June 14, 2003 - Front Porch Fredericksburg: Benjamin Peck, a MWC grad, is back on-line in the Dominican Republic, where he serves in the Peace Corps

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Dominican Republic: Peace Corps Dominican Republic : The Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic: June 14, 2003 - Front Porch Fredericksburg: Benjamin Peck, a MWC grad, is back on-line in the Dominican Republic, where he serves in the Peace Corps

By Admin1 (admin) on Saturday, June 14, 2003 - 6:28 pm: Edit Post

Benjamin Peck, a MWC grad, is back on-line in the Dominican Republic, where he serves in the Peace Corps



Benjamin Peck, a MWC grad, is back on-line in the Dominican Republic, where he serves in the Peace Corps

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Benjamin Peck

I recently had one of my usual enlightening conversations with a very close friend, Pedro. Pedro has many insights into the Third World that are difficult for a foreigner to understand. We were sitting at his house and I pointed to a several-acre blaze on the mountains of the Cordillera Central to the north of my community. I expressed my opinions on slash and burn practices in the mountains and rain forests, and the axes of the charcoal industry. Pedro looked at me and said, "Benjamin, what other option do we have?" I looked back with a blank expression and couldn't answer.

When I arrived in the DR in October 2001, the peso was 16 to the dollar, a gallon of propane cooking gas was 11 pesos, a gallon of gasoline was 32. Now the price of the dollar is 25 pesos, the gallon of propane at 28, and the gallon of gasoline at 49; the price of electricity has increased 130% also.

Fifteen years ago under the administration of President Joaquin Balaguer, a subsidy was put into place for propane cooking gas. At that point in time the price of gas had risen and the charcoalers were stepping up production and rapidly deforesting entire mountains to meet the demand. "Now we can see the charcoal trucks on the highways again and our mountains again being stripped of trees," said Pedro. When people cannot afford propane gas, they switch to charcoal to burn under their cooking pots, and then plain firewood. Last year, the current president, Hipolito Mejia, removed the subsidy on propane gas and the price has skyrocketed along with everything else.

The cries from around the world come from comfortable homes with constant electricity, natural gas brought to the stove through a pipe with a bill coming at the end of the month, two cars out front and kids who are in school, not in the field. We cry from our SUVs, yell from our cell phones, form web pages from our high-speed computers, to tell the Third World to stop its slash and burn practices, preserve the trees, keep the mountains forested. If not, we say, the ozone layer will be depleted, carbon dioxide levels rise, and polar ice caps melt.

But, what other choice does Pedro have to meet his first concern -- feeding his family? How can Pedro stop using charcoal? That's easy, buy propane. How will he get money? That's easy, work. Ok, Pedro is a carpenter, he can make furniture, doors, windows, etc. Who will Pedro sell them to? That's easy, too, the town. Well, folks... the rest of the town is in the same situation as Pedro, watching mountains burn and trees fall, while buying charcoal to cook dinner.

They all prefer a forested mountain to a naked one. They all know what happened to their neighbor, Haiti. It is a deforested mess. But what will they eat and how will they cook it in the short term? Would you choose the life of a tree over the life of your family? Let's be more understanding and less quick to criticize. Let?s find a sustainable alternative... I see by your blank expression that it's not so easy, is it?

Benjamin Peck, a MWC grad



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Story Source: Front Porch Fredericksburg

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Dominican Republic

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