On July 18, a group of 26 students, including myself, embarked on a service trip down to San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic. San Juan de la Maguana is an impoverished town on the western side of the Dominican Republic, right in the middle of the island of Hispaniola. While there, we organized a camp for the local children in the town through the local parish, Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza. While there I came to two realizations. One being the language barrier separating the groups of Americans and Dominicans couldn’t keep away the genuine human connection between us. The other was questioning whether these kids needed our help as much as some other people needed it. Without speaking any Spanish, I could tell that I was going to have
a difficult time communicating with the children at the camp. Luckily, my friends speak and understand Spanish well enough, and helped communicate with the native speakers. However, after a couple days, I came to the conclusion that we didn’t need to speak the same language to communicate with one another; the language barrier put in front of us and the children didn’t affect how much we could understand one another. This trip made me realize that people all around the world are not that different. Sure, a number of people might be in a different economic situation, or they might not be receiving the same education, or speaking the same language is not necessary to know that everybody is somebody in this world. The problem in this society is that people think that since someone comes from a different country or social class, that they don’t have anything in common with one another or that there is no way to understand what each other is going through. Secondly, I came to the realization that there were other people, kids even, that probably needed our help more than the children at this camp. A few of the children would be carrying cell phones with them all day at the camp; asking for the Americans’ Instagrams, Snapchats, Facebooks while some children weren’t allowed to join the camp. Furthermore, there was one time during the camp, I realized how corrupt it was. At the church, there is a 15-foot wall in the back, topped with barbed wire. Our group was outside at the dancing station, when in the distance, three heads popped up from the wall. There were three children climbing up the wall, pulling on the barbed wire, just to get a glimpse of the camp activities. Moreover, one day after the camp, the Americans went on a field trip to explore some of the surrounding local “attractions”. For this trip, we needed to travel outside of the town. One of the chaperones told us that we should pay attention to the drive because we were going to be seeing what “rural poverty” was compared to the “urban poverty” that we have been experiencing for the past week. As we traveled into the rural parts of the country, I couldn’t help but question what we were doing here. Why were we helping the children who have the latest technology, and not the people who were living in this “rural poverty”? Why were we helping the children who don’t need us as much as some of these people? I was not too keen on the idea that there were people who needed us more than some of these kids. When people write about their mission trips they usually talk about how their view of the world changed, or how they appreciate everything that they have, but I came back with a confirmation of what I had already thought; that society has distorted our view of poverty. Our society is prejudice and discriminatory toward people who are different than us, whether it is race, gender, religion, economic status.
Junot Diaz is a Dominican-American writer whose collection of short stories Drown tells the story of immigrant families in the urban community of New Jersey. His short story “Fiesta, 1980” focuses on Yunior, an adolescent boy from Dominican Republic and his relationship with his father. On the other hand, Piri Thomas was a great Latino writer from Puerto-Rico whose memoir Down These Mean Streets tells his life story as an adolescent residing in Harlem and the challenges he faces outside in the neighborhood and at home with his father. Both Diaz and Thomas in different ways explore the dynamics of father-son relationships in their work. Furthermore, both expose masculinity as a social construct.
Growing up poor in the Dominican Republic strongly influenced the choices Yunior makes later in his life. In “Aguantando” Yunior recalls about how poverty was a part of his life. Díaz writes, “We were poor. The only way we could have been poorer was to have lived in the campo or to have been Haitian immigrants…We didn’t eat rocks but we didn’t eat meat or beans either” (Díaz, 70). This depiction of Yunior’s early childhood sets the stage for what is to come. Yunior’s choices as an adolescent proves that he either chooses not to or cannot better his situation instead he turns to drugs and alcohol. Yunior’s decision to partake in drugs and alcohol shows that people in poverty have nothing to live for and just live for the next best thing.
