Orientation Week

This week began with three days of orientation at the Mariposa DR Foundation Center for Girls, where I’ll be teaching marine science classes for elementary and middle school age girls this fall.

Day One began with introductions, protocols, procedures, etc. A year of daily Spanish lessons didn’t completely prepare me for the moment, but I was surprised by how much I understood and could communicate. I had no idea how many topics we’d cover in one day. Everything from the Center’s vision and mission, to protocols for first aid, hurricanes, discipline, lunch rotations, etc. There were 20+ staff and volunteers, and we spent a day listening, learning and sweating together (the heat index was 108 degrees!) in the grass covered shelter that will now be my classroom.

The first day was long, but well worth it. I was in the presence of so many people with such diverse talents, and I can’t believe that I now have the opportunity to work with this team. One team member spoke so eloquently as she read a children’s story to us – I was captivated (and I imagine the students will be when they are with her this fall). It didn’t matter that I was unfamiliar with some of the words because her inflection and expressions gave away the meaning. Another team member talked about the “why” and “how” of composting. She’s changing the practices of the center, a local coffee business and in the community. Another team member talk to us about the threat of hurricanes and pressed us to think hard about what we would do as individuals and as a team to keep ourselves, the Mariposas, and their families informed and safe. Not only did she listen, but as a result of the discussion, changes to protocol were made. 

Day Two was more focused on the mechanics of our individual classes. Lesson plans, learning objectives, and pre-tests and post-tests were part of the discussion. The team for my class includes Diego, Tony and Ryan. Three days a week we will paddle around and snorkel on the reef in Sosua Bay. The mornings will be spent with the younger group and the afternoons with the older group. One day will be spent in the classroom. The other day is for lesson planning and reporting. 

Day Three was a day for bonding and was spent at the Altagracia Coffee Farm, a business that the Mariposa DR Foundation will operate in conjunction with a local family. (As a side note, the foundation has other operations that serve to financially support Mariposa and also serve as training opportunities for Mariposa students. These include a local coffee company, a business that makes products from recycled wind & kitesurfing sails, a tourist magazine, and now the organic coffee farm.)

The tour was an absolute dream. We first traveled from Cabarete (on the north coast) to the town of Jarabacoa. The three hour trip brought us up and over the Cordillera Septentrional mountain range. We traveled through narrow, winding roads, and past small villages and smiling faces of the local people selling fruits, nuts, cheese and other hand-made goods. Next, we traveled another 30 minutes up the country’s highest mountain range, the Cordillera Central, along even windier, narrower roads with spectacular views of the valley below. Finally we approached the steep gravelly entrance to the farm. Our first view was of goats wandering along the mountainside and lush forests that are very unlike the vegetation of the north coast.

The farm was gifted to Mariposa by world renowned author and activist Julia Alvarez, whose family lived on the farm, and who wrote her best-selling novelIn the Time of Butterfliesin that same place. 

The tour was narrated by a young man, Binchon, who grew up on the coffee farm and is now working to restore it. As we hiked the farm, we picked and ate pomegranates, lulo (a fruit sort of like a sweet tomato), limes, pomelo, macadamia nuts and ripe coffee beans. The coffee shrubs grow on steeply terraced hills under the shade of larger trees. The forest can quickly overtake the shrubs and needs to be cleared by hand. As if it wasn’t hot enough just standing in the heat, imagine being in long pants and sleeves and using a machete to hack at head-high weeds all day long. My dream of being a coffee farmer lasted about five minutes. 

The tour ended with a delicious lunch of stewed chicken, rice, beans, avocado and banana, all prepared by Binchon’s mom. What a way to finish the day and orientation week.