Reality:
The town of Paraiso does not have a hospital. Anyone in the surrounding mountains who falls off a horse or needs emergency care has to travel to Barahona or Enriquillo. People have died because the distance to medical care was too great. Just two weeks ago Remigio, a hard working director of the local Church developed NGO, almost died from an asthma attack. He was blessed in that the day clinic doctor happened to be staying over for the night and was able to give him a life-saving injection.
Presumption:
A group of faith motivated Americans came down and found the PAP hospital abandoned. It had only one floor and almost no equipment in it. The group which is based in Kansas City decided to make the reparation of the hospital their priority. They assumed that the townspeople would organize around this goal and provide full support for their efforts.
Flat tires:
When the American volunteers returned from one trip of hard work to fix the hospital, they found materials had been stolen and that funds had been misused. This reality was like a flat tire that was totally unexpected.
Perseverance:
The Americans had a choice either to abandon this project or else stick it out. They decided to continue, but with a new emphasis. They would take into account the local culture and lack of training in vigilance for public property. They found an excellent NGO in Santo Domingo that was "street wise" and had the accumulated wisdom to know how to move a process forward that would empower the local population to accept the responsibility to watch out for the hospital.
Important Decisions:
The volunteers decided to give their full support to the foundation of a Patronato or Governing Board that would over-see the hospital and make sure that the donated equipment and funds would be wisely used. This Patronato is close to being a reality and the local population is taking increasing steps to safeguard the investment.
Repercussions:
PAP International (the volunteers from the USA) has addressed a critical shortfall in the local environment. Here is a list of the governmental investments that are either in ruins or in danger of not being competed because of a lack of "Auditoría Social" or a local watchdog group that makes sure that materials are not robbed: high school, primary school, multiple sport arena, municipal market, regional hospital. In the case of the high school, for example, people have witnessed the robbery of PVC tubes, bags of cement, toilets and windows. Those who do the robbing allege that they are members of the ruling political party and that they have permission to use the materials for other governmental "projects" but in reality it is for a selfish purpose of re-selling the materials and making a quick profit.
Hope:
By not giving up and going elsewhere; by changing tactics; the American group has encouraged a positive change in the local mentality. They are not alone. The European Union is sponsoring a project to build a "matadero" or slaughter house on the outskirts of Paraiso. But they demanded that the local people establish and run an "auditoría social" group to keep tabs of the materials that arrive as well as the work that is done. Thus we have a double push for change in the way projects are done in Paraiso. This is a very positive development.
