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What Benefit Do We Get From You Guys?.
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Perhaps we might all agree that just as there are Dominican emigrants who are wildly beneficial to their new homelands.. winning Tony Awards and Pulitzers and generally improving the style and beauty ... there are also those who are welfare cheats and drug dealers..
AND there are immigrants here who are good citizens, doing what we can to be good neighbors and set good examples, teaching, providing employment, while there are others who are human traffickers, whore mongers, and generally exploiters of the local population.
Of course, surely none of the latter group are posting on DR1.
or perhaps not any more
AND there are immigrants here who are good citizens, doing what we can to be good neighbors and set good examples, teaching, providing employment, while there are others who are human traffickers, whore mongers, and generally exploiters of the local population.
Of course, surely none of the latter group are posting on DR1.
or perhaps not any more
Maybe we should change the flow of this thread from what expats do bring to the country to what they SHOULD bring.
This country has many problems - poor infrastructure, institutional corruption, litter & racism, the list goes on.
I believe that much of this can be offset by EDUCATION. The populace are on the whole poorly educated, through no fault of their own. We expats are generally, if not University Professors, well educated or have skills & life experiences that can be passed on to the locals.
Knowledge is power & education is the fuel for the motor.
Some examples;-
Back in the 1970's in the (Y)UK there was an anti-littering campaign aimed at children through the tv & schools. Children started pestering their parents about littering. Now if you drop so much as a sweet wrapper on the streets you're a social pariah.
One of my interests is the environment & a little research on the net has shown me how to make purified drinking water using basic, mostly scrap, materials very cheaply. Imagine the benefit of teaching that to locals so they don't have to spend money on clean water - an essential for all life.
Plastic cups & food containers litter the beaches & countryside. They are non-biodegradable, a blight on the planet. There is a by-product of sugar cane refining called bagasse which can be used to make these items. It composts & of course reduces the countrys' reliance on imported cups & containers.
These are just a few examples of how we can help educate our hosts. It's a long process, it may take one or two generations. 45 years ago this country was under the rule of a despotic dictator, at the moment the people are imprisoned by their lack of education & the rulers are exploiting that.
Each journey starts with one small step - let's help our hosts by providing them with a map. It's the least we SHOULD do.
This country has many problems - poor infrastructure, institutional corruption, litter & racism, the list goes on.
I believe that much of this can be offset by EDUCATION. The populace are on the whole poorly educated, through no fault of their own. We expats are generally, if not University Professors, well educated or have skills & life experiences that can be passed on to the locals.
Knowledge is power & education is the fuel for the motor.
Some examples;-
Back in the 1970's in the (Y)UK there was an anti-littering campaign aimed at children through the tv & schools. Children started pestering their parents about littering. Now if you drop so much as a sweet wrapper on the streets you're a social pariah.
One of my interests is the environment & a little research on the net has shown me how to make purified drinking water using basic, mostly scrap, materials very cheaply. Imagine the benefit of teaching that to locals so they don't have to spend money on clean water - an essential for all life.
Plastic cups & food containers litter the beaches & countryside. They are non-biodegradable, a blight on the planet. There is a by-product of sugar cane refining called bagasse which can be used to make these items. It composts & of course reduces the countrys' reliance on imported cups & containers.
These are just a few examples of how we can help educate our hosts. It's a long process, it may take one or two generations. 45 years ago this country was under the rule of a despotic dictator, at the moment the people are imprisoned by their lack of education & the rulers are exploiting that.
Each journey starts with one small step - let's help our hosts by providing them with a map. It's the least we SHOULD do.
I think it’s obvious what is meant. The trait of not participating in the above mentioned practice would register on the positive side of the beneficial (to society) spectrum for a group demonstrating it.
During my last visit two peaceful mornings, of two weeks worth, were interrupted by the screams of innocent distraught Dominicanas who’d had their purses ripped away from them on the way to work.
There's plenty of threads in this forum to bitch and moan about the nuisances of living in DR. To bring the subject of purse grabbing on a thread dedicated to the influences foreigners can have on Dominicans is -in my opinion- highly cynical and disrespectful.
In my first year of living in the US, I was robbed more than my entire life in DR.
Draw your own conclusions.
Where are you from ?????????????
Vacara, there are as many purse-snatching and pickpockets in major European cities as there are in the DR.
I have seen cell-phones snatched, know someone who was badly beaten for his I-pod.................In Paris !!!!!!!!!!
Vacara, there are as many purse-snatching and pickpockets in major European cities as there are in the DR.
