Category: FLIP

As I signed up for the FLIP (Faculty lead International Placement) program I had no idea what to expect. Would we be working with grassroots trailblazers? Perhaps we would be focusing more on the economic history of the area. Maybe we would be working to share the message of living a greener and cleaner life! Everyone said it would change the way I look at the world but it was hard to believe. Taking off into Canadian skies, I felt excited and nervous about the adventure I was about to embark on.

We landed in Puerto Plata, a city hosting the first port ever created by Christopher Columbus in the Dominican Republic and soon learned that part of our job was to keep our eyes open to notice the assets available in each community. This was to come up with ways to engage tourists, that recently began returning to Puerto Plata on cruise ships, in a sustainable way. The point was to step away from walled-off resorts and cruise ship routines enough to take in the beautiful communities that surrounded the port, support the local economy and take home an unforgettable and changing experience.

We visited many budding experiences with fresh eyes and eager hearts. We visited a backyard mine owned by a local family where chunks of amber were extracted from the ground and made into jewellery. We visited a beautiful and warm family that owned a coffee plantation up in the mountains. We experienced how coffee beans travel from the tree to the cup and clapped along to a diddy they sang while grinding freshly roasted coffee beans (which smell amazing by the way). We scaled mountains and slunk through rivers examining prospective tourism opportunities and enjoyed the breathtaking view.

It all seemed so beautiful, tranquil and new but we learned that Puerto Plata was actually recovering from a difficult past. Puerto Plata was well known for being a major port, tourism hotspot and coffee-growing region which attracted attention from around the globe. In the 1980s, coffee leaf rust, a global disease that had been spreading, killed 80% of the coffee trees in the area and its economy took a devastating hit. This caused farmers to begin deforestation in an attempt to rid the mountainside of these diseased coffee trees and pick up cattle farming instead. Large expanses of grass replaced lush shaded coffee forests and in turn, less rainfall was able to trickle through the mountainside gound into the riverways. Because of this, Yasica river, a large river flowing through the area lost 50% of its water flow over the course of twenty years.

It took a while to get my head around that one. I’ve heard of cause and effect. I’ve learned in class how everything is connected but I haven’t seen it like this. To think that what would seem like an opportunistic moment (beginning a cattle farm) could become so devastating (drying up a major river) was beyond anything I could imagine! This trip wasn’t about one person, one project, one town… it was about realizing how everything is intertwined and connected and how every part of the economy is part of a fine intricate web.

I walked into this program expecting to help a few people or work together on a project that needed extra workers on the job but I was so mistaken. Although we did meet beautiful people, listened to excellent music, experienced amazing food and shared incredible conversation about the Dominican Republic, this was about increasing the health of communities through something as small as tourists planting little coffee tree seeds and placing them in a nursery. A task that took a few minutes out of the day and meant to appease bored vacationers, created a whole opportunity to impact the entirety of Puerto Plata. If the coffee trees can be given to farmers, they can plant those trees and the forests surrounding, protecting those trees will return. If the forests return, the roots that hold those forests will hold more heavy rain and allow the waters to trickle through the ground and replenish the rivers. If the waters are going into the river, there is less runoff and flooding of towns will lessen and people can build their communities with more security. The impact is tremendous!

Everything is connected whether we see it or not. This just so happened to be a more dramatic situation in which I could spend one week with the right people and see the big picture but life isn’t like that and many communities aren’t either. It’s important for us to realize that. I went from feeling so confident in participating in this program to being humbled and dumbfounded by how big the impact of each activity is. I feel that I need to learn, now more than ever, about how those interconnections work and how I can be an advocate for positive change. As a community development worker, I would like to carry this experience into every project I work on. Not only is this applicable in community development work but it’s applicable to all areas of life. I would like to remember that all things are connected, whether I see it right away or not, and work towards healthy connectivity between those aspects.

This experience has changed all my perception about Community Economic Development, the course which my FLIP was connected to. I could see and understand how it works in a practical situation and it made all the difference for me. I am glad for the learning, for the group support, for the professors and my friends, we created deep connections and we quite enjoyed this experience together.

We visited communities, talked with local people, compared the community-based tourism and the typical tourism in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. We learned more than concepts and processes, we felt the reality and how things happen in the real-life. I feel more prepared for the placement next semester. Also, we had two professors with us, so we could have insights about the engagement process.

I was happy to see how the community did not give up and is still looking for a better quality of life for all of them. The Dominican Republic has a sad history with a lot of struggles and fights, but they are strong, happy and kind people. I would like to mention our guide, Juanin, an excellent professional who took care of everyone and very knowledgeable.

In each community, we understood something about Community Development Work, which is a wide program. We had moments to connect all the aspects within the program, such as local people, economic aspects, sustainability, social issues, different and divergent approaches. Also, every day we had moments to discuss what we did and our perspectives; they were great talks, where the group felt safe to present their opinions and different reflections without judgement. Learning from other´s experiences is one of the best ways to increase our knowledge and expand our minds. After these days I feel more confident in myself and my professional future. I believe I can do a good job and support people to change their lives.

Marina Costa

International Student

I recently returned from the Dominican Republic with some of my classmates and teachers from the Community Development Work Program. The purpose of the trip was to study community-based tourism in economic community development. Before having this experience, I had a very shallow idea of how these two areas were connected, however after returning, I feel as though I have a much deeper understanding not only of what we learned while abroad but how to connect my experiences to the work that we are doing here in Toronto.