The debate on Puerto Rican Identity is a hot bed of controversy, especially in today’s society where American colonialism dominates most of the island’s governmental and economic policies. The country wrestles with the strong influence of its present day colonizers, while it adamantly tries to retain aspects of the legacy of Spanish colonialism. Despite America’s presence, Puerto Ricans maintain what is arguably their own cultural identity which seems largely based on the influence of Spain mixed with customs that might have developed locally.
Today I bring to your forefront of thought, the island of Hispaniola. This island is the namesake for the two countries who run the land, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Both nations hail from a joint introduction into the world market and post-European colonization, but as time progressed, each one had a different outlook to the world stage. The present day Dominican Republic and Haiti are worlds apart on an island which keeps them together. Their culture is separated by the colonial residuals that lay imbedded into their communities. They are on different sides of the spectrum of structural growth due to the resulting outcomes from decades of political ruling and policy making. On one side we have the second independent state of the Americas,
I remember the anxiety and excitement that I felt as I exited the plane with twenty other high school students, embarking on my summer teaching experience, wondering if I was fully prepared. The moment the busloads of children arrived, I attached myself to a group of kids and started singing and dancing with them. Despite my initial fears, we began to form a bond. My role changed from that of a teenager to that of a responsible counselor. Not only was I here to teach them about Judaism through classes and activities, but more importantly I was acting as a role model. For the majority of Ukrainian children, we were the first Americans they had ever met and, therefore, were watched vigilantly and constantly emulated. This humbling realization made me feel rather self-conscious at first. However, their desire to imitate also heightened the impact of that which we taught them. They wanted to learn. Although an immense language barrier lay between the campers and me, we managed to communicate through translators, hand signals, songs, and broken English and Russian.
In this story, the reader can see exactly how, many Puerto Ricans feel when living on other grounds. Throughout this time, the boy that Rodriguez presents us realizes he has his culture and that he wants to preserve it as much as he can. “Because I’m Puerto Rican”. I ain’t no American. And I’m not a Yankee flag-waver”
An important factor in facilitating Dominican migration to United States has been the 1965 Family Reunification Act, which has allowed many Dominicans to enter the United States through strong family networks, making these distinct elements of the Dominican male immigration context from the beginning. Interestingly, the Dominican community is considered a transnational community, where member maintain strong ties to the Dominican Republic and the United States, Rodriguez
The image of the Virgin Mary seen by Juan Diego has changed the world. About forty years after Mary’s appearance to Diego, it is believed to be a turning point in western civilization. At this time there were a lot of copies of the painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe being circulated around Europe and one ended up in the hands of Admiral Giovanni Andrea Doria. The King of Spain gave this special copy to him. There were three hundred Turkish ships blocking the Gulf of Lepanto and the admiral was given command of a squadron to sail to the blockade. The Christian fleet consisting of about three hundred ships was to meet the Turkish navy head on. However, the Turkish outmaneuvered the Christian forces. It is said that when this crucial hour was at hand, Doria went into his cabin to kneel and pray before the Image of Guadalupe. By nightfall the direction of the battle started to shift. One Turkish squadron was defeated and captured causing the others to panic which lead to the destruction of the whole fleet. Fifteen thousand Christians that were enslaved in the Turkish galleys were freed. This battle marked the end of the Ottoman Empire’s expansion into the western Mediterranean.1
Santa Catalina Island, often known as Catalina Island, is located off the coast of Southern California, southwest of Los Angeles. Catalina Island forms part of the Channel Islands archipelago. Catalina is the only island, out of eight, that has been significantly developed. There are two major settlement location within the island - the city of Avalon and the unincorporated town of Two Harbors (“Visit Catalina Island,” 2014). Beyond the town boundaries the island is covered by wild life that it is owned and operated by the Catalina Island Conservancy ("The Official Catalina Island Website,” 2013).
de la Cruz, Juana Ines. "Hombres Necios." A Sor Juana Anthology. Ed.Alan S. Trueblood. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1988.
