Trash solution for Cabarete and Sosua

[heldengebroed]

Littre can be recycled. I've seen a programme once on Mexicocity where they tackled the same problem and got a profitable business out of it.
recycling cans for thier aluminium
plasticks to make street furniture and other things from
glas for glas
even drink cartons with a state of the art recycling of plastics/aluminium and cartboard
and the rest was composted

I realy was impressed and they worked by local "suppliers" that collected and sold the littre

Maybe someone can look into this

Greetings

Johan

[Keith R]

There's a ton of things that can be done with recyclables -- including constructing cheap but durable and attractive houses, buildings, bus stops and cisternas. I recently blogged on just this issue -- the entry on award-winning efforts of this nature in Honduras at this post, and his essay (in Spanish) on lessons on how to do so successfully at this post. If they can do it in poor communities in Honduras, they certainly can do it in the DR. Maybe someone can invite Andreas to come to the North Coast and demonstrate how to make such things. Reportedly such demonstrations of how recyclables can be used have a huge impact on local folk, especially the school kids that helped him build the cistern. Just a thought...

[jackieboo]

For those of you that would like to vote on the name of our project please follow the link below.

Environmental Responsibility in the DR

NALs has set the voting up for 1 month however I hope to have results within the next week.

Please vote and keep the comments comming!

[CFA123]

Jackieboo,
Long post, I apologize in advance.

First, I missed it if you've said so before now... do you plan to pay your 'leaders'? Not sure what others think, but I'd suggest some renumeration to keep them involved and focused. If this is going to be more than a one time effort, you'll want a consistent team leading this.

Now, I'm going to be very presumptious and offer some gringo advice for managing/supervising a Dominican workforce. The techniques play well anywhere, but in DR I found this to be critical if you didn't want to end up doing it yourself.

I'd rather do this over a Presidente or three, but DR1's going to have to do for now.

Essentially these are the steps I followed successfully over and over again.
Allow more time to accomplish this than you normally might. Instead of one meeting, perhaps take a 1 or 2 day break after step #1.
1. State the problem/challenge/assignment to your people
2. Get the team's ideas after they have time to think about it. You'll be surprised at the silliness of some ideas and floored by the brilliance of others.
3. Play the 'sounds good, but what if we...' game (time to give YOUR ideas)
4. Establish plan that's a hybrid of everyone's best ideas
5. Assign responsibilities
6. Follow up, follow up, follow up.

--------------------

As for follow up, that's different in DR than, say, in the U.S.
Follow up in DR means:
1. reminding the day before that they have something to do the next day
2. having them re-state to you what they're going to do and how
3. making sure they have transportation, don't have school, whatever
4. making sure they started their task and weren't sidetracked
5. reviewing what was done, asking questions, and listening with a sixth sense for anything that sounds odd.
6. be prepared to ask key questions several times. you'll be amazed how you can ask the same question 3 different ways and finally get a different (and correct) response the 3rd time around

------------

I'll operate under the assumption you'll take Rocky's suggestion to get a Dominican leader(s) for the project. I'd highly recommend you do this so that you can utilize their ability to motivate other Dominicans to participate.

1. Set up an interview with the potential leaders. Explain to them the concept and get their initial thoughts. Try not to relay too many of your own ideas of how to accomplish the task. Then suggest they think about it and you meet again in a couple of days to hear their ideas.
2. See if they show up in a couple of days. That's your first indication of their desire to participate. They don't show up? Look for new people.
3. If they pass the 'showing up' test, listen to their ideas. In my experience you're likely to get some really off the wall or ineffective ideas. However, it's a good chance to learn how they & other Dominicans will be thinking about this. Also, you're likely to be able to pick out a few real gems in terms of how to make this successful.
4. Then, do the "Well, what if we did blah, blah, blah..." speech. Give them your ideas and guage the reaction. Sometimes you get total agreement verbally but subtle cues that they don't really agree. When you sense this, ask & let them know it's okay to disagree with you.
5. After the above, you should be starting to get a feel for whether you have the right people to help you.
6. Be prepared for the eventuality (likelihood?) that your initial judgement of the 'right person(s)' may turn out to be wrong. That's normal.