I have seen cell-phones snatched, know someone who was badly beaten for his I-pod.................In Paris !!!!!!!!!!
You asked for benefits not influences. The expression: ?Be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it.? you have apparently not heard. That?s OK, but you should, once having asked, accept the responses without trying to slice and dice the responders, because you don?t like what they say. He wasn?t bitching and moaning, he was answering your question.
Please don?t quote me out of context. My example of the purse snatchings in Santo Domingo is not an implication that it only happens there. It was clearly meant, before you misquoted it, to counter Mike Fisher?s suggestion that purse snatching in LRD is only a problem amongst rich foreigners.
Vacara, this has been a very provacative question and I thank you for it!
It has led to a lot of self examination.. since I do not volunteer any more. and do not bring in outside aid and have stopped really blogging... and and and... well,, have i just become a parasite here on my host country?
So I sat down in the hand made rocker in my living room,, which rocker i brought back from the Jimani border in the back of friends pick up on a trip back from Haiti and spent a good hour with the builder.... and I sat looking out over my bird cage shaped balcony full of plants.. at the five species of birds who are feeding there... out over the tree tops ... over the flamboyant in bloom... in a view that rivals anything lining Central Park......
And I exhude GRATITUDE and LOVE
How Fortunate I am to be here. What a beautiful place this is. Would that others could see this beauty!
I want to know every inch of this land. I want to understand why the people of Bani are known as so industrius.. and what is that the people of Mao are like? I want to meet the man in San Jose de Ocoa who made the braided handle for the macoute that I carry.., unlike any of the other Macoutes on the Island......
So while you one million are so are over there,,, appreciating the benefits of life in the USA or Canada or Spain or whatever... the opportunities, the advantages for your children.
I am here.
Keeping your home fire burning.
Namaste
It has led to a lot of self examination.. since I do not volunteer any more. and do not bring in outside aid and have stopped really blogging... and and and... well,, have i just become a parasite here on my host country?
So I sat down in the hand made rocker in my living room,, which rocker i brought back from the Jimani border in the back of friends pick up on a trip back from Haiti and spent a good hour with the builder.... and I sat looking out over my bird cage shaped balcony full of plants.. at the five species of birds who are feeding there... out over the tree tops ... over the flamboyant in bloom... in a view that rivals anything lining Central Park......
And I exhude GRATITUDE and LOVE
How Fortunate I am to be here. What a beautiful place this is. Would that others could see this beauty!
I want to know every inch of this land. I want to understand why the people of Bani are known as so industrius.. and what is that the people of Mao are like? I want to meet the man in San Jose de Ocoa who made the braided handle for the macoute that I carry.., unlike any of the other Macoutes on the Island......
So while you one million are so are over there,,, appreciating the benefits of life in the USA or Canada or Spain or whatever... the opportunities, the advantages for your children.
I am here.
Keeping your home fire burning.
Namaste
I am so pleased that you both defended and clarified this. There has been a lot of "slicing and dicing" on this thread and it is both annoying and petty.
A lot of very good posters have gone from this forum over the last year or so and we should be encouraging (sensible) opinions rather than taking them out of context and throwing them back in peoples faces.
Rio
back to the question:
spaniards brought horses, cows and other farm animals. they intruduced sugar cane and platanos (bananas were already here, i am told), not to mention variety of other plants and animals.
spaniards are also responsible for the racial diversity of DR. yes, they slaughtered the locals but they brought slaves and settled here themselves adding to the mixture of colours.
they brought laws (as in bureaucracy) and medicine (along with new diseases unknown in DR). they brought technology: constructed buildings, built cities and sewage systems.
would tainos achieve all this by themselves? i don't know. they might have remained "savage". should they be "discovered" later on maybe they'd avoid being butchered and get photographed by national geographic teams instead.
spaniards brought horses, cows and other farm animals. they intruduced sugar cane and platanos (bananas were already here, i am told), not to mention variety of other plants and animals.
spaniards are also responsible for the racial diversity of DR. yes, they slaughtered the locals but they brought slaves and settled here themselves adding to the mixture of colours.
they brought laws (as in bureaucracy) and medicine (along with new diseases unknown in DR). they brought technology: constructed buildings, built cities and sewage systems.
would tainos achieve all this by themselves? i don't know. they might have remained "savage". should they be "discovered" later on maybe they'd avoid being butchered and get photographed by national geographic teams instead.
Holy crap!
