I took a couple of weeks off from updating this so I've got a lot on my mind to share. Apologies if it's rather muddled....
So I'm still trying to sort out flights back in (very) early 2009 as I have been invited to attend an event in Saudi Arabia! Not only do I need to get back for the flights, before then I have to provide my passport and completed visa application, this means that I'm fighting the clock in terms of fitting in everything left that I want to do here.
It's also been time to face the harsh realities of life as an unemployed activ (ish) ist I could face upon my return and to do my best to circumvent them. I've completed a number of applications to various organisations for work paid and unpaid (mostly the latter)and been dwelling on other ways to subsidise my passion for earl grey, cereal, books and music. Truthfully speaking it's been a big leap to take 3 months off to work unpaid abroad and one which is difficult to explain to people here. Most kids have to work so hard to pay for their education in order to keep hope alive for a meaningful career here that doing something that doesn't provide any livelihood, even short term, isn't an option, culturally or practically.Unless you are very well off the same is true in the UK, we just work harder to deny it and get in more debt, something we seem very accomplished at! Whilst I'm aware of this condition, it doesn't mean I'm immune to it, as a look at my finances would tell even the most casual observer. I'm really grateful to have had the chance to come here regardless. Time in another environment has given me a very productive space for reflection and growth and the work I've undertaken has helped me develop my range of skills generally.
Most recently I've been reading up on work in Masculinities, that is to say different symbolic identities for people of the male gender, and their role in development. It was refreshing to find this strand of thought as soemtimes in Gender work it appears that Men are conspicuous only by their absence, or the intention of the work to negate the negative impacts the attitudes and actions of men can have on womens' capacity to realise their full potential. Of course male and female identities are almost always intertwined and, in order to address the fundamental inequities of gender relations and also work toward a safer society for all, a new way of addressing the gender roles of all people, is necessary. For example might the same aspects of male identity that influence high levels of domestic violence not only be linked to those that associate masculinity with strength, fighting etc and that also are a factor in gang membership and high levels of male on male violence? If so how can anyone engage positively with young men to empower them to be able to negotiate their identities differently and embrace new versions of masculinity that reject that violence? Likewise if men and women are able to adopt more balanced identities in their youth, and hopefully grow into more fulfilled and rounded individuals, that could have positive implications for relationships between all people. This applies, in different ways, as much in London as it does in Santo Domingo.
I've made some more friends locally in the city and spent more time chilling, drinking , going to the cinema and eating sushi but I've still found time to visit Juandolio, Dominicus, La Romana, San Pedro Macorix, Callete and Boca Chica. All bar the middle two are beaches of varying popularity and character, the best of the lot being Dominicus, which has the whitest sand and clearest warm sea water I've ever seen.
Also for World Aids Day there was a great Skate/BMX/ Hip Hop event sponsored by UNAIDS and hosted by a friend of mine called Jose Polanco, in Parca Montesino, a popular haunt for local youth. It was cool to see such a progressive event pitched at young people in way that wasn't cringe worthily patronising. The serious message regarding sexual health and contraception was never ignored but it was accompanied by a an entertaining afternoon of competition, fun and unexpected extras (like a random Par Court display). I really enjoyed myself and it was great to see all of the artists who performed mixing so readily with the crowd. On one level this is what hip hop should be about; and attention was given by the artists involved to discussing the positive potential of the genre for bringing communities together and helping express a unique local identity. On another level I think it's just symptomatic of island life; it's a small world and a lot of people I've met know big local politicians, business men and artists, which to an extent means those individuals aren't put on so much of a pedestal as they might be elsewhere. Music, and Merengue and Bachata in particular, are so ingrained in everyday life that I think people take their level of access to the artists for granted. Kids definitely still idolize big international stars, or at least the lifestyles they represent. It's sad to see kids who can't afford shoes wearing 50 T shirts or caps with dollar signs on them, all promoting a certain hustler mentality. It's sad enough to see that at home, but here the celebration of materialism and the 'Get Rich or Die Trying' attitude becomes much more than an abstract problem. Crime and drugs are rife and homicide is the number one cause of death in the country. In fact one of the more interesting projects INSTRAW may be working on in future will explore the various factors that influence gun violence in DR, Jamaica and Trinidad. I'd love to be back around to contribute to that study but I don't see it as likely at this stage.
