The birth of Haitian-Dominican border: 1777-1936
One of the concrete "bornes" that mark the Haitian-Dominican border
In last week’s post, we looked at how Gold, Cows, and Pirates led to the division of Hispaniola between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We left off in the story with France building up the economy of its sides of the island through the development of large sugar plantations while the Spanish continued to neglect the eastern side of the island.
Free English/Kreyol printable dictionary
Daniel O’Neil, Country Director
Binational meeting in Elias Piña, Dominican Republic
The biggest stumbling block to cross-border collaboration on the Haitian-Dominican border is language. We’ve tried every technique to facilitate cross-border meetings:
- Handpicking participants to ensure a common language (normally Spanish, but sometimes English): This makes for easy meetings, but normally eliminates key people that should participate but don’t have the language skills. Read the rest of this entry »
Update for September 2009
Centro Puente, in Dajabon
We have a great number of exciting activities happening this month. I wanted to take this chance to share highlights of what is keeping us busy and what will be coming soon:
Gold, cows, and pirates: the story of how the island of Hispaniola (or Quisqueya) ended up split into two countries: 1492-1777
Drawing of the finale of Act I of The Pirates of Penzance, found in Wikipedia
Why is Haiti so much poorer than the Dominican Republic?
Haitian Woman in Ouanaminthe
One of the fascinating aspects of our activities along the border is the chance to work in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. This island of Hispaniola (or Quesqueya as the Haitians prefer) is less than half the size of Florida and yet is divided between two very different worlds. Although neither country is well-off by US or European standards, the Dominican Republic is doing dramatically better than its neighbor. Whereas the Dominican Republic’s economy is based on exports and tourism, most Haitians work in subsistence agriculture. Over much of the last forty years, the Dominican Republic has had one of the fastest growing economies in the hemisphere while Haiti has had one of the slowest. In real estate, brokers say that the value of a property is based on three factors: location, location, and location. Yet somehow, Haiti’s location has not helped its value. Read the rest of this entry »
A great summer in the Dominican Republic.
Jessica Du Rosseau, Volunteer PADF-Interdom Funglode.
Jessica and PADF team
I interned in the PADF office in Santo Domingo this summer working as an assistant to Mr. Fausto Rijo on his project dealing with the analysis of agricultural chains of small producers on the frontier. This was my first internship and first experience living abroad.
I arrived in the Dominican Republic two days after my last final at university and soon realized just how much I would have to learn and adapt. After driving around to see some of the sites, specifically the Malecon and Zona colonial, the driver brought me to my apartment at 10 pm on May 7. I sleepily stumbled through the door with my suitcases to find two roommates and a neighbor sitting on the couch. Looking around, the apartment was more than twice as big as my dorm room had been and beautifully decorated. The whole situation did not seem real for another week. Read the rest of this entry »
The twins, the cow and the Banana tree
Ryan Alexander, Volunteer in Pedernales/Anse a Pitres.
Ryan Alexander
Now that my 3 month summer internship has come to an end, I look back at my experiences on the border in amazement, and cherish all that I have accomplished and experienced. The cross-border lifestyle and the southern coastal hospitality are a perfect blend of characteristics that are sure to generate experiences never to be forgotten.
An event that makes me smile to this very day is an incident that occurred late one night. The culprit was a cow: Cows roam the streets of Pedernales every night (to avoid people and the hot sun) in search of food. On one particular night I had left the fence door open; a huge mistake. A cow had entered the premises of my home that evening and took huge chomps out of my 2 foot high, newly planted banana trees, trees that I had been caring for since the very beginning of my internship. Surely enough, due to constant watering, good soil, and the resilient nature of banana trees, the trees grew back their leaves and will live to bear bananas (if the fence door remains shut).Since the banana plants were too small to bear fruit, I would do my shopping for bananas and other fruits and vegetables at the ‘bi-national’ market.
The Amazing Hispaniola
Spring watering in Haiti
Ryan Alexander – Volunteer, Pedernales.
As a volunteer with PADF on the border I have had the good fortune of being able to travel within the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The following story recaps a trip that I took into Port au Prince that most certainty impacted my life positively.
On Sunday July 5th, I spent the afternoon at a natural spring/watering hole 20 minutes outside of Port au Prince, Haiti. As we entered the premises, everyone looked at us mostly because this was a Haitian hangout spot, and we weren’t Haitian. We were approached by many but understood no one, nor could they understand us. All of the Haitians soaking up the sun and swimming in the natural spring spoke Creole and not French. This created a language barrier between us and them, and at the same time may have triggered some feelings of discomfort due to their uncertainty for the reason of our presence. Read the rest of this entry »
