Collaborate with German efforts...?

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samanasuenos

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Oct 5, 2005
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Excuse me if this has been covered already.

I was hoping as usual for some improvement in the ambiente of the RD. And I remembered that there is a nice population of German expats, as well as visitors to the RD.

Also, they seem to be ahead of most countried in the Green effort, right?

So, I was wondering. Instead of "us" anglopones ivnventing the wheel here, could some effort be made to reach out to the Germans interested in RD clean up - work together and share some work?

I heard that there is a German language forum on the RD, somewhere. They surely have an environmental subforum. I would bet cash.

Don't we have someone who speaks Spanish, German, and English - who could interface?

Let's build a coalition. Maybe not the whole forum, but just a pet project - share info and hear from them ....??

I am sorry, my German is not up for the task. But I would take on some of the work, as needed.

Danke! -- SamSuenos
 
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Stephan

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Jun 20, 2004
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Keith R said:
There is a Swiss site on the DR done in German which occassionally touches on environment issues -- most notably the "rock ash" case in Samana, but they do not have an environment forum or subforum per se, to my knowledge. We're unique in that respect so far.
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That`s right.
Being a German who speaks English and a little Spanish and having some knowledge of waste water treatment, I would say it is a very long way to go to make the people here accept our european way of Green efforts.
Not to talk about the costs.
On the other hand, no littering would be a good and cheap start :classic:
 
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samanasuenos

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Oct 5, 2005
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http://www.domrep.ch/portal.html

1.
http://www.domrep.ch/portal.html

I can't read enough to discern whether they have an environmental subforum; so they?

Danke! to Hipocrito...........

2. When I was last in Las Galeras and in Las Terrenas, I saw signs along the road about an ITALIAN expat group working to educate kids on the environment. Perhaps they would be worth getting in touch with? Does anyone know how? Sorry I forgot their name.......perhaps the Italian owner at Todo Blanco in Las Galeras might know......sorry to be so vague.

My bottom line is that non-anglophone Euro expats/visitors have to be as concerned as us anglophones. Or more. So maybe we could share successes and join forces for THE GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

3. If this works, I want a Lime Green Enviro Cape, no make that some Wonder Woman braclets that work like magnets to attract debris and come with detachable trash bags. Need a sketch? JAJAJA>........for beach walks.........
 
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notion

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Oct 2, 2005
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I (as a German) am flattered that you would think that German/Swiss/Austrian forums had subs on Saving the Environment.
Unfortunately that's not the case.

Although I frequently read in about 6 Germany speaking forums (including the one mentioned above) there's not one that has a sub on this topic, in fact the environment is only mentioned briefly in threads from time to time.
I am under the impression that many feel that there's not point getting upset about the conditions of and attidtude towards the environment in the RD. Many think it's part of the culture and that there are more important things to worry about (poverty, aids to name the serious ones, sankiesm to name the one that has the greatest fan community).

I don't know, I have not been to the RD but when I read about people bathing and washing their clothes in rivers close to where rubbish and chemical substances are being dumped in the water, it makes me think that something does need to be done.

Are those stories true? What does it really look like?

notion
 
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Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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samanasuenos said:
2. When I was last in Las Galeras and in Las Terrenas, I saw signs along the road about an ITALIAN expat group working to educate kids on the environment. Perhaps they would be worth getting in touch with? Does anyone know how? Sorry I forgot their name.......perhaps the Italian owner at Todo Blanco in Las Galeras might know......sorry to be so vague.
Click to expand...

http://www.guariquen.org/
Yes, they are the people who run Todo Blanco, which I think belongs to the Italian charitable organisation San Benedetto del Puerto.
 
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Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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I'd love to write something about them, but it's been almost a year since I visited, so it'll have to wait until the next time.

Unless someone else volunteers!
 
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Chris

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Oct 21, 2002
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www.caribbetech.com
We're going down there sometime in February and this time we will leave sufficient time to visit. The last visit was just too fast and we could not stop in.
 
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Hipocrito Mejia

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Jan 5, 2006
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No dice on the environment, and as Notion wrote, they seem more interested in the sankie, and do you know this person threads.
 
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notion

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Oct 2, 2005
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If you want to involve German speaking boards I volunteer to translate any message that you would like to post.
Unfortunately I don't really have a connection to la RD, so I cannot volunteer for much else at the moment but I'd like to support any efforts to save the environment over there.
 