Ultimately you'll find someone or a team that is as sharp as anywhere in the world and willing to work very hard. That's when the fun really begins because you'll get a lot done and learn about how to get things done in DR.

[Lambada]

I think that is excellent advice from CFA & very clearly put.

[jackieboo]

Just a quick update.

Today is December 11, 2006 and as of this morning we have $83,200RD pledged!

Thank you for your continued support and suggestions, please keep them comming as they are very helpful.

I thought I'd take a moment to detail our immidiate agenda.

1. Naming - The naming process will be decided by: December 18, 2006
We are waiting until everyone has had a chance to vote.

2. Interview local 'front men' - We WILL be turning this project over to a select number of local Dominicans. At this time we'll make suggestions as to our name choices and present our ideas. It is possible they will want to change the name of the organization to better relate our goals to the local population and if that is the case we are open to their suggestions.

3. Logo - After the name is decided we will design a logo.

4. Website - Get it up and running.

5. Promotional material - After we have our name and logo we'll put together a promotional leaflet in English and Spanish that will be taken to local business' in Cabarete and Sosua to gauge local support and to raise money.

6. Funding - Depending on the level of commitment we receive from the local community (business' and personal contrabutions) a general meeting will be called and we will offically organize our association.

7. Meeting - At the first meeting we'll need volunteers for our 'board'. Those interested please PM me ASAP.

8. Action - We'll go in to action. Begin our first project, hopefully get our advertising banners in place, buy trash bins, hire a trash collector and .....

From here the possibilities are endless.

We just need to get over the initial organization hump and make sure we do it the 'right' way, the first time.

I do want to make one thing clear. At NO time will the funds of this project be turned over to our local associates. It is not a trust issue it is a management issue.

The ultimate goal will be to have the Dominicans running the project, however they will need to be taught how to put together a budget, how to negociate contracts for subcontractors, submit payment requests and most important how to manage their budget.

I want all of you to know that I am looking at this project in the long term and to make that a reality I (we) need your help. Not just your money, but your contacts, your ideas or whatever you have to contribute.

Please contact me with any suggestions or questions.

Peace to all.

Jack

[Rocky]

Sounds pretty good, Jackieboo,
May I suggest you look at young ladies still in school, be it high school or university.
There are a ton of reasons why, which I would prefer not posting here, but I am 100% confident you would get more results with them.

[Don Juan]

Doubtless, you'll need other people to form the "core" of this project. Obviously they, (others) will need to reside or plan on a long-term stay in the north coast to effectively "get the ball rolling" and overcome the inertia inherent in most undertaking of this magnitude/significance.
Who's there in person to help you?... Who'll comprise the "Board"?

I'm assuming this is NOT a one-shot deal whereas we'll spend a few days pushing hard and then let momentum carry it further on its own. Eh?

How long do you estimate this project will take to fruition?...Please don't say: "as long as it takes". This a ? that needs to be addressed in order to efficiently and successfully accomplish our goal; in other words, a timetable/schedule.

Once the pledged $$$ is received and spent, what then? Will the Board solicit more funds from those that already contributed and others? Do you have a plan in mind to perpetuate a cash flow?....The reason I ask is because It stands to reason that investing some of the receipts into something like illustrated "T" shirts, can be a lucrative and permanent source of cash for this venture. You can "copyright" them, if that's possible, and have a monopoly on the "green putsch for sanitation". This is a possibility that should get some consideration.... Perhaps other enterprising posters can come up with a more plausible idea for accumulating cash for the cause... In any case, this alternative merits some looking-into, methinks.
One of these years, I'd love to bring my family over there and buy shirts (for everyone) that supports this noble mission!

Please excuse the pointed questions. No sarcasm or off-putting meant or implied.

[Snuffy]

North Coast CleanUp Association

I had written out a nice argument as to why this should be the name....but the evil Verizon locked up on me and it never was able to post and suddenly just was gone. But quickly. Where and What...needs to be clear to both Expats and Dominicans. As someone said...how many doms know what green means in this context.

[vince1956]

Have you asked brugal and presidente to get involved, they have lorry.s to put your add on, and maybe they could give you some money ,or the coke cola firm ,can you not get your add put on the trash lorry,s instead of the presidente name, there a lot of room on the side of the trash lorry