Disclaimer
Let me admit upfront that I'm a blog junkie all of the sudden. Did my first one yesterday and I might not sleep tonight. Irrespective of this recent affliction (the latest in a long line of obsessions Jennifer has to tolerate), I've been meaning to write all my Dominican peeps about the idea of going to DR in the Spring and building a house for a poor family.
After reading this - let me know if you have other folks that might be interested in this discussion. And of course you may abstain.
Background
My sister Sile did a Habitat trip about 3 years ago (right, Sile?) and met some folks who then defected and started their own non-profit. I was lucky enough to participate (albeit for a day and half) in a home-building trip last year with that new organization - named Cambiando Vidas. Check them out:
https://www.cambiandovidas.info/
So now what do you have..what did I see? Bunch of non-Dominicans building houses for Dominicans. I'll take that deal all day if it's helping our people, but I've wanted to put a group of DOMINICANS together ever since. Consider the historical significance of such a trip, as well as the acquaintances and bonds we will undoubtedly make - not only with the people we'll help, but amongst ourselves as well.
Call it Eco-Tourism or just old-fashioned giving back, but I think we need to make this happen. I've enlisted my entire network of Dominicans in the US and invited them to this blog. What I'd like to accomplish is to commit to having a group of 15-20 Dominicans (and their significant others - let's not pull a Balaguer on their asses!) that Cambiando Vidas can count on next year.
Process
Yeah, there's a process if I'm involved. This is how we can get this done:
Step 1: By mid October, identify the 15-20 people.
Step 2: By Nov 1 - identify the actual times and make sure they work for all (there will be a survey)
Step 3: By mid November, purchase the tickets and lock in the flights
Step 4 (Optional): Throw a fundraiser over the holidays/New Year's to establish a fund (use TBD). Think sustainability here...
So - that's my spiel. Please comment, push back, or make a counter offer. I really think we can do something significant if we can put our heads together and execute.
Paz~
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This sounds like a great idea, but let's make it happen!! HOw many days are we talking about here, gotta ask time off work. Also how much $$mula? HOw much fundraising $$ do we need for this? Never done this before.
ReplyDeleteCheck this org out. It's one of the organizations I learned about at ideacamp.com
ReplyDeletehttp://vimeo.com/6202666
http://www.charitywater.org/
We can fundraise by doing what they do and maybe do a random silent auction. I don't know if I can commit to go (the $$ mula issue) until my situation is resolved but I think this is a good idea.
Just a thought.
The Afterw@rd
I was invited to their last few trips and the average cost is $1,200 plus airfare and the average time commitment is 8 days.
ReplyDeleteThe $1,200 goes towards building supplies as well as lodging and all transporation and food costs. We pretty much land in SDQ and the rest is taken care of. Most of their work that I've known about is in Las Charcas, Paraiso, and San Juan area...around the Azua - Barahona - San Juan triangle).
So total cost per person is around $1,600 if you assume a $400 RT ticket. We can fundraise a portion of that (limited to the $1,200 we give a donation - your airfare can not be fundraised unless you want to set up a personal non-profit). I'm bringing this up now so that folks can save up early on and we can pull it off.
If you don't have enough to read, here's their blog:
http://cambiandovidas.wordpress.com/
Deni - Charity Water sounds dope, and I'm certain Cambiando Vidas would be interested if we can make that link. They do have a project in Haiti...
DLP
Well, if we get a group of 15 or so and contact Rebecca Tate (she's a non-Dominican, but more Dominican than a lot of Dominicans out there) this should become a reality. Getting the group together is actually the hard part. Jose Abreu is on Facebook vic, as is Rebecca. Send them an invite for this. Of course I'm down to go.
ReplyDeleteI'm already in touch with Rebecca and Jose. I'm just trying to gauge interest here. She said they do not have a group for February or April at this point. Those are the months we'll target. From what I can gather here, we have 3, maybe 4 people so far.
ReplyDeleteI invited 32 to the discussion, but only 5 people have seen it so far. I suspect we'll get more discussion over the weekend.
This is a great idea! Depending on the dates, I may be able to go. Is this an open invite? Can I invite my sister and other Dominican friends? I understand if it is not an open invite.
ReplyDeleteIf we can pull this off, maybe we can start doing this on a periodic basis targeting different projects (education, health, environmental issues) and regions in DR. My aunt established a rehabilitation center for people who have lost limbs and need prostheses and physical therapy. They raised all funds in the DR. It's very inspiring. Especially because people often think the Dominicans there are apathetic to the needs of the community.
