On politics, palaces and McDonalds

¡Buenos días!

I love politics. From knocking on doors in support of a candidate I love to reading about the laws passed in my home state of Idaho and in the capital DC, I eat up what most people scorn, mock and complain about. That part of me hasn't gone away, but I haven't had the opportunities to get my fingers wet in the pool of Dominican politics just yet. Until now! 

Last week I got a confusing phone call from the mayor of my town and some political bigwig from the capital inviting me to a meeting about promoting volunteerism in our town. I went to the meeting with my mayor and a few other youth and suddenly I had signed myself up to be the "consultant" for a trip to the capital for a national youth leadership conference with 75 youth from towns along the Haitian/Dominican border. 

he conference was organized by the Director of the Border, a politician from my town of Manzanillo and the idea was to train young leaders and unify a national organization of volunteers who will strengthen the border with talent and community service. Why? The seven provinces along the border are the poorest and least invested in area in the country. Additionally, there is a large migration of youth away from the border, and those who are left behind are largely uneducated, illiterate, and poor. Supposedly this conference will be part of the solution to keep smart and engaged youth in their hometown. 

In three days, we visited the Supreme Court, DR Congress, attended panels with Senators and other elected officials, and toured the National Palace. For some youth, these were the first three days they had ever spent in the capital, and for some the first time they had left their small campo. They were snapping pics left and right and doe-eyed with all the "important" things we saw. It was really moving to experience this "big deal" with Dominican youth who rarely (if ever) have opportunities like this. I was impressed. But for a conference run by the government, it was surprisingly unorganized. There was no agenda, things just started when they started and ended when we got through the guest presentations. There was a camera man following us around all week and the director of the conference explained it was to show "the wonderful work of our government" (aka propaganda materials). We also prayed a lot and although I understand there is no separation of church and state here like in the US, it was incredible to see how much religion infiltrates and affects government. By far the best/randomest part of the trip was the free McDonalds they gave us at the end of our tour of the National Palace that some kids exclaimed "only the government could afford to give us McDonalds!" 

But now, how do we take back all the information we learned over three days? Engaging youth in Manzanillo and trying to promote "volunteerism" isn't something that's very cool or popular or even heard of. In a developing country where the majority of youth are married with children by age 20, it's hard to promote and excite them about helping their communities. What's in it for them? 

I've been reflecting a lot on where the drive to serve comes from. How did I get it? Why don't others have it? By no means have a conducted thorough research in this area, but I do know volunteering isn't entirely selfless. I started volunteering when I was 13, first for political campaigns and soup kitchens and then for youth projects and community cleanups. I don't know why I first thought to get involved (I think because my now mentor/close friend/ex-State Rep. Wendy Jaquet asked me) but part of me continued because people told me it would help me in the future. What kind of future, I didn't know, but I knew that I had some kind of future to get to. I can't lie and tell you a part of me didn't keep doing community service for the recognition it seemed to bring in the form of compliments, awards and prestige and the promise of "getting into college." But why did I keep doing it in college and to start my career which I suspect will include many more years of service? 

I still don't quite know, but I do know that if I've never finished high school, have two kids, will most likely never go to college, live with my mom, look for money from older men, and have low self-esteem, of course I would rather be drinking on a Friday night than planting a tree for some vision of a healthier planet I can barely grasp. And if I'm a high school student from a poor family without resources to send me to college and my parents are largely absent in raising me or call me stupid often, where will I find the motivation to do anything but escape my misery in socializing with my peers on Facebook? The answer is you wouldn't. But does encouraging and empowering youth make the difference, does telling them enough times that they have a future and can go to university, start a career, and go big places help? I hope so, cause inspiring and empowering seems to be 50% of my job! 

So volunteering doesn't happen much here, but where do the people who do help get their passion for service? In my town of 9000, I certainly don't know everyone, but I pretty much know everyone who attends community meetings, organizes parades for Independence Day, solicits donations to provide backpacks and toothbrushes to school children, motivates others to help plant trees or clean the beach and serves Manzanillo in various ways. Sadly, the people who participate can be counted on two hands. 

I don't have enough evidence to say if this situation in my town is unique because many other volunteers have been very successful with their projects and have communities where everyone participates. But I'm stuck. With attendance in my groups seriously dropping, youth making excuses for not participating, women unengaged to become health promoters, and my past two project partners shirking on their responsibilities, there is little I can do as a single person to motivate an entire population. So that's why I was so excited for this conference in the capital. I believe that with new tools and help from youth who attended, we will be able to work together to strengthen the network of volunteers that already exist and use them to help me motivate and organize a project or two in my own community. I just hope that somewhere and somehow I can find where the drive to serve ones community comes from and inject a healthy dose of it into Manzanillo.

Thanks to all of you who've encouraged me to keep serving others, I wouldn't be on this path, wherever it leads, without your support!

Xoxox, 

B