On another INSTRAW note I went with the organisation to a Human Rights Day event, whilst I certainly enjoyed the free food and enjoyed what I could understand of the various speeches but it does grate a little that an event that should remind us of the supposed universality of certain basic entitlements can be held in a exclusive, expensive hotel, in a country rife with poverty, inequality and injustice where most people probably aren't even aware of many of those entitlements, for the prime benefit of privileged expats. The symbolic of value of the day is important and its fine to celebrate progress so far but I look forward to a Human Rights day that can be genuinely celebrated by all.
That's about all for now. I'll attempt to post again soon in a more orderly fashion.
Peace
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Friday, 21 November 2008
Alpha Link
http://ministerionuevaesperanza.blogspot.com/
A website for the Dominican Alpha Course coordinated by the Singer mentioned in my last post, Ronald Romero.
A website for the Dominican Alpha Course coordinated by the Singer mentioned in my last post, Ronald Romero.
Thursday, 20 November 2008
Brief Update
Hello and Feliz Navidad! There appears to be more and more Christmas decorations up every day here. The first appeared in my house almost a month ago and now in addition to fairy lights on the outside and inside of houses (this in a place where power cuts are so common!), model Santas and consumer advertising there are fireworks almost daily, and sometimes actually in broad daylight, which I would of thought defeats the object but hey...
Busy week for INSTRAW as there are two big players from New York here to work with the senior staff team to review the implementation of a change strategy and set key priorities for the next 6-12 months (INSTRAW needs extra leadership at the moment as there is only an interim Director in post) and in the name of participation the whole staff team is obliged to attend sessions for most of this week to contribute. Thus I'm learning about the organisation from a different angle, and one that is more suited to my academic background (Voluntary Sector Management as opposed to Development), but some of the work I had in hand that was shaping up nicely is on hold for a few days.
Spent some time with a group of Dominican friends during and after their Catholic Youth Group this weekend and went to a graduation party at an American theme bar that was blasting Ultimate Fighting Championship on pay per view from massive flat screen TVs. That was pretty surreal considering we'd come from a community meeting where they plan voluntary activities and where a really talented band played songs of peace, unity and praise. One of the fighters did have a slogan all over his clothes saying "Jesus didn't tap" which made me smile. The singer of the group is also the Latin America and Caribbean coordinator for the Alpha Course, an outreach programme originated by the Anglican Church in the UK for people with questions about Christianity. He's traveling to London in May and it would be nice to connect with him again as he seemed a very cool guy. On the flip side of the generosity and tolerance the strong role the church has here allows it to promote however, there is a darker moral edge.
Currently there is a panel of senior Dominican Judges sitting at the moment on the issue of abortion. One of the favored options, at least int he mainstream media, is to to make abortion equal to murder, as far as I understand it, for anyone involved in procuring, performing or receiving a termination, with a minimum sentence of 40 Years! This really came as a shock to me.Considering how big a class divide there already seems to be here this would probably have a disproportionate impact on poor women. Whilst I certainly wouldn't ascribe all blame for this at religions feet, one can't discount the cultural influence Catholic value have over attitudes towards such issues here and it really leaves a bitter taste in the mouth sometimes.
Busy week for INSTRAW as there are two big players from New York here to work with the senior staff team to review the implementation of a change strategy and set key priorities for the next 6-12 months (INSTRAW needs extra leadership at the moment as there is only an interim Director in post) and in the name of participation the whole staff team is obliged to attend sessions for most of this week to contribute. Thus I'm learning about the organisation from a different angle, and one that is more suited to my academic background (Voluntary Sector Management as opposed to Development), but some of the work I had in hand that was shaping up nicely is on hold for a few days.
Spent some time with a group of Dominican friends during and after their Catholic Youth Group this weekend and went to a graduation party at an American theme bar that was blasting Ultimate Fighting Championship on pay per view from massive flat screen TVs. That was pretty surreal considering we'd come from a community meeting where they plan voluntary activities and where a really talented band played songs of peace, unity and praise. One of the fighters did have a slogan all over his clothes saying "Jesus didn't tap" which made me smile. The singer of the group is also the Latin America and Caribbean coordinator for the Alpha Course, an outreach programme originated by the Anglican Church in the UK for people with questions about Christianity. He's traveling to London in May and it would be nice to connect with him again as he seemed a very cool guy. On the flip side of the generosity and tolerance the strong role the church has here allows it to promote however, there is a darker moral edge.
