Living in San Francisco de Macoris
A Global Village Team Experience in the Dominican Republic
By Susi Havens-Bezaire

(Click photos to see full size)

We hope that this brief overview will help leaders of other teams selected to work with the San Francisco de Macoris affiliate.

Getting to San Francisco de Macoris

Almost all of the team members flew into Santiago. One team member found a cheaper flight into Santo Domingo and took a 2-hour ride on a public bus to Santiago. Those from the West coast of the USA & Canada found that they needed an extra travel day in order to arrive in time for the 3:00 p.m. meeting time in Santiago. (As in most all developing countries, HFH GV staff requested that our team meet early enough to travel on roads in daylight.)

Early arrivals stayed at the Hotel Platino www.hotelplatinord.com/hotel.html. The 15 minute taxi ride to the hotel from the airport cost $15. The hotel is very comfortable, and it is safe to walk around the area. We enjoyed a 30 minute hike to the city’s famous statue and to enjoy a great fish dinner nearby the square. The hotel does have several very helpful English-speaking staff people.

The City of San Francisco de Macoris

Our GV team was very excited to be assigned to the new HFH affiliate in San Francisco de Macoris. Although it is the 3rd largest city in the DR, we found little about San Francisco online other than it is known for its agriculture – primarily rice and cacao, the plant from which cocoa is made. We looked forward to living in one of the greenest places in the country.

Unfortunately, San Francisco de Macoris is a very tough city with significant drug and prostitution problems. We were cautioned to never go anywhere unescorted. Everyone – including the GV staff, the local Habitat committee members and the masons we worked with – were very protective of us and ensured that all of our activities were safe. When asked if safety was a concern because of where we were staying, the response was always the same, “there is no place in the city that is safe late at night.” The effects of nationwide inflation seemed be be felt even more severely in this region.

Living at the Pablo VI Catholic Center

We stayed at the Centro de Formación y Espiritualidad Promoción Juan Pablo VI, a retreat center located near the outskirts of town that is run by Sister Milagros and her very capable staff. The two person rooms are very simple and adequate, each having a private bathroom and screens on the windows. There are several indoor and outdoor meeting areas that team members could use to play games and have conversation.

The team enjoyed the wonderful food prepared by the staff; breakfast and dinner in the dining hall, and a daily lunch delivered to the construction site by the Center staff. We were surprised to learn that Dominican food is not very spicy, it was always very tasty and we especially enjoyed the many types of fresh fruits, vegetables & rice. We also enjoyed many chicken, beef & pork dishes. On a non-working day, team members had fun helping with kitchen duties.

The Center is in a gated compound that has security staff 24 hours, and Sister was very diligent about keeping our team and our possessions secure. We brought a hard-sided, locking suitcase in which team members secured their valuables. Sister Milagros insisted that we secure the suitcase in her room with our heavy bicycle cable and padlock when we were away from the Center.

Some people may want to bring ear plugs to help block out the sounds of traffic, roosters and barking dogs.

Sister Milagros arranged for our clothes to be laundered 3 times during our 2 week stay. Note that it often takes two days for laundry because things tend to dry slowly in the humid climate. The Center mitigates the electricity and water outages that typically hit the city each day by operating a generator as needed. This insured that we had water for showers and electricity at least until 11:00 p.m. each evening. Although there is no hot water, showers were warm enough to be comfortable, especially after a long day of hot work.

Activities during Downtime

The San Francisco de Macoris HFH Committee did a fantastic job sharing their city and culture with us. Highlights included:

We split our team to attend several Sunday services. Committee members took us to their Baptist and Evangelical churches, and the Catholic Center staff took us to the Catholic Cathedral. In each church, team members were introduced and recognized at the end of the service. The HFH Committee stated that they were very happy to get the additional opportunities to promote their affiliate.

One evening a committee member brought his daughters and nieces to the Center to teach us a few of the local dances. The next evening many team members tried them out at a local dance club. A great time was had by all.

We arranged for all the masons to quit work at 4:30 one afternoon to play baseball with our team, the HFH committee members, and many other locals. It was a topic of conversation for many days before and after the game. In addition to helping us get to know the masons, it also helped promote Habitat to the many people who stopped to watch the gringos and masons. We split the teams evenly with women, children, gringos, locals and even a few “ringers” on each team. Some people came to visit the construction site on the days following the game.

A committee member who is a professor at the public university arranged for the team to meet and chat with 4 English classes. Everyone enjoyed the cultural interaction. We would have gladly spent more time talking with the students, and they seemed equally interested. We also were able to use the university computer lab for free Internet access. We also visited the University’s experimental cacao farm and learned how the beans are grown and processed into cocoa from which chocolate is made.

On two evenings we had roundtable discussions with several committee members and potential/future HFH homebuyers. Another evening we chatted with several committee members about the excitement and struggles involved in starting a new HFH affiliate.

One of the most fun and challenging activities was visiting the National Forest in Sendero de las Nubes on Sunday afternoon. After a 25 minute van ride through the mountainous countryside, we hired a guide to escort us on a strenuous hike straight up the 3rd tallest peak in the DR through a rainforest. (Yes, it did rain on us for a while, but it was still great fun – including an occasional slide down in the mud!). Due to time, we were only able to reach the first level (and panting at that!). Including transportation, the cost was only about $10 per person.

San Francisco de Macoris does not have much tourism so there is little in the way of shopping or souvenirs. The team did enjoy occasional trips to shop at La Sirena, a very large warehouse store like Costco, for snacks or to replace items from missing luggage.

We learned that most Dominicans are passionate about dominoes – people have special tables and you find the game played everywhere. Many evenings were spent playing and learning the finer points of strategy with HFH staff and community members.

R&R on the Samaná Peninsula

Cristabel Sosa, the Dominican Republic Global Village contact, referred us to the One to Trip Eventos Company to arrange our 1½ day excursion to Las Terranas, a coastal village about 3 hours from San Francisco. We stayed at the Viva Wyndham Hotel (www.wyndham.com/hotels/POPVS/main.wnt) a 3 star all-inclusive beach resort 6 km out of town. They had a great beach and many free recreational activities such as kayaks, sailboats, windsurfers, volleyball, evening dancing, etc. The all inclusive format gave team members a lot of flexibility within our limited budget. They were also willing to set up a table for our team of 14 in their restaurant.

Eight team members elected to go on an all day (8:30 a.m. to 5:30p.m) excursion to the Los Haitises National Park www.colonialtours.com.do/Englishhaitises.htm – a wonderful spot accessible only by boat. We made arrangements though the hotel hospitality desk, and the outing was conducted by Samana Tours who supplied transportation, lunch, a great English-speaking guide, and 3 additional staff on the boat. The trip included a fun, high speed boat ride, floating among very small beautiful islands filled with many species of birds, visiting 3 caves (2 a short hike on land, 1 by boat), learning about the ecological importance of mangrove forests and then heading to a small island beach for lunch, swimming and souvenir shopping.

A great time was had by all – those who chose to relax at the hotel beach and those who went on the excursion.

Overall, this was another fantastic Global Village experience. For additional information, please see our web site at www.ColumubusGVTeam.com.