I will be moving from the northwest to the southeast. You can go to Googlemaps.com to see exactly where. The name of my site is Mano Juan, Isla Saona. It is an actual isla or island that I will have to take an hour boat ride to get to.
The island currently has generators that provides three hours of electricity every day from seven to 10 pm, but the Taiwan government is currently working on a solar panel project. There are currently about 350 people that live on the island, in which each person’s income in some way affected by tourism. There is one school that has grades 1-7th that has 53 students. When the students get ready to enter eighth grade they have two options: quit school or move to La Romana to continue (an hour and a half away).
This is the beach at my site. The green building on the far right is where I will be living.
This is a pioneer project meaning that I will be the first volunteer on the island. The Minister of Environment has been trying for some time to get a volunteer there. He really wants to start an eco-tourism project on the island. His idea is to have tourists ride bikes in between the two villages on the island, Mano Juan and Catalina (11 kilometers or about 7 miles). He is so behind the project that he already bought 40 bicycles. Another main assignment of mine is to identify potential projects for any of the six sectors: Environment (mine), Information Technology, Youth, Health, Water (aqueducts), and Business. Possible secondary projects include English classes in the school, Brigada Verde (youth environmental group), stoves, and working with the sea turtle house. They have a center there that collects sea turtle eggs from the beach before they are eaten, hatch and raise them in incubators, and then when they are ready release them to the wild. This is the project that I am most excited about learning more about and working with.
I went to the isla yesterday and it was amazing! It’s very beautiful and the people were quite impressive. I am going to be living in the guard house for free and get fed for free (but can make my own meals or eat out when I want). This Thursday and Friday I will travel to my old site with a Peace Corps jeep and driver, get my stuff and Rosalinda, and then return to the capitol. Then next Tuesday or Wednesday Jaime David (the minister of environment), Alberto (my boss), me, and Rosalinda (hopefully) are going to load up my stuff on a HELICOPTER and take it down to the island!!! I’ll be sure to put up pictures soon after.