Currently there is a panel of senior Dominican Judges sitting at the moment on the issue of abortion. One of the favored options, at least int he mainstream media, is to to make abortion equal to murder, as far as I understand it, for anyone involved in procuring, performing or receiving a termination, with a minimum sentence of 40 Years! This really came as a shock to me.Considering how big a class divide there already seems to be here this would probably have a disproportionate impact on poor women. Whilst I certainly wouldn't ascribe all blame for this at religions feet, one can't discount the cultural influence Catholic value have over attitudes towards such issues here and it really leaves a bitter taste in the mouth sometimes.
Thursday, 13 November 2008
Half Time Highlights
So pretty much half through my time in the DR I took a moment to reflect and, contrary to my habitual verbosity, briefly summarize the ups and downs of the journey so far.
Best Bits
-Improving my Spanish. there's nothing quite like that moment when you use a new word, in the right context, at the right time, and someone understands you.
-Caberete. Free Jazz Festival, loads of people, clubs, bars, the Joe Calazaghe fight on Cable, minimal sleaze all with the ocean lapping at my feet. Then to Playa Rincon for an all night rave and back to Constambar at 7AM for a swim before bedtime.
-The Beach at Las Terrenas. That first tantalizing glimpse of the Caribbean up close, and the white sand, and finally the water itself. Stunning.
-Dajabon. A slice of reality pie and an inspiration.
-The People. Too many to mention but shout outs in particular to Rosa for looking out for me, Monika for giving me a place to stay when I arrived and every random person on the street who lent a hand with anything.
Other Chulo items: Election Night, Baraboncourt 5 Estrella Rhon, Merengue, Bachata, Reggaeton, The Seafood, The Mountains, Halloween, the 24 Hour Sandwich Place ...etc etc etc
Worst Bits (though it's all part of the experience)
-My Spanish. Those totally impotent moments where you just don't have the words,and if you did you'd have no idea what to do with them!
-Power Cuts
-Missing loved ones at Home.
And aside from minor bug bears like Merengue full blast through terrible speakers on Coaches at 730 Am, is it for the bad bits!
Left on the To Do List
-Baseball
-Scuba
-El Limon (Most Famous Waterfall here)
-La Pica Duarte (The highest mountain in the Carribbean, with a three day walk to the summit)
-Haiti (Me. Port Au Prince. December. Watch this space.)
And so, on to the second half...
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Dajabon
As Hotel names go ‘Massacre’ doesn’t that enticing but it’s the best in Dajabon, a market town in the Dominican Republic on the border with Haiti, and speaks directly to the complex and often bloody history between the two states^. The Masacar river originally took it’s name from a colonial era slaughter of French pirates by the then ruling Spanish but will go down in legend as the dumping ground for the corpses of many of the estimated 30,000 Haitians hacked to death with Machetes by Dominican Troops in 1937 under the orders of the racist dictator Rafael Trujillo*. This water, tainted by so much innocent blood in the past, is now crossed on Mondays and Fridays by thousands of Haitian citizens permitted across the border to participate in the twice weekly market that transforms Dajabon from a sleepy country town into a hub of activity. Last Monday I rose early to watch the border open as these intrepid travelers walked ten abreast across an ageing bridge, monitored by UN Peacekeepers at one end and Dominican Border Guards at the other to pass through the arch that officially marks ‘La Frontiera’. Hundreds more traders waded across the river itself illegally, carrying embargoed goods such as garlic, which might have fetched them a higher return, once the obligatory bribes for the guards to turn a blind eye were counted into the equation.
Despite the obvious hardship of many of those crossing back and forth and the endemic corruption of the local authorities, the market itself was as a revelation for me, and it obviously proves a draw to both Haitians and Dominicans alike as a source of potential bargains given the amount of customers I saw engaging in market life. Full of barter and laughter, of sights, sounds and smells that I’ve rarely encountered across the rest of the Dominican Republic the streets in the designated market zone are laid out with blankets covered with various vegetables, clothes from disaster relief packages and counterfeiters and essentials like toiletries and kitchenware. As I wandered through the crowds I brushed shoulders with traders carrying piles of boxed underwear or with scuffed trainers dangling from their necks, trying to entice me to stop and take a look, and took evasive action between stalls as motorbike couriers forced their way through the narrow lanes, exhausts smoking and horns blaring. The pots of curried goat and rice bubbling away on corners eventually proved too tempting to resist and my breakfast proved a highlight of my visit.