We had the opportunity to participate in many of the tourist activities in Puerto Plata. Puerto Plata suffered a major crash in their economy after the wave of tourists who were coming in for the resorts dissipated. Their goal is to redesign tourism based on natural assets, in a way that supports their local economy, and directed focus to one of their most incredible assets; the mountains.

We were allowed to participate in many of the tourist activities that have recently opened, such as a cable car ride to a beautiful mountain top above the clouds, hikes through the mountainside and rivers, visiting and swimming in beautiful natural springs and waterfalls, planting coffee plants and many other unforgettable experiences.

Near the end of the trip, we were able to apply the knowledge and skills that we have gained throughout the year, as well as from lectures and presentations that we participated in during our time in the Dominican Republic.

I feel so grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in such a valuable experience. I made so many deep connections to my peers, our local partners, and the country. I came back with a brand new perspective on community development work and the value of community. We became a family on this trip and I am so happy to say that I have made lifelong friends who I was fortunate enough to share this incredible experience with.

Returning to Toronto and getting back school, I am so excited to share my experiences and everything that I learned with my classmates, and I feel that I have so much more to share and to put into my work in the future whether it is during class, placements or my future after graduating from Centennial.

Overall, it was such an amazing and valuable experience and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to participate in such a meaningful program!

Being an international student is not easy. When you begin to experience the changes of being away from home, many feelings can take place and make you think day by day if you made a good decision when you left. However, there are places and people that from the first moment, make you remember where you came from and give you the warmth of the home you left, allowing you to forget those sad feelings and providing you with a wonderful experience.

I am going to tell you about my trip when I found the opportunity to go to the Dominican Republic, I was very excited to meet a new country, fear and happiness took a place on me because I did not know what I was going to find in This place, which at that time was unknown to me and. When I got there, these feelings got bigger once I realized that I was in a country that would remind me of thousands of things that I had left behind. The experience on Puerto Plata gave me the feeling of being at home, having the opportunity to experience their culture allowed me to see the world with other eyes and grow personally and professionally.

I met many places and people who full me with their happiness. One of them was the Community of Pedro Garcia, which is characterized by coffee production. When I found myself on his coffee trial, I could understand the importance of persistence and the desire of a community to move forward. I also saw how people care about teaching others to be able to progress on their own. On the other hand, I learned about the love and conviction of people in the Nuevo Renacer neighbourhood, where they taught me that any goal you set for yourself, you can achieve if you wish with your heart. This community gave me great motivation to continue striving within my profession and to be able to do my best. Since I could feel the pure love of these people, especially children, who thank you for your work with a huge smile and a hug that leaves you breathless.

If you ask me the reasons why you should go to this place, I will assure that the community of Puerto Plata, will fill you with its wonderful culture, you will feel the warmth and hope of its people and you will be able to experiments its beautiful nature, that day by day gives you a new sense of peace and tranquillity, while allowing you to learn about the importance of working as a team, being persistent and having a vision beyond the limits.

Saying goodbye to this place was not easy and I thanks with my hearth for the great teachings that left me, especially those with whom we could share more moments. Juanin, Tim, Alexis, Sandra, Amber, Juan Pablo and Liz.

Andrea Castillo, 301098175

PUERTO PLATA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Community Development Worker

To begin with, it’s hard to put into words the way I feel while experiencing the flip trip in the Dominican Republic. However, overall this experience has been such a delight as well as life-changing. This was a wonderful and a great way of viewing and identifying the different communities of Puerto Plata. During this flip trip, I was able to explore a few communities as well as experience some of the extraordinary excursion Puerto Plata has to offer. For instance, some of these tourist sites entailed the cable car ride, 27 waterfalls, Amber Cove, hiking trip down the mountain, attending Sosua beach, viewing the military fort, God’s pool (Waterfalls), as well as giving the chance to pour a concrete floor for the UNPC office among other great things. Furthermore, I was giving the chance to explore life on a whole other level. I got the chance to view a different part of the world that I otherwise wouldn’t have gotten the chance to see up close in personal.

Moreover, getting a better understanding of life and having a better understanding of new-comers. Honestly, the thing that impressed me most, I would have to say was visiting the neighbourhood of Neuvo Renacer and seeing some community member’s drive and in order to see and make a difference. For one thing, there was a community member name (Sandra) who was also known as the Mother Theresa, who was the community advocate, pastor, as well as other major roles she has played. Puerto Plata is a beautiful island with such richness of culture, during my stay in this great place I have come to realize the essence of how gifted this island truly is. Overall, this trip was a memorable experience with such overflowing knowledge to gain as well as looking at community structures in a different lens. I feel ecstatic to have been giving the chance to go on an excursion such as this standard. Besides, I was participating, gaining knowledge, as well as memories.

Therefore, this experience had made me be humble and understanding and opened in allowing new advantages to not scare me rather than enlighten me. My heart is still smiling with such gratitude, this flip trip is like a gift that I will always cherish and hold close to my heart. I would recommend that students get involved with this great opportunity and challenge themselves to do something incredible that otherwise, they wouldn’t have done. When individuals take a vacation, they usually sit on the resorts not really giving the chance to go view the area where they are residing at, in an up-close and personal manner.

Written By: Abena Martin