The problem:
As oil prices rise, the Dominican Republic will devote less resources to the peripheral communities. That means deteriorating roads and agricultural production in the mountains above Paraíso. The Haitian Dominican residents already live with few resources. The future will offer them even less.
A partial solution:
In the above pictures you can observe the results of hard work, incentive and determination. The people in La Vibora filled 342 100 pound sacks with dirt in one day. These bags will be closed with cord and then carried to the community chapel/school and placed around the structure in order to form walls. A little piece of land now belongs to the Church and if the process moves foreword, the families will have the option of building homes with earth sacks and barbed wire (stretched between rows of sacks).
Why is this a good path for the people?
By using earth sacks in place of cement blocks, the community learns how to build within their means and in response to their environment. The heavy sacks can withstand the pressure of high winds much better than previous locally made shelters that utilize termite prone wooden poles and thatch materials. If the process catches on, the intelligent workers will adapt and perfect the method. Where there's a will ... there's a way! And the earth sacks depend upon the will of the local leaders. No matter what alternatives we offer, the deciding factor will be people -- humble people who advocate for change in the mountain villages. At this point we have offered them an example or a tool ... and time will tell if they accept it as valid for their life setting. May the Lord of all life-enhancing innovation be the source of new paths.
