News and Events

Stay current with Peace Corps news and events in the Dominican Republic. See also our list of articles about the Peace Corps.

Peace Corps All Volunteer Conference

PCDR held the annual All Volunteer Conference, Friday, November 23, at the Hotel Lina in Santo Domingo.

The theme of this year’s conference was change. PCDR has been undergoing several changes over the past year. Country Director Romeo Massey and PTO, Don Clark, explained some of the pilot projects and new policies at post.

Time was also dedicated to the relief effort that has been taking place since Tropical Storm Noel hit in late October. Dominic Nahas and Randy Mauer, who have been helping coordinate the relief effort in and around Barahona, gave an overview of some of the work that has been done in the south thus far. Throughout the conference, Volunteers signed up to offer their skills in order to help out in some of the affected communities.

Before lunch, Volunteers gathered in their sector program groups along with their Program Managers. The groups shared recent projects, events and changes within their programs and discussed upcoming activities and collaborative projects.

The second half of the conference focused on small workshops and informational sessions, primarily organized and run by Volunteers. HIV/AIDS, IT resources, environmental protection, youth groups, fundraising, and teaching English were among the topics covered.

A session was also offered for Volunteers who were interested in learning more about the Foreign Service. Two representatives from the U.S. Embassy shared their experience and talked about what to expect when applying and/or working in the Foreign Service.

Later Volunteers had a chance to meet other Volunteers living in their region of the country, to talk about upcoming events and plan cross-sectoral collaborations. The afternoon concluded with a year in review slide-show put together by a group of Volunteers.

Many thanks to all those who contributed to this year’s conference- it was full of great information, advice, and resources from and for Volunteers. We here in PCDR look forward to another great year in 2008!

Memorial Basketball Game

Peace Corps Volunteers and staff were recently invited to participate in a basketball game in honor of a former Volunteer, Steven Rabinowitz, who served in Yamasá, a municipal town in the Monte Plata province. Rabinowitz worked with a cooperative of local artisans that make and sell Taíno clay figures in Yamasá. Many of the artisans have participated in the annual Artisan Fair in Santo Domingo, an event that began as a Peace Corps initiative and is now principally sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and the First Lady’s Office.

Despite a dark and rainy day, both PC and the community members from Yamasá turned out to enjoy a day of recreation and fun. During the opening ceremony, on behalf of the local Yamasá basketball league (“Liga Añeja de Baloncesto”), each Peace Corps participant received a souvenir made by the local artisans.

After the morning game, the community members hosted lunch for the Peace Corps visitors, gave them a tour of their workshop and showed some samples of their artwork. In the afternoon, the two teams went back to the gym for one more game.

Though the teams were evenly matched and the games close each time, our Peace Corps DR team brought home 2 victories on the day.

Many thanks to all who participated and helped make it a great day for everyone!

Tropical storm Noel

All PC volunteers are safe and healthy after Tropical Storm Noel brought a surprising amount and rain to the Dominican Republic. The Southwest part of the country and Yuna watershed experienced flooding that has damaged/destroyed many homes and ruined regional crops. CNN has a good page showing the damage.

If you would like to make a donation to relief effort for the victims of this tropical storm here are some avenues:

• Dominican Embassy in Washington has set up a relief donation website.
• Oxfam (an international NGO) has a Spanish donation website.
• The Dominican American Roundtable (US-based NGO supporting Dominicans) has donation site.

Though Peace Corps Volunteers and Staff have helped out with relief services, our real work is the long-term development of the communities here. If you'd like to support Peace Corps development projects you can donate to a specific project through the Peace Corps Partnership Program. You can also make a general donation to either of the two DR Return Peace Corps Volunteer organizations:

• The Friends of the DR's "Community Challenge Fund". Send checks to:
  "Community Challenge Fund”
  Treasurer, Friends of the Dominican Republic
  4512 Park Road
  Alexandria, VA 22312
• Fondo Quisqueya. Donate online.

I learned that Peace Corps is not so much about quantity of projects or successes but the quality of life, about your attitude, and about how you relate to and accompany people that makes a real difference.Dan AnsonVolunteer in the Dominican Republic 2005-2007.