The poem “Exile” by Julia Alvarez dramatizes the conflicts of a young girl’s family’s escape from an oppressive dictatorship in the Dominican Republic to the freedom of the United States. The setting of this poem starts in the city of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, which was renamed for the brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo; however, it eventually changes to New York when the family succeeds to escape. The speaker is a young girl who is unsophisticated to the world; therefore, she does not know what is happening to her family, even though she surmises that something is wrong. The author uses an extended metaphor throughout the poem to compare “swimming” and escaping the Dominican Republic. Through the line “A hurried bag, allowing one toy a piece,” (13) it feels as if the family were exiled or forced to leave its country. The title of the poem “Exile,” informs the reader that there was no choice for the family but to leave the Dominican Republic, but certain words and phrases reiterate the title. In this poem, the speaker expresser her feeling about fleeing her home and how isolated she feels in the United States.
The emotional letter that Juan left for his mother might be one of the most emotional scenes in the documentary. The pure emotions that the letter was written by Juan to her mother leaves the audience with the bonds and emotions felt between the kids and families. Juan Carlos’s father abandoned the family years ago and left to New York, consequently Juan believe it is his responsibility to provide for his family. He also wants to find his father in New York and confronts him about why he has forgotten about them. The story of Juan is not just about migration of children, but also the issue of family separation. The documentary does not dehumanize but rather bring the humane and sensitive lens to the story of Juan where the human drama that these young immigrants and their families live. Juan Carlos is not the first of Esmeralda’s sons to leave for the United states, his nine-year-old brother Francisco was smuggled into California one month earlier. Francisco now lives with Gloria, his grandmother, who paid a smuggler $3,500 to bring him to Los Angeles, California. Once Juan Carlos is in the shelter for child migrants his mother eagerly awaits him outside. After she sees him she signs a paper that says if Juan Carlos tries to travel again, he will be sent to a foster home.
Medellin was founded in 1616 in the scenic Aburrá valley, but remained small until the coffee boom. Medellin now has a population of almost 3 million people, with an area of 362 kilometers squared, and an average temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Medellin is widely regarded in Colombia as a clean, well-organized and economically vibrant community. Its people are hard-working and industrious. Major industries include coffee and flower export, information technology and hotel services. It is also the fashion capital of Colombia. Each year the "Feria de Las Flores" (Flower Festival) attracts visitors from all over South America for parades and conventions. The city's fast and efficient metro is the only public transit subway system in Colombia. In culinary delights, Medellin is said to have created Colombia's unique "arepa" - a bread and corn patty stuffed with cheese which I enjoy very much, but both of my parents hate.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that there are at least 350,000 illegal Caribbean immigrants in the United States (McCabe, 2011). Caribbean culture versus American culture is greatly different. An important way for social workers to be culturally competent is not to ignore language barriers. It should not be assumed that English is always the first language spoken so there should be resources available. Clients should be directed to immigration centers or offered a translator to provide assistance (How to Outreach,
John Bosco was born in Turin, Italy, on August 16, 1815. His parents were poor farmers, but his father died when he was two years old, but John was too young to know what happened, and it forced his mother, Margaret, to raise him along with 3 other children and taught them the importance of their faith. It was very hard for his mother so John went out and got a few little jobs to help his mother. He had many jobs like a carpenter, shoe-maker, a cook, a pastry maker, and a farmer. While growing up John wanted to become a priest. One night when John was a boy he had a dream that he led young boys; and when he awoke he realized his life's work was to help poor boys. Bosco also had many other dreams along with many others that directed him to help homeless boys. Bosco when he was young went to fairs and carnivals, and learned and mastered them when he got home and then kept the young people in his village occupied by doing magic tricks and acrobatic moves, and only ask prayers for payment. Also, he would speak to children about God, and even some adults occasionally. The seminary school that Bosco entered was Chieri at the age of 16. Father Cafasso helped John through seminary school because he could not afford it, neither could his mother help him pay for it.