Who are the "savages" in this scenario? Certainly not the Taino. They lived very comfortably before the Spanish arrived and "civilized" them so that 500 years later their partial progeny could run around shooting one another, doing drugs, and throwing trash everywhere. The indigenous population would have taken much better care of their island.
Colonization sucked.
The original post was....What Benefit Do We Get From You Guys ?
Now I would break you guys into 2 groups...
1. Ex-pats that want to make a good life here and
2. Ex-pats that want to exploit whatever they see or touch.
I for one believe the first group has honest and good intentions. Many Ex-pats have married, have children and have been a positive influence with their friends here and family. They don't think of swindling someone, lying to make a buck, infringing on another persons space, or having bad thoughts in general. Many have helped with local organizations that help the homeless and the children, and many have started businesses that don't cheat their customers. In general, good people.
NOW....group 2,
Just the opposite, will take whatever they can get, loud, belligerent, crude and tasteless without morals. These people can be spotted or heard a mile away and they are the ones that don't contribute a single thing except spending money here.
The difference between the 2 groups are light years apart and should never be lumped into the same category. IMHO......
Now I would break you guys into 2 groups...
1. Ex-pats that want to make a good life here and
2. Ex-pats that want to exploit whatever they see or touch.
I for one believe the first group has honest and good intentions. Many Ex-pats have married, have children and have been a positive influence with their friends here and family. They don't think of swindling someone, lying to make a buck, infringing on another persons space, or having bad thoughts in general. Many have helped with local organizations that help the homeless and the children, and many have started businesses that don't cheat their customers. In general, good people.
NOW....group 2,
Just the opposite, will take whatever they can get, loud, belligerent, crude and tasteless without morals. These people can be spotted or heard a mile away and they are the ones that don't contribute a single thing except spending money here.
The difference between the 2 groups are light years apart and should never be lumped into the same category. IMHO......
My horn is flat
After all the advertising and pomp, I, a US Citizen decided I was going to join the rest of the world and watch the World Cup, until those dam horns started driving me crazy. I had to hit MUTE , but being a typical America (US that is) I am clueless to the nuances of the game and without the announcers I have not a clue except when a goal is scored
Personally, I find those foolish horns aggravating
And to the subject at hand; If I offended anyone regarding "tooting Their own horn," I apologize as it was meant in The general sense of people all over the world, be it charitable work or the "fake" Special Forces Operators we hear about often, those that perform the deeds usually are very quiet, those that feel a need to be validated brag NO, not the people who have been asked to define what they have done for the DR, people in general
I wonder what is going to cause problems with this post now :ermm:
After all the advertising and pomp, I, a US Citizen decided I was going to join the rest of the world and watch the World Cup, until those dam horns started driving me crazy. I had to hit MUTE , but being a typical America (US that is) I am clueless to the nuances of the game and without the announcers I have not a clue except when a goal is scored
Personally, I find those foolish horns aggravating
And to the subject at hand; If I offended anyone regarding "tooting Their own horn," I apologize as it was meant in The general sense of people all over the world, be it charitable work or the "fake" Special Forces Operators we hear about often, those that perform the deeds usually are very quiet, those that feel a need to be validated brag NO, not the people who have been asked to define what they have done for the DR, people in general
I wonder what is going to cause problems with this post now :ermm:
Its a message board and my experience with message boards is that you can have a ball on them in nice discussions, it can be a great info board for new comers but it can be a pain in the but because there are people on it that only want to do what you just described here above by opening new threads who seem innocent to start with but turn out to be going only around one thing and one person being the OP and his/her point of view and anything else is below her/his level and needs for sure to be broken down or slammed back in the responders face.
Now, everybody is free to give an answer on these questions and have to take in account that this kind of things can happen on a message board.
I am for sure not playing the ball on this particular thread but reading more and more around this turns my stomage in how some people are so disrespectful (again and again) towards some others they don't even know.
Well, I just could not read it anymore ofcourse...ignore button, ignore button, where outh they!
see, sometimes i agree wholeheartedly with you. at times, this runs thru my mind. but i dont dwell on it because its pointlessly sad. and some could argue there were benefits. meh.
and i, for one, dont expect anything from expats. some respect towards dominicans, perhaps. other than that? we all have our own cross to bear.
and i dont see how this threads is so out of the question when its what immigrants face on a daily basis wherever they go. expats in the DR arent exempt.
and i dont see how this threads is so out of the question when its what immigrants face on a daily basis wherever they go. expats in the DR arent exempt.
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