By Yspaniola Team | Yspaniola Team
Over the past reporting period, Un Batey Más Verde continued advancing its mission to strengthen environmental education and improve waste management practices in Batey Libertad (Valverde, Dominican Republic). Our team focused on expanding community engagement, reinforcing day-to-day habits around responsible disposal, and building a shared understanding of why solid-waste management matters for health, safety, and dignity. These efforts are part of our broader commitment to sustainability as a long-term, community-owned priority.
A major milestone was the production of an educational awareness video in December, designed to make our work more visible and accessible to residents, partners, and supporters. The video showcases the context of Batey Libertad, highlights the challenges the community faces regarding waste, and clearly explains the practical actions we are promoting. It has served as a tool to strengthen local buy-in while also helping GlobalGiving donors and external audiences better understand the purpose and impact of the project.
Alongside communication and outreach, we continued implementing environmental learning activities that promote behavior change through simple, repeatable practices. Participants engaged in discussions and guided reflections on reducing littering, separating waste where feasible, and keeping shared spaces cleaner. By connecting environmental stewardship to everyday life, we are supporting a culture shift that emphasizes community pride, responsibility, and collective action.
We also used this period to refine implementation and ensure that project activities align with sustainability goals and realistic local conditions. Team check-ins and informal feedback from community members helped us adjust messaging, identify barriers to participation, and prioritize actions that can be maintained over time. This adaptive approach supports our objective of building practical systems that remain effective beyond the life of the grant.
Next, we will continue leveraging the December educational video to broaden awareness and attract additional allies, while deepening on-the-ground engagement and strengthening community-led participation. Our focus remains on practical education, visible improvements in cleanliness, and reinforcing shared responsibility, so that Batey Libertad can keep moving toward a healthier, greener environment.
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By Ariana Ramos Mercado | Operations and Development Fellow
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