First Assignment and First Impressions

By -
Bright and early on Monday morning, our field officer, Don Rafael picked us up at the hotel. Our first stop was the Universidad Nacional Henriquez Umana. The Farmer to Farmer office is located in the university. We met a volunteer, Brit, who is taking photographs around the DR for F to F. We also met Felix who was starting his first day as a field officer. Rafael took us to the library on campus where we had a short tour of the library. It had AC, several computers available for searching the internet, a reference area, special collections, a Dominican collection, and several reading rooms. It was a nice impromptu introduction to academic libraries in the DR.

We continued on to Santiago and our assignment at the library at the Universidad ISA. Along the way we stopped for a morning coffee and some quipe. Quipe is similar to falafel but made from wheat. It was delicious. After a two hour ride we arrived at our hotel in Santiago. The area where the hotel is located is primarily commercial businesses. We had a quick lunch and then we were off to ISA.

We were struck by the grounds around the university, lush, green, and tropical. As we approached the library we were greeted by many peacocks, large and small. The peacocks run freely around the grounds and seem to like the front of the library!  The library is has a small open air lobby with two large fish tanks and some seating. One tank has many tropical fish and the other is home to Sofia, the snapping turtle. And she snaps! The day we arrived many of the fish had died due to a power outage over the weekend. Around the exterior lobby is the photocopying center of the library and the digital library which houses some PCs for students' use and they also loan out laptops and other audiovisual equipment.  The Registrar's office is also located in this area. A staircase leads you up to the second floor where the general collection is located. A reading room, small closed stack area, a circulation desk and two offices and one all purpose room make up the library.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Better Marketing and Communications to Showcase the Work of our Hosts in Colombia

By -
Image
Salva Terra Foundation has focused on supporting vulnerable communities through sustainable agriculture. They work with impoverished populations and victims of violence in Medellin and aim to promote farming and develop local skills to work in the agricultural industry in an ecological manner. This process of bringing together concepts such as social impact, sustainable development, environmental protection, and food security requires excellent outreach and promotion. Therefore, they requested a F2F volunteer to help them develop a communication and marketing plan. The chosen volunteer for this assignment was Dr. Sindy Chapa. She has a B.A. in Mass Media Communications, with a Minor in Television and Art Design, an MBA, and Ph.D. in International Business/Marketing. She is the Director and Associate Professor at the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State University and has won several communications awards. Dr. Chapa decided to use Salva Terra as one of the case
Read more

My First Goat: A Professor, Students, and some Goats Tackle Food Insecurity in Rural Guatemala

By -
Image
Two Worlds Come Together to Build New Solutions against Malnutrition What does a USAID-funded Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) expert volunteer group from the island of Puerto Rico have to do with combatting food insecurity in Guatemala? Everything.  F2F volunteer Gabriela Colón Rios trains Mam Indigenous women to better care for their goats which will improve food security and reduce high malnourishment rates. Chiantla, Guatemala. Photo Credit: Monica Gonzalez In March 2023, a group of five eager F2F volunteers arrived in Huehuetenango (Huehue), Guatemala, with hearts and minds set on combatting food insecurity in a part of the world unknown to them.  Over the next 10 days, this team of experts would consider Huehue, in Guatemala’s Western Highland region, their new home and office. Accompanying them on their mission would be faithful companions and mighty conduits of change: goats.  Communities in this region live at altitudes reaching 10,000 feet above sea level nestled by captivating mountai
Read more

Digital Marketing in Colombia

By -
Image
Digital Marketing is one way that entrepreneurs and producers across the globe can reach new markets and increase sales. But what is digital marketing and how can a small Colombian business use it to maximize the number of people who come across its brand? These are the questions that Zen Naturals was asking itself. Zen Naturals is a natural cosmetic manufacturing company based in Cali, Colombia. Zen Naturals develops natural cosmetics made from exotic ingredients from Colombia’s outstanding biodiversity. Through ethical manufacturing and fair trade practices, they are also taking a leadership role in re-investing in the communities that grow the ingredients used in their products. Currently, Zen Naturals supports more than 95 Colombian quinoa farming communities through Fair-Trade Practices and technical assistance on their production. Zen Naturals is preparing to launch their quinoa facial care products in Whole Foods Markets in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. in 2017.
Read more