Peace Corps Volunteer Trying to Build Community Center on the Border

Damian Durruty

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Aug 14, 2012
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Greetings all,

I'm trying to raise funds for building materials and equipment for a community computer center in Hipolito Billini, Dajabon. Check out the site I made specifically for the project below, please contribute if possible and share this link with all. Thank you! :)


http://computers4hipolito.wordpress.com

Damian Durruty
ICT Peace Corps Volunteer
Dajabon, Dominican Republic
 
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Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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How sweet! Just go to the National Palace and ask Margarita Cede?o de Fernandez the soon-to-be VP for funds. She just took the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for 19 million dollars for just, and I mean this, exactly this kind of a project. Hey, I am not kidding!!! Exactly this kind of a project.

Look in today's newspapers (Diario Libre for example has an English translation of the press release on line.)

HB
 

TheHoagster

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Jun 15, 2008
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Damian:

I bet if PCDR security knew you just posted your site location on a public forum you'd be in big trouble. By the way - not sure if things have changed with PCDR - but your project should be funded by your community and partner agency...Peace Corps isn't a free handout to communities....Is your sindico unwilling to tap into his "fund" for this project?
 

Damian Durruty

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Aug 14, 2012
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The Hoagster:

PCDR has no security policy prohibiting volunteers from disclosing their sites to the public. This policy differs depending on the country.

The ayuntamiento here is practically useless. And this project isn't meant to be a handout, the community is contributing a significant amount of manpower for free to make this happen. Not to mention this is going to be sustained by the community without anyone making a dime. Hipolito Billini is quite poor and small, this wouldn't be possible without at least some outside financing.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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While I seemed to be very snide, for which maybe I was, what I said is true! The Bill and Melinda Foundation gave the First Lady $1,000,000 to build community computer centers and $18 million (so they said) in software.

So, if you can somehow get to someone who knows the new VP, perhaps you can pitch your project to her. With self-help (ie community built) you can tell her she can double the money in that area. It is specifically designed to poor, rural communities so there is a perfect tie-in...can't hurt to see about it.

Ask PC hdqts in Santo Domingo if they can put you in to contact with her. Old Dominican saying: New brooms sweep better.

HB
 

Aguaita29

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Jul 27, 2011
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Greetings all,

I'm trying to raise funds for building materials and equipment for a community computer center in Hipolito Billini, Dajabon. Check out the site I made specifically for the project below, please contribute if possible and share this link with all. Thank you! :)


Hipolito Billini Needs Your Support! | "E' pa' lante que vamos" ? Dominican proverb

Damian Durruty
ICT Peace Corps Volunteer
Dajabon, Dominican Republic


Project Las Americas works closely with Rotary Clubs; Maybe you could find a club that will be willing to support your project!

By the way, even though "Pa lante" and "Vamos pa lante" are Dominican expressions, I don't see most people considering "E' pa' lante que vamos" as a proverb. It's a political slogan associated with the PLD.
This is something only a "comesolo" would say and some people will actually not trust this project if they see this phrase stamped on stuff related to it.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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By the way, even though "Pa lante" and "Vamos pa lante" are Dominican expressions, I don't see most people considering "E' pa' lante que vamos" as a proverb. It's a political slogan associated with the PLD.
This is something only a "comesolo" would say and some people will actually not trust this project if they see this phrase stamped on stuff related to it.
I think it was meant as a joke.
 

Tom F.

Bronze
Jan 1, 2002
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Damian, Good luck on raising the funds. One of the weak links about PC DR is the lack of funds for projects. In my opinion the key to any project is whether it has life after you leave. So many of the volunteer projects die soon after they leave their site. From reading your proposal it is unclear how many computers will be available for use at the center. Who manages the place after you leave will determine whether it has life.

When I was a volunteer in the late 80's my good friend John Stevens lived in HB has his original site. He eventually moved to El Partido to finish up his time.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Good point Tom!!!
The poster project for DR2 was a chicken farm "coop" in Santiago Rodriguez. They really did introduce "pollos gringos" to the marketplace of the Northwest Line and even as far as Santiago, Puerto Plata (Where they were stoned and then defended by local women!) and Moca.

Within six months of the initial volunteers leaving, the chicken sheds were empty, the freezer busted and the entire project with its feed mill and everything was sold off and disappeared. The driving force behind the project eventually ended up as a PC exec in Chile, so I heard....

This is why I suggested you get in touch with the Despacho de la Primera Dama and see about funneling some of that million dollars to your project...with the blessings of PC Sto Dgo of course..


HB
 

Tom F.

