Dominican Republic -- Batey Libertad

We worked in a community called Batey Libertad. A batey is a settlement of agricultural workers, mainly sugar cane pickers. Haitians often cross the border in search of a better life and do the work that Dominicans don't want. At Batey Libertad, they live without running water or electricity in small tin shacks. It's estimated that 1 million Haitians live illegally in the DR (out of a Dominican population of 9 million).

10 of my students and 10 students from Bryn Mawr ran a summer camp at Baté Libertad. About 50 local kids came. The goal was to increase the kids' exposure to literacy, Spanish, English, team activities, and art. I was amazed that many of the school age kids did not yet know how to hold a crayon. It made me think about how hard it would be for them to learn to write later on.