Dominican Republic Girls' Garden Project

Dominican Republic Girls' Garden Project

Marielena Sentola Beltran started the Hogar de Niñas MADELAES (Mary of Hope Girl’s Home) in a small village outside of Santo Domingo 15 years ago. Having come from a family of 14 siblings, she was responding to the overwhelming pattern of poverty and child abandonment she observed in her community. In starting the Hogar, Marielena hoped to change that pattern for each of the girls raised in her home by giving them education, discipline, food, shelter, clothing and plenty of love. When I first visited the Hogar in 2006, it became immediately obvious that her work had paid off when all 20 girls came running up to hug me in celebration of my arrival.

Since my first and second visits, Marielena and the girls were gifted their own house (they had previously been renting) by Japanese philanthropists. The house has the capacity for up to 30 girls and has about an acre of arable land. Despite this incredible gift, the home currently houses only 16 girls because of funding deficit and remains dependent on donations (governmental and private) for food.

Every time I call, Marielena says, “When are you coming back?” and I was proud and excited this spring to finally tell her that I had found the time and money to make a longer, more meaningful visit. After studying sustainable agriculture at UMass and working on several organic vegetable farms, I feel confident in my ability to lead a garden project, but I envision the scope of the project going beyond food security. The disempowerment of women by the masculine-dominated latino culture is one of the root causes of the pattern of child abandonment. In order to fully support Marielena’s vision for the Hogar, I want to contribute to the empowerment of the girls by engaging them in the process of creating and maintaining the gardens. I will be there September 26 - December 15, 2011.

Methodology

    * Create garden infrastructure before planting – systems that are easy to maintain (compost pile, tool shed etc.).

    * Cultivate enthusiasm, effort and a sense of ownership from the community itself so that the garden will sustain itself without dependence on outside help.

    * Encourage the girls’ literal self-nurturing created by growing the food they eat to translate into inner feelings of self-nurturance and self-empowerment.

    * Encourage self-awareness that reaches beyond cultural ideas of a woman’s place in society.  Support the discovery of a more internal concept of one’s own femininity through work in the garden.