Dominican Republic:
El Ramon Community Center “La Esperanza”

Date of Funding: February 2011

In February 2011 the Fund awarded a grant of $6700 to the Association for the Development of San Cristobal in order to complete construction of the second floor of a community center in rural San Cristobal province, Dominican Republic. The center, established in 1994, provides essential social services to El Ramón and surrounding communities. The center’s services include a first-level health clinic, a community library, a technology training center with 10 computers, kindergarten classrooms, and recently added English-language classes. The center had previously received 1% Fund grants for a beekeeping and honey production livelihood project and construction project.

In late 2010, the elementary school near the center was undergoing reconstruction, and over 200 children were accommodated in a partially-constructed conference room at the center. The temporary situation led to the need to provide more permanent facilities not only for classrooms but also for community meetings on health issues including educational video screening, assembly of children during vaccination campaigns, and peace-related conferences and retreats.

Using funds donated by Ambassador Erasmo Lara-Peña, the former Dominican Republic Ambassador to the United Nations, as well as the grant from the 1% Fund, construction was recently completed on the second floor of the community center. Doors and windows, electrical wiring, bathroom, tile floor, stairs and a guardrail were all installed. Within days of completion, the community in conjunction with Centro Dominicano Para La Paz (CEDOPAZ), an NGO under the leadership of Ambassador Lara-Peña, had already held its first event in the newly constructed second floor entitled “First meeting for a culture of peace of the young writers of San Cristobal”.