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Jan 1, 2002
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All that big money always seemed so far out of reach. It looks like what they plan on doing is to upgrade the construction of the building I presume to provide some security for the computer equipment. With a solid internet connection, I would get a set of lap tops and you could get started. The problems happen when the people responsible for opening, set up, maintenance and money collection lose interest or find obstacles which need more $$ which they may not have. Not sure how much revenue one can expect from having a couple of computer stations and if this would cover internet connection, electricity, some maintenance and probably having to pay someone to run the place. To be honest, I would help an individual set a small business providing internet services and turn it into a business project. Otherwise as soon as the volunteer from the 70's stops paying la luz, it will dry up. I have seen it happen hundreds of times. The problem is that a volunteer has to find something to do and to really develop true community projects, you have to take a back seat and devote much more than two years.
 

La Rubia

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Jan 1, 2010
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I think it was meant as a joke.

I noticed it, too, and thought it was "cute".

If Aguaita is correct (and I have no reason to doubt her) I would agree that it may not be in the volunteer and projects best interest to use it (or anything that is associated with any party.)
 

La Rubia

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Jan 1, 2010
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To be honest, I would help an individual set a small business providing internet services and turn it into a business project. Otherwise as soon as the volunteer from the 70's stops paying la luz, it will dry up. I have seen it happen hundreds of times. The problem is that a volunteer has to find something to do and to really develop true community projects, you have to take a back seat and devote much more than two years.

I agree with you on setting it up as a for profit project.

Just wanted to add that in some cases (not the majority) the history of having volunteers in an area, though they were not highly successful as individual volunteers, establishes a relationship that paves the way for future projects. It sometimes takes a community that long to build a culture of working together successfully.

So an individual's two years, when viewed in the larger picture of a series of volunteers, can extend beyond his/her actual service dates and contribute to the long-term success of a project.

In the case of the OP, he should be thinking, not of having a self-sustaining project by the end of his service, but what roles are the next 2-3 volunteers that follow him going to provide.
 

Damian Durruty

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Aug 14, 2012
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To All,

Thanks for all the valuable input and good suggestions. Special thanks to user "Hillbilly" for his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant idea, I will seriously look into it.

The "proverb" on the webpage was indeed meant to be taken in jest, and it won't be used for anything here in the DR where the expression might be taken as a political slogan. But, I will strongly consider changing it in case it turns off potential donors with insight into Dominican politics.

As far as sustainability, I agree with all of you that it won't be easy. Internet+Electricity will only be about 700 pesos a month, the small quotas we will charge for Internet use should more than take care of that cost plus maintenance. In regards to institutional sustainability, I'm currently in the process of training several "encargados" capable of taking care of things technically. There's already an organization called CODEZOF that's going to be in charge of of everything else (managing money, purchases, etc.).

Kindly spread my link around and please contribute if it's a possibility. I'm open to more ideas and suggestions. :p
 

Dominicaus

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Oct 4, 2006
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Thanks for all the valuable input and good suggestions. Special thanks to user "Hillbilly" for his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant idea, I will seriously look into it.
Are you conversant with the "free and open-source" (FOS) software movement? Have you heard of an operating system (a Windows replacement) called LinuX?

If you haven't I'd strongly encourage you to look into it....It is basically about helping people use software that has been developed by REPUTABLE non-profit international foundations with 2 main objectives:
1) free of cost
2) freedom to understand and modify

The benefit of the first one is obvious (NEVER to pay a license fee). The benefit of the second is only slightly less obvious...Programmers and advanced users have free access to the "inner workings" (the "source code" in the programming language used) of the software so that they can customise it and modify it at will...

Some FOS software runs on standard M$-Windows (OpenOffice, Firefox, and many many others) and operate very similarly to their non-free equivalent (compare OpenOffice to M$-office)...but to get full benefit it is recommended to replace M$-Windows with the "free Windows" alternative called LinuX...of course technically LinuX is at least as good as M$-Windows, and many think it is in fact technically superior (and about as easy to install and use, if not more)....

So, for a project like yours FOS software is the way to go (preferably although not necessarily staying totally away from M$ Windows).
Free and open-source software - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bienvenido a Codigo Libre
Home | Ubuntu
 

Aguaita29

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Jul 27, 2011
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The "proverb" on the webpage was indeed meant to be taken in jest, and it won't be used for anything here in the DR where the expression might be taken as a political slogan. But, I will strongly consider changing it in case it turns off potential donors with insight into Dominican politics.

As far as sustainability, I agree with all of you that it won't be easy. Internet+Electricity will only be about 700 pesos a month, the small quotas we will charge for Internet use should more than take care of that cost plus maintenance. In regards to institutional sustainability, I'm currently in the process of training several "encargados" capable of taking care of things technically. There's already an organization called CODEZOF that's going to be in charge of of everything else (managing money, purchases, etc.) :p

Didn't mean to be a wet blanket! I just happen to know of a couple of projects that were vandalized just because of who funded them!