Pico Duarte Peace

There's a new kind of Peace I explored last week.

Caribbean tourism commercials present this island of Hispanola as a place of white sand beaches, sexy women, and you and your friends and family relaxed sipping of mango smoothies. Well, maybe that´s true for the foreigner´s 4 day stay at an expensive resort, but inland a new form of tourism is taking shape.

They call it summiting the Caribbean's tallest peak, (Pico Duarte, 10,000ft). I call it loosing yourself in a forest of serenity and spirituality.

Here´s Day 1´s journal entry:
I woke up to bathe in the steam. It felt refreshing again after last night´s skinny dip with Justin and and college buddy Dan. Mangos and hot chcolate were for breakfast at 7am. Life is tought when it's sweet. Last night's stay in the visitor center was enjoyable with the 6 of us wraped up in our sleeping bags on the white tiled floor. I was impressed with the facilities at this recently build visitor center and hope that more eco-tourists will be able to take advantage of them. The hike today was up and down ending at a nice caseta in las Garacuas. Plenty of climb and plenty of decending, however, perhaps most exciting was the furious rain storm after lunch that got the best us as even this very journal is soaked with water. The trail turned into a tomato juice stream and our shoes became sponges absorbing the rich, red colored water with each step. It's pretty clear to see how important plants and roots are to maintaining to soil intact and avoiding erosion.

I will never forget the lightening that struck overhead causing me to duck in fear of being struck. Fortunately we summited our final ridge of the day and the storm moved on echoing through the different river basins of Jose Armando Bermudez National Park. Mata Grande, our starting point for this 5 day terk, is still not far off. The rivers here are absolutely beautiful and clear. They are where the life of this country begins. I am thankful to the Golub family for inviting me on this trip. Tonight we are eating dominican style rice and beans courtesy of Tono and Jeraldo, our guides. I am sure I shall not be let down. I will dry out ferom the down pour and sleep well. 18 kilometers today, wet, well fed... we're just breaking in the hike!

Below is a photo unrelated to the hike, but nonetheless with college friend Dan Golub. We're enjoying some post race smiles with a really friendly Dominican runner named, Nelson Mandela (who knows the connection?)

Tag You're It

My Peace Corps experience in the Dominincan Republic has been nothing short of fun play ground activity, including TAG until the sun shines no more. They call me a Environamental Comunity Development Promoter, but really I create adventures with youth, running around with the wheel barrow picking up litter and transforming banana peals and cow manure into fresh compost for our backyard gardens. The big project for this summer is creating compost bins for neighbors to share in depositing their organic waste. With organic waste (leaves, mango peals, burnt rice...) we can create good soil and with good soil we can create gardens. We'll see how the experiment goes. However, before that a few kids in my barrio want to get colorful and paint a world map mural at their school. We'll see if we can keep the paint in the can.

So, what I´ve learned in all this play is that PATIENCE gets things done. When I attempt something alone I realize it is not sustainable because no one else in the small barrio of Ojo de Aguas is learning how to serve their community. It´s not about getting 10 packets of free vegetable seeds from the Department of Agriculture, nor is it about planting trees just because, but it´s about empowering others who haven´t been presented with such opportunities. I find the Peace Corps experience is most exhilarating when I am listening, Thus I realize I am often learning more about myself and my own habits than maybe imparting ideas upon my community. The other day I learned to sow recycled rice sacks together to create an impenatrable fence around our garden keeping the wandering chicken from eating the cilantro and lettuce. Choco and Josue also taught me that it is also possible to construct a sand lot style basketball hoop from rebar, bolts, and a tree alongside the road. It is so fun to see imagination come to life.

In the end I spend much of my day developing relationships and just trying to be a role model to many boys and young men who don´t have fathers, nor a vison of what they want to do when they grow up. So for now we play and I learn. One more year and we´ll be like actual brothers.

Take a visit to another country and listen to the peoples stories. You will learn so much about yourself.

Peace,
Jared Oubre

P.S. And added plus: Dan Golub (Williams ´08) is also here in the country with me serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I couldn´t be more lucky to have a great Williams' buddy, runner, and fun dude along on the journey. Next week we're headed to the top of the Caribbeans tallest mountain, Pico Duarte (10,000 ft), with Dan´s parents. God is good!