January 5, 2015

Photo of Dominican homes
Photo Credit: Kirstie Geier 

Kirstie: Due to our evolving schedule, we were able to venture upon our overnight expedition early in the week. Luckily, our excursion was to the wonderful, eco-friendly Caño Hondo. During the long, bumpy, four-hour trek to this glorious resort, we were able to see many areas of the Dominican Republic. We passed various styles of homes as we traveled through rural and urbanized neighborhoods. The trip to Caño Hondo provided us with an eye-opening experience to the true poverty that many Dominican people suffer. The places that many Dominicans considered their homes would be characterized as a shack due to their unsteady and incomplete structure. They also lacked sufficient space for the individuals living there. These homes are not safe structures due to their instability and open-concept. They are easily collapsible in a rainstorm and their open style allows the entry of many insects such as mosquitoes, which can carry dengue or malaria, a harmful disease to human health. In the urbanized, poor areas the people lived in close proximity to one another and the homes were strikingly small. This could lead to the sharing and spreading of harmful diseases and illnesses.

Dominican man traveling by donkey
Photo Credit: Kirstie Geier 

These homes also do not have running water and hinder the family’s access to clean water, which has negative effects on their health. They have a greater chance of contracting an illness related to dirty water like cholera. Also, in the more rural areas I noticed that their main form of transportation was by horse or donkey. The presence of cars was minimal. From a health perspective, these individuals have no easy or quick way to transport to a hospital or clinic. Especially in the case of an emergency, these people would struggle greatly to obtain the medical attention they needed. It is clearly evident that the vast amounts of poverty in this country hinder the people in many ways, especially in regards to healthcare.

Picture of the water from inside the cave
Photo credit: Crystal Croom

The group on our hike!
Photo Credit: Crystal Croom

Crystal: Today we were told that we would be going on a hike and visiting a few caves that contributed to the beauty of Caño Hondo. The hike was described as moderate, and would be about a 1.5 miles. As we started our hike, we immediately realized that the trail would be muddy and slippery because it rained the previous evening. The unstable ground beneath us greatly added to the difficulty of the hike, as many of chose our steps wisely to avoid falling in the mud. In the beginning of the trail we passed a lot of cows, some were caged and other were out roaming around. Soon after the start of our hike, our guide informed our group that we would be entering the forest area and to take note of differences the forest encompassed from the area we just left. The first noticeable difference was the decrease in temperature due to the shade provided by the trees. Also, the forest contained more hills for us to climb. Throughout the duration of the hike many of us slipped or needed a break to catch our breath! By the end of the hike, we had determined it was actually 4 miles long! I believe that the Dominicans’ labeled this hike as moderate because of their active life-styles. On the other hand, Americans, such as ourselves, would have rated this trail to be more challenging and rigorous, due to our reliance on transportation and less active-lifestyles. The active-lifestyles of the Dominican people can positively affect their health, especially in regards to the cardiovascular system. As the hike ended our tour of three beautiful caves began. Each cave was completely different from the others. The first one was more open to the sky but you had to walk through many crevasses. The second cave was enormous and contained many cave drawing that had stories and meanings behind them. In the third cave there were different sections and there were pools of water that gave the setting a peaceful tone.

Pictographs on the walls of the cave
Photo Credit: Rose Kalala

Robinson starting the fire
Photo credit: Crystal Croom

Explanation of the pictographs
Photo Credit: Rose Kalala

Rose: At the end of our tiring hike, we took a boat to two different caves. The first was called “Cueva de la Linea” and here we got to see several, centuries-old pictographs painted on the walls of the cave. Our guide explained each one and their significance, which was very interesting to hear as we examined each, almost faded, drawing. The resort utilizes one of the drawings for its logo, as it means “welcome.” These caves were really amazing to experience because they have been there for many years, hold so much history, and still influence the lives of people today. Another aspect that I found very interesting during our first day at the resort was that fact that it is extremely eco-friendly, on the surface, with limited hot water, recycled natural material to construct the buildings, and a natural pool, yet we noticed many unnatural practices. For example, that night we had a bonfire and one of Cano Hondo’s employees started it for us. To start the fire, he used oil (probably old cooking oil) and styrofoam and plastic cups...not very eco-friendly if you ask me. This shocked non-eco-friendly practice shocked many of us students as it was directly against the resorts motto. Their eco-friendly practices can have great benefits for the environment of the D.R. as well as positive health outcomes for many. Unfortunately, the behavior we witnessed at the bonfire was not safe or eco-friendly and could cause harm to the environment and thus, this negatively effects the health of the Dominican people.