So here is my grain of sand: People there are also willing to contribute either with labor or funds to support this type of initiative. It's an alternative source of funding we can't ignore. I am thinking of joint DR-USA Dominicans Fundraisers. Getting our contacts and businesses there to donate their time and labor, negotiate prices of construction materials for the project, etc.
Hey all this sounds great. Really helpful to know about the price overall. Um a few questions: What are the arrangements for lodging, meals, and transportation once there? Do we do that on our own or does the organization assist with that? If one can't make it down there for the first half of next year, what kind of organizational support is needed from here? Does Cambiando Vidas have a 501(c)(3)number so donations can be matched by employers? Are there going to be problems with Aduanas if you bring tools or items for donations? Looking forward to more discussion :-)
ReplyDeleteAlright - two new participants. Welcome, Iliana, Karina. My responses to your thoughtful contributions...
ReplyDeleteI'd love to get a DR-USA collaboration going. Indeed, I am one of those people that think that Dominicans in DR are apathetic. Maybe it's just my family. My uncle - a doctor who is "pensionado" thinks that if I'm gonna help anybody it should be limited to the De La Paz's...but anyway. Absolutely, if we can get interest from any contacts down there it would be a great feat. Actually, this is exactly the type of synergy that can come from Dominicans doing this work. Feel free to invite anyone to this conversation. I'm pretty sure the blog is public. And, yes, the invitation is totally open.
As for related projects: education, environmental, medical - love that. Let's build a house and come back to that. If we actually do fundraising this year we can always leave a portion aside for those future ideas. On a related note - Cambiando Vidas is completely on the sustainable development tip. They're thinking about rural banking and small business creation, environmental projects...they're wide open to this if we want to help.
To answer some of the questions - transportaion, housing, and food are totally covered with the $1,200; we just land at SDQ. We don't need to bring tools but we want to donate some I think we can work it out with Aduanas (within reason). Cambiando vidas is a 501c3 and if your employer will match, heck yeah!
I think what I'm going to do is invite the Cambiando Vidas folks to this thread so you can communicate with them directly. Rebecca is a CT native, actually, Danbury.
So that's where we are. I'm really excited to see folks engaged in this.
I'm keeping count here...I think we have 5 people on board so far!!!!!
DLP
So just to double-check I asked these questions again and got these responses from CV:
ReplyDelete---------------------------------------
1. Cost for volunteers is $1200 per person PLUS airfare. (there is a $10 tourist card required as well. ). That cost includes:
- hotel during build & 1 night Santo Domingo (double occupancy)
- 3 meals
- local transportation
- bottled water at site
- 2 snacks a day at site
- R&R activity
- Medical insurance during trip (incl Medical evacuation if necessary)
- donation of materials $550 of which may be tax deductible.
2. Recently we've been talking to some people in the DR regarding donors/sponsors/etc. Nothing concrete yet, just building relationships.
3. Originally we discussed all sorts of different options for materials. However, it doesn't seem to be cost effective or logistically effective to source it from the US. Also, key part of the program is to strengthen communities. A huge part of that is fueling the local economy.
4. Employee Matching, yes, we have & can do that. Donor just sends in the forms from their company to us. We then complete them and the company will match the donation.
Please note that the teams should have a minimum of 12 people. That is how we are able to keep the cost of $1200 per person. If there is less, generally the team will do additional fundraising to cover the deficit. Hope that helps. Let me know if any other questions....
---------------------------------------
So 12 is our minimum number...
DLP
So can I get an official gauge of interest here? And I just invited my cousin Gus to the conversation. He can film this whole thing and make a documentary out if it.
ReplyDeleteDLP
Hi Victor:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the invitation. I think it is a very good idea and the plan looks feasible. I have not yet open the link to “cambiando vidas” but I imagine there has to be a detailed map/guide so we can do this avoiding most of the novice pain. I have never built a house but I have a friend that works in Habitat (in Michigan) and many friends and family members in Florida, Virginia and CT who might be interested in joining or helping. I guess some would like to contribute even if they can not go this time. I can also help putting together a team to prepare and support efforts there. I guess many would like to contribute even if they can not go this time. How do you suggest we do to invite them? Can I share this blog/invite with Dominican friends and family members? One idea that comes to my mind is how to make the whole process as educational and participatory as possible for those who will benefit from the house and the community as a whole, so we can build some capacity there. I will now check the link. Thanks again, I will be back with more; I want to do this!
Ara
Hey Ara - yes! Please share this with Dominicans you think might be interested. I've gotten the questions a couple of times about non-Dominicans. Obviously we can't turn away people that want to help but the vision would be diluted a bit.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to have my cousin film all of this as a documentary. When school calms down a bit (mid October?) I'll spend more time on this.
DLP