[RSCT] Dominican Republic: Teachers' Social Justice Tour

[KEVIN LAMASTRA]

Teachers Social
Justice Tour: The Dominican Republic 2009
August 09-16, 2008

Exploring Global Migration and Human Rights
The Price of Sugar: Haitian-Dominican Migrant Workers
Discounted Registration deadline: May 1, 2009

 
www.friendsbeyondborders.net

Dear Rethinking Schools/Critical Teaching Friends:

I am a NJ teacher with a special interest in learning about global migration and human rights in the context of the Dominican Republic and
Haiti. I have put together a teachers' trip running from August 09-16 this summer where a group
of us will get together to learn, travel, and collaborate on transforming our experiences into classroom activities. This is a not-for profit project created
by and for classroom teachers.

This is our third year organizing the Teachers’ Social Justice Tour.  In the past we have been a group of
12-18.  The teachers who have participated have represented a wide range of grade levels and teaching areas from
elementary through university teacher training.
 
 
 The cost of the
trip is $1,229 from Puerto Plata if paid before May 1, 2009. This price reflects a significant discount for 90 days pre-payment. The price includes all
expenses except for the inexpensive lunches that we will purchase on the road. Please see the website for more detailed information. We have
picturres of our site visits, hotels, and the answers to the most frequently asked questions.

This is a not for profit project and through our collective efforts as teachers, we will have the opportunity to meet with people and visit places normally
inaccessible to tourists.
 
Due to the intimate nature of our site visits, it is essential that our
presence be discreet and respectful. Because of this, participation in the tour will be limited to 18 participants or less. However, it is
essential that we have a minimum of 10 participants to carry out this years’ project. Your participation could make all the difference.

We need just five more teachers to make this once in a lifetime project a reality. Please take a moment and visit our website to learn more.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.

Thanks,

Kevin LaMastra (ESL/World Languages- Linden, NJ)

lamastra at mac.com

 
www.friendsbeyondborders.net

 
 
OVERVIEW:

TEACHERS SOCIAL JUSTICE TOUR: Dominican Republic 2009

This August I am organizing a Social Justice Tour in the Dominica
Republic. A small group of teachers and interested members of the
community will travel together from August 9-16, to gain first hand experiences learning about global migration and human rights
issues.

The island of Hispaniola is a particularly
appropriate place to study this topic. We will begin with the arrival of Columbus and the
subsequent genocide of the indigenous Taino people. We will hear multiple perspectives on the Columbus legacy and see the
remnants of the once flourishing Taino culture that was completely extinguished within one hundred years of the Europe’s
arrival on the island.

We will also learn about Haitian migrant workers who cross the border to escape starvation and political violence to perform grueling labor and live in
deplorable conditions on bateyes. The word BATEY signifies a community of sugar cane cutters who live in ramshackle housing on the land owned by the sugar
companies. Many of theses workers were actually born in the Dominican Republic
, but because their parents (or grandparents) were irregular migrants, they are not given birth certificates. This often prevents them
from attaining an education or receiving other important social services.

These stateless migrant workers are subject to exploitation at every turn. When a person of Haitian descent is accused of committing a crime, vigilantes have
been known to attack entire batey communities. Police often threaten batey residents with deportation if they do not hand over their meager possessions, a few
pesos, or a bottle of rum. Women are victims of sexual exploitation. At the age of ten, children begin laboring with machetes nearly as large as themselves,
and because they are paid by the amount of cane they can cut in a day, they often lose fingers in their haste.

We will visit a several batey communities, and deliver school supplies at our sister school in the Batey Caraballo. We will also perform a
service-learning project together in this community.

Other highlights of the trip:

We will visit a community built by Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust. We plan to meet with original settlers.

We will learn about the Haitian massacre at Dajabon and examine current state of Haitian/Dominican relations.

We will visit a “free trade” zone factory and learn about globalization from the perspectives of both workers and management.
 
Examine the theory and practice of micro-credit.  Visit projects financed through micro-credit and speak with theses small scale business owners.
 

We will meet with grass-roots women’s groups to learn about the impact of sex tourism, human trafficking and other situations that contribute to the double
marginalization of women on the island.  Meet with sex workers involved in peer-to-peer education programs and
activism.
 
We will visit Haitian migrant workers and deliver medical
supplies to relief agencies working in some of the bateyes that you may have seen in the documentary “The Price of Sugar”.

We will have a meting with MUDHA (El movimento de mujeres Dominoco-Haitiana) an organization dedicated to advocating for women
of Haitian descent. We hope to once again meet with the founder of MUDHA, Sonia Pierre. Sonia is best described as the Cesar Chavez of
the Haitian migrant workers. Her story is an inspirational one. She arrived in the DR with her parents as a young child. She lived on a batey, and at age 13
was arrested when she helped sugar cane cutter organize a strike where workers demanded better tools, clean water and safer working conditions. Upon leaving
prison, Sonia was more determined than ever to help her people. She taught herself law and later in her life found herself arguing on behalf of stateless
Dominican-Haitian children (those not given birth certificates) in the International Court of Law.

We will celebrate Afro-Dominican Culture as we travel into the mountains of Santo Domingo to attend an interactive musical workshop with the UNESCO recognized
Brotherhood of the Congo, a mutual aid and burial society that organizes popular religious festivals and funerals for the people of the region. They are the
direct descendants of the first slaves brought to Hispaniola by Spanish colonizers over four centuries ago.

 
In addition to all I have described, we will experience the
beauty of the Dominican beaches, taste delicious regional cuisine and hear the
Dominican rhythms of the bachata and merengue.

This description is our best estimate of what we hope to accomplish on our trip. Of course, we must all expect the possibility of changes based on variables
beyond our control.

The cost of this trip is $1,229 if paid before May 1, 2009. This includes hotel accommodations, all breakfasts and dinners, some
lunches, all transportation, admissions, tour guides, translators, tour management. This reflects a significant 90 days prepayment discount.

Please be sure to check out the project website:
 
www.friendsbeyondborders.net
 
Please feel free to write or call me if I can answer any
questions about the trip. Your participation will make all the difference in making this trip a success. I am certain it will be a life changing, learning
experience.

I hope you will consider joining us.

Sincerely,
 
Kevin LaMastra
 
lamastra at mac.com
 
(cell) 1-732-890-6531
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.criticalteach.org/pipermail/rs_criticalteach.org/attachments/20090209/3216e458/attachment.html>