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This article appeared in The Wharton Journal of the University of Pennsylvania (Fall 1996)

Global Immersion !!!

A different perspective from the mountains of the Dominican Republic

by Michel Deschapelles

For many of us, vacation is a chance to forget about work for a while and perhaps take a trip to some colorful destination in search of rest and relaxation. For others, vacation is an opportunity to seek adventure and challenges while at the same time have a positive impact on the lives of others. This is how I would describe what I did as my vacation for the past four years.

I belong to a group called LIFO (Living Instruments For Others). LIFO is a volunteer group based in Miami, FL that travels annually to the poorest regions of the Dominican Republic. Our mission since 1983 has been to help some of the poorest residents of the island improve their living conditions, education and health.

Every year we raise funds for the purpose of constructing a community project in the Dominican Republic (either an aqueduct or a school). Once a community is determined to have a need for a LIFO project, we then travel to the country and purchase all the materials while preparing ourselves for another adventure. The communities we typically visit for two weeks are located in the mountainous region on the border with Haiti and each consist of about 300+ residents. These people own the poorest land in the country and tend grow what they can (mainly coffee and beans). All of them dream of an opportunity to escape to the city and, if very lucky, to New York (USA).

LIFO offers them the opportunity to improve their community by providing funds ($20,000 is more than they can ever dream of gathering) while they provide much of the manual labor. Our success depends on a well orchestrated effort to organize and motivate the local resident to work for the project and their betterment. What we want to do is to motivate the local residents into taking pride and ownership of their project. It is fascinating to see how the local residents are vitalized by our joint actions and how the community is transformed in just two weeks. Our members, on the other hand, are all young professionals in Miami. However on the trip, we do the manual labor alongside the locals. From building a latrine for sanitation with a pick to mixing cement for a water tank with a shovel.

To date all projects have been very successful. The communities visited in the past years have now been transformed. One of them, La Culata, that traditionally used children for fetching water at a river three hours away, now boasts a running water source and has its children attending school (both the aqueduct and school were LIFO projects). In addition, this community is now revitalized and, although LIFO will visit a different community next year, the residents of La Culata continue to work together in an organized and productive way.

When asked why I find this volunteer activity rewarding, I always answer that it is due to the special combination of teamwork, leadership, charity and growth that I finds in the remote mountains of the Dominican Republic.

Teamwork is the driving force of what makes this grass roots effort successful and able to complete these difficult projects. The great interdependence of the different tasks throughout the various project stages (e.g. planning, funding, logistics, construction, etc.) requires delicate coordination of all the people involved. Specifically, we all quickly learn to assume individual responsibilities and, at the same time, to trust and depend on one another for the completion of the relevant tasks. This teamwork approach is also instilled on the local community residents during the construction phase which serves as a catalyst that helps bring the projects to fruition. Management 652 has been quite helpful here too.

This process inevitably brings out the best leadership qualities in all of us. The delicate and challenging group dynamics requires effective motivation to people over whom you have no authority in order to make this a positive experience. Each individual has specific team responsibilities and is also in charge of helping others complete their respective tasks. I have learned that the most effective form of leadership is by example and not by authority.

The LIFO effort is based on charity, which we all believe to be extremely important. My basic conviction is that these local community residents that we visit are not as fortunate as those of us who live in the United States and hold professional positions. Until you come face to face with the problem of poverty, it does not really hit you. I believe in our responsibility to share our time, effort, skills and resources with those less privileged than ourselves. However, I have learned that the best form of charity is by teaching and motivating local residents to help themselves improve their own living conditions. This has been an extremely rewarding lesson.

The result of this experience has been, and continues to be, my personal growth. I have found that all this giving has come back to me in very subtle but significant ways. Living in the mountains with the poor has made me more caring of others and less materialistic in my daily life. In addition, the experience has helped me develop skills in settings that I could have never imagined. I am now more successful assuming leadership roles within a team environment and in building trust among my peers. Most important, LIFO has further matured my character and made me a more well rounded individual.