Social Work in Monte Cristi

Christina, what do you do all day besides miss Cleveland?

Glad you asked! First, here’s a brief background on Orphanage Outreach. It’s an organization founded by Tom Eklund that empowers existing orphanages with a constant influx of volunteers and interns, who facilitate programs and provide resources and fresh creativity. I just found out today actually that OO even provides a scholarship opportunity for some of the orphans to attend a local university after they leave the orphanage (age 18). Every week, Orphanage Outreach volunteers put on various camps and programs that benefit the kids on a holistic level. However, this is the very first summer they’ve brought in a group of social work interns…aka me and 4 other girls. Consequently, they do not have a specific role for us to fill quite yet. We are here to do some trail-blazing, and hopefully establish a long-term partnership between agencies in the community of Montecristi and social work interns here at OO. It involves a lot of exploring, a lot of debriefing, a lot of questioning, a lot of observing, a lot of creativity and a lot of critical thinking and brainstorming. Our group leaders are Mary (a school social worker) and Patty (a swk prof who has been in the field for a long time). When we are available, we assist the other volunteers with the different programs—this week is math camp…divertido, no? lol—however, our main goal is to assess the existing welfare structure and figure out where the gaps may be. Thus, we hope to spend the majority of our time out in the community. Today, we visited two different agencies: la Fundacion Madre Tereza de Montecristi, as well as a local physical rehabilitation center. Both are doing some amazing work but struggling financially, and both agencies need fluent Spanish-speakers with skills in the medical field and/or social work field.

So where are the gaps?

Another great question. There are zero MENTAL HEALTH institutions or group homes for people who are mentally ill/disabled. There is a huge stigma with mental illness—even more so than the United States; these people are usually locked up in a shed or the back room of a house so that they aren’t in the way. The DR lacks education and awareness on the topic of mental health and treatment.

There is also very little NUTRITION education, if any, and absolutely zero sex education. Most of the orphanages and other organizations do not provide SEX EDUCATION because of strong Catholic influences that highly discourage the usage of birth control and/or contraceptives. Promiscuity rates are very high, and it is common for spouses to have another fling on the side, even to the knowledge of their children. Teen pregnancy rates are incredibly high as well.

Why math camp?

Love these fabulous questions. Keep ‘em comin. The education system in the Dominican Republic is the worst in the entire western hemisphere. Even worse than Haiti? Yes. Why is that? While the Dominican has a much better economy than Haiti, there are multiple reasons why their education is worse. It is culturally “normal” for school to start at least an hour late and end an hour early, with lots of recess and free time during the day. The kids only receive about 2 ½ hours of real instruction each day, most of which lacks any type of challenge or critical thinking. Math is an especially slighted subject; many teachers here simply have students copy down numbers, without ever learning real equations. Monte Cristi has the notoriously worst schools in the country, where a 12-year-old may not know the solution to 12 + 4. (I remember doing times tables in third grade.) Kids often times do not even finish grade school, because there isn’t a good system of accountability in place to make sure they are completing their education. Also, while the DR economy is in a much better spot than Haiti’s, the government here is very corrupt. Although they have a representative democracy, politicians are usually known for making false promises and pocketing most of the money themselves. Hence, the funds for various social services and education don’t always quite reach their destination.