After numerous circuits of the market, each giving me a new memory; an attempted negotiation in mutually broken Spanish with trader whose first language is Kreyol, finding a classic USA 94 World Cup T-Shirt for the price of a newspaper at home or simply taking a moment to pause from ducking under the hanging tarpaulin shades as the midday Caribbean sun blazed away overhead, to truly appreciate the organized chaos around me, I set out to make the journey back to my hotel room. The hustle of the day had begun to die down and as I walked back through the emptying streets, past children playing amongst the discarded cardboard and plastic and the goats used to dispose of more edible waste I reflected on the gap between second hand and direct experience. Haiti is one of the world’s forgotten crisis’s and it’s depiction in the global arena is all too often the same superficial tale of a state and a people crippled helplessness and senselessness conflict. The people I saw in Dajabon are striving to earn a living and despite, or perhaps because of, their circumstances, to do so with dignity and vitality. It’s a humbling experience I can’t help but recommend and one that communicates not an attachment to a tragic past, but a hope for a brighter future.
^Following the 1804 ousting of the Spanish by slaves and the birth of the first post colonial state Haitian military advance eventually led them to dominate the whole of Hispaniola (the name of the island the two countries share) for 22 years. Now even the possibility of such a situation is absurd to many Dominicans, given the perpetual political turmoil in Haiti and the lowly position of most Haitian migrant, legal and illegal in Dominican society. Dominicans celebrate their independence not from their Spanish Colonial occupiers but from Haiti and prejudice and persecution prevail in attitudes toward Haitian migrants and workers.
*Tensions between Dominicans and Haitians characterize the region to this day. As recently as last week 500 Haitians were repatriated by the authorities from a nearby settlement officially for their own protection, after a Dominican was murdered in an attempted robbery.
Despite the obvious hardship of many of those crossing back and forth and the endemic corruption of the local authorities, the market itself was as a revelation for me, and it obviously proves a draw to both Haitians and Dominicans alike as a source of potential bargains given the amount of customers I saw engaging in market life. Full of barter and laughter, of sights, sounds and smells that I’ve rarely encountered across the rest of the Dominican Republic the streets in the designated market zone are laid out with blankets covered with various vegetables, clothes from disaster relief packages and counterfeiters and essentials like toiletries and kitchenware. As I wandered through the crowds I brushed shoulders with traders carrying piles of boxed underwear or with scuffed trainers dangling from their necks, trying to entice me to stop and take a look, and took evasive action between stalls as motorbike couriers forced their way through the narrow lanes, exhausts smoking and horns blaring. The pots of curried goat and rice bubbling away on corners eventually proved too tempting to resist and my breakfast proved a highlight of my visit.
After numerous circuits of the market, each giving me a new memory; an attempted negotiation in mutually broken Spanish with trader whose first language is Kreyol, finding a classic USA 94 World Cup T-Shirt for the price of a newspaper at home or simply taking a moment to pause from ducking under the hanging tarpaulin shades as the midday Caribbean sun blazed away overhead, to truly appreciate the organized chaos around me, I set out to make the journey back to my hotel room. The hustle of the day had begun to die down and as I walked back through the emptying streets, past children playing amongst the discarded cardboard and plastic and the goats used to dispose of more edible waste I reflected on the gap between second hand and direct experience. Haiti is one of the world’s forgotten crisis’s and it’s depiction in the global arena is all too often the same superficial tale of a state and a people crippled helplessness and senselessness conflict. The people I saw in Dajabon are striving to earn a living and despite, or perhaps because of, their circumstances, to do so with dignity and vitality. It’s a humbling experience I can’t help but recommend and one that communicates not an attachment to a tragic past, but a hope for a brighter future.
^Following the 1804 ousting of the Spanish by slaves and the birth of the first post colonial state Haitian military advance eventually led them to dominate the whole of Hispaniola (the name of the island the two countries share) for 22 years. Now even the possibility of such a situation is absurd to many Dominicans, given the perpetual political turmoil in Haiti and the lowly position of most Haitian migrant, legal and illegal in Dominican society. Dominicans celebrate their independence not from their Spanish Colonial occupiers but from Haiti and prejudice and persecution prevail in attitudes toward Haitian migrants and workers.
*Tensions between Dominicans and Haitians characterize the region to this day. As recently as last week 500 Haitians were repatriated by the authorities from a nearby settlement officially for their own protection, after a Dominican was murdered in an attempted robbery.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
