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Because of the poverty and political situations in Haiti, many Haitians immigrate illegally
to Dominican Republic - immigrating usually means walking hundreds of miles over the
mountains, or saving up enough money to pay someone to smuggle them across the
border. But, once they’re in DR, they have no legal status, no access to government
health care or education, and because of the racism that exists between Dominicans
and Haitians, the only jobs that they can usually get are low wage labour… or if they
can’t get that… the garbage dumps.
There was one little boy in the garbage dump this summer that changed my life. His name
was Roberto. My friends and I found Roberto rummaging through a pile of garbage, away
from the rest of the group. Through Spanish and some broken French (thank God for those
years of French immersion!), he was able to communicate to us that he was looking for
aluminum pop cans. The four of us started to help him search for them, in mounds of
garbage under sweltering heat. After 20 minutes, I’d found two myself, and the rest of them
had found five or six. Roberto gave us each a huge smile every time we put a can in his
sack… and I asked him how much money he’d get once it was full. He said it was 4 pesos,
which is around 12 cents Canadian. We tried to find as many cans as we could after that.
I wanted to give him all the pesos I had with me, but I knew that would have taken away
the dignity of his work. I also knew that returning to help his community, and showing him
that some gringos from across the world cared about him, was much more valuable than
throwing some money at his immediate situation.
Roberto deserves to live in a country where he’s a legal citizen who can go to school
instead of working in a garbage dump. He deserves to have access to health care and
proper nutrition. He deserves to grow up and get married in a recognized ceremony, and
to someday pass these same rights on to his own children.
In short, Roberto deserves everything that you and I take for granted. But, because he’s
a refugee, Roberto will still be there, sweating in that garbage dump, until someone cares
enough to do something about it.
- Cindy Stover - Absolute Leadership Development
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