Sustainable food security for sugar cane cutters and their families in the Dominican Republic: Participants tell their stories
Sr. Eloy Ramírez with his family
Photo: Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas (SSID)
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(Click here for Spanish version)
A three-year food security project in partnership with long-standing CWS partners Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas (SSID) and Grupo de Pastores Interdenominacionales (GPI) is benefiting 996 peasant families in 24 rural communities in Dominican Republic's Southwest. The families live on the edge of food security and are very vulnerable to natural disasters such as drought, flooding, and hurricanes. Most of the families are Haitian or of Haitian descendent, making them -- especially the school-age children -- the targets of discrimination in the Dominican Republic, and without access to normal civic, economic, and social rights.
The following seven participants tell stories of their successes at the end of the second year of this project.
Sr. Eloy Ramírez, Comunidad Yabacao, Ingenio San Luís, Provincia Monte Plata
I am a community leader here and can say that this year we had great achievements. We organized ourselves and worked to prepare the land and plant crops. During this process the field technicians of the food security program accompanied us. The production in this community was "great" – it consisted primarily of corn and auyama (squash).
We are very satisfied with the help we received with soil preparation and the technical assistance. In my case, the soil preparation cost of my parcel of land was RD$ 5,000 (RD pesos). I paid 2,000 of this amount, and the project covered the remaining 3,000 pesos. As for seeds, I had mine in a safe place, as did the other farmers of the project.
I was able to grow a great quantity of auyama. I sold a total of RD$ 30,000, and this was in addition to what we consumed at home. We even gave some to neighbors and friends.
I am very happy because we are obtaining cash to resolve problems. In my case, I can now pay for my health treatment (Sr. Ramírez has been diagnosed with cancer) and am able to buy household items, as well as other foods items.
Marcial Adonis, parcelero de la comunidad Guazumita, Monte Plata
 Marcial Adonis Photo: Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas (SSID)
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I am a beneficiary of the food security program of SSID. For over 10 years I have worked in soil preparation -- using a pick and hoe, and in some cases rake seeding my crops -- to obtain whatever crop would grow using these methods. Today I have a parcel of land of 8 tareas = 1.25 acres (6.433 Tareas=1 acre) donated by SSID. In the beginning, they were like 3 tareas (.45 acre).
In the two years since the food security project begun, we learned how to prepare the land using a tractor. I realized a better quality crop and higher yields, thanks to all the training I have received from the technical team of the program. When the harvest time came, I was able to note a very big difference in my production when I compared it to previous crops.
Even though I still continue to plant corn, yucca, sweet potato, bananas/plantain and other short cycle goods, I have decided to reduce that area and grow chinola (passion fruit) because there are greater profits in this product.
I give thanks to God for the support that has been given to us. We have changed our method of production, which resulted in a more bountiful and better quality crop, which I have consumed together with my family and friends.
Another important matter is that with the income I was able to obtain selling my crop, I was able to buy medicine for my wife, as she was very sick.
 Pedro Pérez Photo: Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas (SSID)
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Pedro Pérez, Parcelero, Comunidad: La Maya, Yamasá, Monte Plata
My parcel of land has 10 tareas (1.5 acres), which was donated by SSID approximately 15 years ago. I have been planting corn, banana, sweet potato, green beans and other crops. In the past, these have primarily been worked by hand; using picks, hoes, shovels and rakes. Thanks to SSID and the food security project, today we can prepare the soil using tractors and plant seeds and crops with the assistance of the technicians, who have guaranteed double, and up to triple, yields compared to previous crops.
For this reason, I give thanks to God, to SSID and to the Food Security Project for allowing my progress to increase with these efforts. With the latest harvest I was able buy school supplies for my children and purchase medicine to resolve some health problems. Today, I am planting peppers and I am pretty sure that sowing this pepper, with the help of God, is going to go very well for me, because there is a great demand and it has a stable price.
Cristina Pie, Comunidad La Jagua, Hato Mayor
 Cristina Pie Photo: Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas (SSID)
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From my sales, I was able to make some minor repairs to my house. Also I bought household utensils, shoes and clothes for my family, as well as other food products to compliment our family’s nutrition.
In my patio I have a small garden where I grow tomatoes, red pepper, lettuce, bananas and cabbage. I also have chinola (passion fruit), which I consume and sometimes sell to use the income to buy other goods.
La se ñora Cecilia Celín, Comunidad El Caño, Monte Plata
 Cecilia Celín Photo: Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas (SSID)  Elikana Domínguez Photo: Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas (SSID)  Jose Peña Photo: Servicio Social de Iglesias Dominicanas (SSID)
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The trainings on soil preparation and management that we received from the technicians made it possible to obtain a higher yield of production than I had prior to this program. I say this because in the past we used to work the field with picks and a hoe. Now the land receives a good turnover with the till of the tractors.
Elikana Domínguez, de la comunidad de Euskarduna, San Pedro de Macorís
As a volunteer, I work as a literacy facilitator and health promoter in my community. As a health promoter I give advice and council families on prevention of infectious diseases, hygiene and other subjects. We also evaluate the children on a monthly basis by weighing and measuring them to determine their nutrition level. Thanks to this program we do not have malnourished children like in the past.
In the short time that I have working with SSID as a volunteer, I feel very good because there are many things that I did not know about HIV/AIDS and other health issues which I have learned through the program. Now I can help and educate others.
I am very grateful for the collaboration of SSID towards the development of my community, in obtaining parcels of land, supplying seeds, trainings, and tilling of land with tractors. I have also seen how SSID helps us obtain wood, metal shingles and nails when homes are affected by disasters.
Jose Peña, parcelero de la comunidad AB-4
Since the day SSID came to this community, they have improved the development of the families by 90%, especially the children we send to school. For the simple reason that with the fruits of our harvest and what we are able to sell, we now buy them shoes, notebooks, and pencils. In many occasions the income has helped us to go to the doctors and buy medicine; in addition we can buy seed in case we don’t have enough.
SSID has agronomist and technicians constantly training us, teaching us and helping us with meetings and talks on the natural environment.
In addition they have helped to repair many homes, have brought water to our homes, helped us with health/sanitation issues and with keeping a clean house/community, and facilitated teams and tools for the community. For these reasons, we are very thankful of this church institution.