard part goes by quickly with lots of laughter! The next step is to plan out our grid for planting. I have learned which vegetables can grow next to one another and how much space is needed between them. We then fill the soil beds with spinach, lettuce, eggplant, cucumber, cilantro, peppers and tomato. I have been encouraging the families to help us with this process so that they can learn to do it themselves. Everyone, from elders to children, is excited to help transform their land into beautiful vegetable gardens!

In addition to gardening, my CCNY peers and I have been conducting interviews to find out more about some of the families we are assisting. I could see the excitement in their eyes and hear the appreciation in their voices as they described their reasons for participating in the project. Many families have some gardening experience from attending to their corn and plantain fields, but this project brings a positive new element to their life. The creation of these gardens gives them access to organic vegetables at no cost and improves their nutrition by filling their plates with color!

It has been a wonderful and challenging experience to create the gardens in Cielo. After all of our success these past two weeks, I look forward to meeting and working with the families of Bayona next week!

One Week, Many Good Experiences!

By: Amber Brookmire
Amber is a graduating senior at the City College of New York, majoring in Anthropology and Jewish Studies. She is participating in the 2012 CCNY-InteRDom Service Learning Program, and will serve as the InteRDom Correspondent in the CUNY system.

It is amazing how much I have seen and learned after spending only one week, in Santo Domingo. During the first few days we met our team of volunteers, learned to make “huertos” (small gardens) at the National Botanical Gardens and helped create organic compost at a university in Bonao. With my notebook and camera in hand, we boarded the big, white bus and headed for Cielo, the first community in which we will be working.

Upon our arrival, one woman invited us to eat freshly picked mangoes from her backyard. It was incredible to sink my teeth into the ripe fruit as I looked up into the trees from which it grew. We then headed to the families’ homes to dig our hands into the dirt and transform bare plots of land into beautiful vegetable gardens. Although gardening may not seem to be physically challenging, it takes a lot of strength to use those heavy gardening tools! I can already feel the burn – now all I need is some spinach and I’ll have biceps like Popeye!

Aside from the gardening project, I have been soaking up the culture as much as possible. I wake up each morning to the fruit vendor yelling “AGUACATE” outside my window. It is so cool to buy fresh fruit for morning smoothies by simply walking to meet him downstairs.

I have yet to delve into the public transportation here. From what I have seen, road rules mean nothing! Between the guaguas and carros públicos, chaos fills the streets – but it is very exciting. I will soon pay the very inexpensive fare (about 50 cents) to take an adventure in one of the two.

As for the beaches – let’s just say words wouldn’t do them justice. My fellow CCNY interns and I took a trip to La Romana (a province about 1 hour from Santo Domingo) to spend a day beneath the palm trees on one of the many public beaches. The water was crystal clear and the sand was like white flour beneath your feet. We played water ball with some local kids to work up an appetite and then enjoyed fried fish and fresh shrimp in our beach chairs.

To say the least, this week has been very fulfilling. I am so excited to be working with such unique and wonderful people to make a positive impact within the local communities. The kindness of those that surround me warms my heart and reminds me to seek joy through the simple things in life.

Santo Domingo, Here I Come!

By: Amber Brookmire

Amber is a graduating senior at the City College of New York, majoring in Anthropology and Jewish Studies. She is participating in the 2012 CCNY-InteRDom Service Learning Program, and will serve as the InteRDom Correspondent in the CUNY system.

As I prepare for my month-long adventure to Santo Domingo, I look forward to the people I will meet, the knowledge I will gain and the projects that I will be a part of. The materials and information provided at the orientation session have been a valuable reference in forming my idea of what to expect and how to best prepare. With the patience of my study abroad advisers and the InteRDom team, my countless emails filled with questions were always answered with clarity and kindness.

Traveling abroad brings about feelings of excitement, though I also become more aware of the important things I must do to keep myself healthy and safe. So as not to become overwhelmed in preparation, I created to-do lists to keep me organized. For the months leading up to my departure date, I checked with my doctor about necessary prescriptions, immunizations and other health-related advice he could offer. I looked into travel insurance for my valuables, made a packing list to ensure I wasn’t leaving anything behind and kept open communication with my advisers and the InteRDom team. To say the least, I was so glad to see my to-do lists dwindle away as the days passed.

Now with only 2 days until departure, I can thank my advisers, InteRDom and my to-do lists for helping me prepare for this exciting adventure. I can’t wait to look out the plane window as I arrive to my new home for the next four weeks. Santo Domingo, here I come!

From a Dream to a Reality

by: Amber Brookmire
Amber Brookmire studies Anthropology at The City College of New York. She hopes to participate in InterDom’s service-learning program this June to further develop her cross-cultural studies and improve Spanish language proficiency.

I first heard about the InteRDom service-learning program through The City College Study Abroad Office. I had always wanted to study abroad during college, but I didn’t think it was a financial possibility for me. I began to research more information and was amazed by all that I could gain, personally and academically, from the Dominican Republic service-learning program. As a senior, I realized this could be my last chance to have this experience. So, I sat down with the advisers in the Study Abroad Office to discuss financial aid and scholarship opportunities. I left their office with various scholarship applications and lots of encouragement, confident that my dream could become a reality.

 

The combination of homework, applications and work was difficult to manage at first, but I made a clear checklist of what needed to be done and prioritized by deadlines. I also made sure to attend one of InteRDom’s information sessions in the Study Abroad Office on campus, which was very helpful for completing my application. Mandy, a representative of InteRDom, gave a presentation that highlighted the different aspects of the program. I gained a better understanding of the application process and what to expect from my experience abroad. I also learned more about the classes I would be taking and the specific internship project I would be a part of – sustainable urban agriculture! I was very excited to find out that the internship is tailored to each student’s skills and interests.

Ana and Jenny, two students who participated in the program last summer, were also at the meeting to share their experiences and answer questions. It was nice to hear about the experience from a peer’s perspective because it gave me a sense of what the program will be like as a student. I had a chance to chat with them after the presentation and their enthusiasm was truly inspiring. I was glad to have attended the info session because it was very informative and gave me an opportunity to ask questions and discuss my concerns.

I anticipate that the program will be an exciting opportunity to develop useful skills and learn in a unique way. I believe that cross-cultural immersion is an important part of shaping character. If I am able to participate in the program, I am confident that it will be both personally and academically beneficial.