Saman Internet Center

It has been 6 months since the internet center building was completed by Dartmouth students and no more advancements have been made due to two factors. First, no equipment has been donated and no further funds have been donated. Second, Peralta, the leader of the ODHS, the community development organization heading up this project, has had a lot going on in his life and has not been able to be as present as is necessary to oversee things. He really could benefit from a small grant that would allow him to leave his primary form of generating income, which causes him to have to leave the Saman community for months at a time, and to begin a small business he is prepared to launch to generate income from home and include his oldest son in doing so. He lacks few materials to get this candle business going. What he mainly lacks is any sort of financial security that is necessary for the transition time needed where his income will be cut off as he dedicates his time to starting up the candle business which will inevitably take a certain amount of time before it starts generating a proper income, as any new business would. He'll need a buffer with time to learn the business, etc. He is a man with lots of responsibility, and even more so now that his wife recently gave birth to twins, giving them a total of eight children each, five together, and seven collectively that live in the same house as them. This large number of kids is not necessarily a reflection of their lack of control or lack of planning but of their love for each other (husband and wife) and for human beings. Therefore, an investment which helps the head of this household support his household as well as the community development organization he envisioned and began acting to create over five years ago, is an investment well spent that will bring fruit for everyone.

So the first next step in getting the internet center going is to enable Peralta to be more present in the Saman community. The second step is to have the funds available to purchase the remaining necessary equipment. The third step is to recruit a long term intern to oversee the set up and at least first few months of the internet center. This person should be an advanced Spanish speaker with strong computer knowledge and an easy going, culturally sensitive attitude. In the next few updates, I should inform you on the progress made toward these steps, leading to the ultimate goal of launching the internet center. Thank you for your support!    

Links:

• Project Esperanza website
• Many stories and lessons shared from Puerto Plata, DR.

The alternative spring break group from Dartmouth College came in
March for their annual trip and finished preparing the building for
the internet center (1st floor) and volunteer apartment (2nd floor).
The leader of the community development organization for which this
internet center was built has been having to travel quite a bit for
work reasons but is creating business opportunities at home and is
preparing to settle down and work more from Saman. His constant
presence will create more security and oversight in the community
which will be a better situation for introducing the necessary
expensive equipment. So now what is left is the installation of
internet and a telephone line, purchase and installation of computers,
telephones, an inverter and batteries to give electricity when the
power goes out, a UPS box for each computer to protect them for safe
shutdown when the inverter loses charge and the power is still out,
and an internet center control program. There are community members
who could run the internet center, but it would be ideal to start up
the center in a way that an expat volunteer or intern with excellent
language skills and computer skills were to stay in the volunteer
apartment and oversee things, also serving to teach community members
computer skills at the same time. This way the internet center can be
launched successfully in a protected manner and members of the
community development organization can see its success and then learn
the exact practices that should be followed in order to maintain the
success. The end goal is to train the community members and pass the
responsibility over to them. If the expat volunteer/intern does not
run and oversee the center and community members launch it themselves,
it is not likely to be as organized and successful and efforts would
therefore be less efficient. So we are keeping an eye out for someone
who fits this role. If you or someone you know speaks excellent
Spanish (Haitian Creole also is a huge plus but not required) and is
knowledgeable with computers, as well as is interested in volunteering
here for perhaps three months, please e-mail
CaitlinMcHale@EsperanzaMeansHope.org.

Links:

• Project Esperanza website
• La Vida Idealist Blog
• Project Esperanza director's blog