CV document 2016

Cambiando Vidas
Building Communities, Building Hope
COMMUNITY PROFILE
Las Charcas de Garabito
Welcome to my community, Las Charcas. If you come and visit you will see lots of children laughing and playing.
You will hear lots of music. We earn a living from farming. We would love to share a meal of rice and beans with
you and teach you how to play baseball.
Community Profile:
Las Charcas is located 13 kilometers from San Juan. It is divided into 8 different areas. It is a rural community, with
a population of 1000 families. The water that the community gets is from an aqueduct. We don’t have a garbage
dump or telephones, but we do have electricity. The primary source of income comes from agriculture, small stores
and motoconcho (motorcycle used as a taxi). We live in houses with roofs of zinc, concrete floors and wood walls.
Education:
Las Charcas has a preschool, as well as 3 elementary schools. One of the schools has 8 classrooms, and at the time
of writing has 320 students and teaches 1st through 8th grade. The other two schools have 2 classrooms, 35 and 85
students each, and both teach 1st through 4th grade. Two of the schools have gates and one has a library and a
basketball court. We do not have a high school. When the students finish the 8th grade they have to travel to San
Juan to the public high school of the city. We are fortunate to have a community library. We have a Parent’s
Association that works with the school. Children love writing, playing, learning and studying.
Cambiando Vidas
Calle Prolongación Canoabo N. 11 San Juan de la Maguana Rep. Dom.
Tel. 809 844 1508 Mail: [email protected] o visitenos a www.cambiandovidas.info
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Cambiando Vidas
Building Communities, Building Hope
Community Profile --- continued
Health:
The community has a health center that we called clinic. The clinic has 4 health promoters, 1 nurse and 1 doctor.
There is a community first aid site. The major illnesses that affect our children in the community are respiratory
diseases and parasites.
Children’s Outlook on the Community:
When thinking about what they do have in the community, the children like the park, the basketball court, the school,
the baseball field, the river and the canals, the church, the electricity, the road, the atmosphere, the corner store, the
trees, the clinic, the trucks, the horses, the mangos and the animals. However, they do not like that the streets are in
disrepair, that there are no lights in the streets, the thieves, the lack of good houses, that people throw garbage in
the river, and there is no preschool for the smaller children.
General Statistics:
Only 25% of families in San Juan have access to potable water and 57% have private latrines. 19.2% of children
fewer than 5 years of age are malnourished. 30% of mothers with children under 5 years old treat their children’s
cases of diarrhea effectively. 83% of mothers with children under 5 years old seek treatment for acute respiratory
infection. 70.5% of children attend primary school, but only 33.9% of these children complete primary school.
The community of Las Charcas de Garabito is very excited about program Changing lives because with this program
they can get their dream come through to have a decent house and the development of their community. It means
that we will ultimately be responsible for the changes enacted to improve the education, health and infrastructure.
When we see areas of need, or become concerned about the conditions in our community, we will have the tools to
initiate action on our own. This is a very empowering and unique time for us. Please come to our community. You
are always welcome.
Cambiando Vidas
Calle Prolongación Canoabo N. 11 San Juan de la Maguana Rep. Dom.
Tel. 809 844 1508 Mail: [email protected] o visitenos a www.cambiandovidas.info
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Cambiando Vidas
Building Communities, Building Hope
CONSTRUCTION
The typical C.V. home looks like the one below – a C.V. home built in Las Charcas in 2007.
Structure:
§ The foundation is concrete block,
two rows deep, laid in trenches;
§ The walls are concrete block, held
together with mortar;
§ The roof is overlapping zinc
panels, nailed onto wooden
trusses;
§ The floor is concrete, finished with
a colored skim-coat.
§ Integrity is provided by rebar
cemented vertically into the four
corners of the house, and tied into
rebar courses running horizontally
Interior:
§ Floorplan (sample at right) generally
provides four rooms, up to 750 square
feet total – two bedrooms, a
bathroom, and a “great room” with
kitchen at one end, living / dining area
at the other, which opens onto a
covered porch.
§ Kitchen has plumbed sink,
preparation area, and “breakfast bar,”
often in stone. Outside wash sink may
be installed on exterior wall.
§ Bathroom has a flush toilet, plumbed
sink, and tiled shower unit. Waste
water typically piped into enclosed
septic.
§ Plumbing and Electrics run through
plastic piping embedded in walls.
§ Doors are local, panelled pine.
§ Windows are louvered plastic.
§ Porch Railings are poured concrete, set in forms.
Cambiando Vidas
Calle Prolongación Canoabo N. 11 San Juan de la Maguana Rep. Dom.
Tel. 809 844 1508 Mail: [email protected] o visitenos a www.cambiandovidas.info
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Cambiando Vidas
Building Communities, Building Hope
ACCOMODATIONS
In San Juan de la Maguana, C.V. teams stay at the Hotel Libano – around the corner from C.V.’s
headquarters and the home of C.V. founder Jose Abreu.
The hotel has modern rooms, all fairly large,
with their own bathrooms, hot- and coldrunning water, television, and drinking-water
coolers on each floor. Laundry service may
be available.
A simple breakfast – eggs and toast – is
usually fixed in the large, top-floor diningmeeting-and-recreation area, which has a
360-deree view of San Juan. Photo at right –
of a 2007 C.V. crew after breakfast – shows
the bar / kitchen area (not shown are many
eating tables and two pool tables).
Cambiando Vidas
Calle Prolongación Canoabo N. 11 San Juan de la Maguana Rep. Dom.
Tel. 809 844 1508 Mail: [email protected] o visitenos a www.cambiandovidas.info
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Cambiando Vidas
Building Communities, Building Hope
Packing List
passport
steel toed work boots/shoes
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Brahma-Men-s-Seth-Steel-Toe-Shoe/22724305
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Brahma-Women-s-Sacha-SteeShoe/22733852
bandana
work clothes—jeans and t-shirts
sunglasses
sunblock
bug spray
water bottle
backpack/daypack
camera
bathing suit
washcloth
towel
toiletries
casual clothes (shorts/skirts and t-shirts)
nice outfit for ending ceremony (khaki pants or shorts/polo shirt, skirt/blouse)
any needed medications
plastic bags for packing used work clothes
hat
water shoes
sneakers
sandals
powdered Gatorade
snacks (e.g. granola bars, fruit snacks)
Cambiando Vidas
Calle Prolongación Canoabo N. 11 San Juan de la Maguana Rep. Dom.
Tel. 809 844 1508 Mail: [email protected] o visitenos a www.cambiandovidas.info
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