Keith R

Keith R

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Jan 1, 2002
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notion said:
If you want to involve German speaking boards I volunteer to translate any message that you would like to post.
Unfortunately I don't really have a connection to la RD, so I cannot volunteer for much else at the moment but I'd like to support any efforts to save the environment over there.
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Well, maybe we can start with a message encouraging them to read and participate in the Green Team blog. :cheeky: We've had few German visitors to the blog so far, despite the fact that it includes a button (on the righthand side) to translate the entire page into German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese or Korean, so they should have litle problem reading it.
 
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notion

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Um, okay, the "button" is a start, but have you ever tried pushing it? I can tell you that much, the version translated by Babelfish does not make much sense, it's more like a puzzle. "Die Dominikanische Republik -- Ihre, Grube, Unsere. Obacht f?r sie!" The Spanish isn't much better.
I'll pass on the address, but as it is, it's only suited for Germans who can understand English.
 
Keith R

Keith R

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Hmmm, sorry to hear that the Babelfish translation is not that good in German. Yeah, I've tried it in Spanish and Portuguese (the two languages other than English that I know well), and the translation was not great, but in truth not really worse than other automatic translation programs I have run into, including some that cost big bucks. We on the Green Team are all volunteers operating with zero budget (so no paid translations or costly software), so I don't know that we can do much more to make the blog accessible to those who speak something other than English or Spanish (we only have one Spanish entry so far, but it will not be the last).... Maybe you have a suggestion? I'm open to ideas.
 
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notion

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Yeah, you're right about the automatic translation programs. That's why people like me still have a job.
My suggestion? Reach out to the foreigners who do understand English and get them to translate the whole thing for free bit by bit into their mothertongue. I'll help whenever I have some spare time.
 
Keith R

Keith R

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notion said:
Yeah, you're right about the automatic translation programs. That's why people like me still have a job.
My suggestion? Reach out to the foreigners who do understand English and get them to translate the whole thing for free bit by bit into their mothertongue. I'll help whenever I have some spare time.
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We appreciate the offer. All help to the Green Team is appreciated, whether it's translation, design, contribution of photos or comments, leads for articles, contacts, etc. We can't do it alone.

Let us know through an email to greenteam@dr1.com when you can help.

Oh and BTW, FYI for you and others, people wanting to be notified automatically whenever the Green Team blog entries are posted merely have to send their email address to greenteam@dr1.com

As for suggestions beyond the Green Team, you might email or PM Robert and suggest the creation of a German-language environment subforum within this Forum. I don't know if he'd agree to do it or not, but doesn't hurt to ask. I'm pretty certain, though, he'll want a reliable moderator who speaks fluent German (so not me!) before he agrees to any such proposal. So either be ready to volunteer, or propose someone who has the time to do it (and yes, folks, moderation on DR1 does require time and energy, believe it or not).
 
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Stephan

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Jun 20, 2004
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notion said:
I (as a German) am flattered that you would think that German/Swiss/Austrian forums had subs on Saving the Environment.
Unfortunately that's not the case.

Although I frequently read in about 6 Germany speaking forums (including the one mentioned above) there's not one that has a sub on this topic, in fact the environment is only mentioned briefly in threads from time to time.
I am under the impression that many feel that there's not point getting upset about the conditions of and attidtude towards the environment in the RD. Many think it's part of the culture and that there are more important things to worry about (poverty, aids to name the serious ones, sankiesm to name the one that has the greatest fan community).

I don't know, I have not been to the RD but when I read about people bathing and washing their clothes in rivers close to where rubbish and chemical substances are being dumped in the water, it makes me think that something does need to be done.

Are those stories true? What does it really look like?

notion
Click to expand...

Well then, what really needs to be done is to reduce the fumes of 2-Stroke and Diesel-engines in the cities, namely Puerto Plata and SD, as well as in any bigger town in the country. The fumes are really breathtaking.
So forget about the fumes of some chimneys of power plants, caused by poor maintenance, because of either neglection or lack of funds for modernisation.
 
Keith R

Keith R

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Jan 1, 2002
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Well, Stephan, how about not forgeting about either source, and working towards addressing them both?

Although there's no data (yet) to verify it, I also suspect that the emissions of diesel buses and trucks, and of plantas, probably contribute more to air pollution in the DR than the power plant emissions.

Not sure that means we should let power plants off the hook, though.;)
 
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notion

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Oct 2, 2005
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@Keith,
I've been the moderator of a board before and I can honestly say I don't have the time to take on that kind of responsibilty at the moment. Also - I don't think I'd be suited because I haven't even set foot in the Dominican Republic yet. Maybe somebody else would like to volunteer?
But I mail you or better the Green Team as soon as I have some spare time for some translations.
 
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