This is Mary Archibeque and today I was the Líder del Día along with Kristen Sun. Since the two themes of the day were Working Like a Local and Global Business, we visited two places: a farm that grows a variety of crops, and Natura Fields, a global agribusiness that exports its products to the U.S. Alberto Quezada, the owner of the farm, gave us all a chance to experience what it was like to work in the fields planting corn, onions, and even picking cucumbers. Going out and doing this labor really opened my eyes and taught me exactly where and how we get our typical produce. Angeli, an assistant administrator at Natura Fields, showed us the process of cleaning and packaging the harvest. Getting to see this process was super interesting because I never realized the amount of effort it takes to get these foods to our grocery stores. What really inspired me was the workers we got to meet and see because after hearing how much they’re paid per day (roughly $6-9 U.S. dollars) and experiencing their daily labor, I was amazed at how they continue to work as hard as they do every day. After today, my appreciation for the agricultural business and local produce will only grow stronger. And remember, ALWAYS wash your produce thoroughly because these farms use a ridiculous amount of pesticides!!! 🙂 (Hi Mom & Dad!! Love and miss you)

This is Kristen Sun, the other Líder del Día. Today, we experienced all the work put into the process of producing and exporting food. As the agricultural capital of a country with amazing food (“I say Man, you say gú! Mangú!”). From the balcony of our hotel, we can see the beautiful green mountains behind the lively town of Constanza. Today, we travelled to the fields by the mountains to experience the work of the locals. Through planting cebollas (onions) in the greenhouses, planting maíz (corn) in the mud, and picking prickly pepinos (cucumbers) off vines, every one of us was humbled by the difficulty of the work of the farmers. As we only worked for a few hours in different parts of the field, we were even more humbled by the fact that the farmers worked for over 8 hours every day, only earning 9 USD (400 DR pesos) each day. While exploring the city during our free time today, we figured that one day’s work could only pay for a few snacks at the supermercado (supermarket). This allowed us to see the privilege that we have as teens in the U.S. with fairer wages and less demanding work. We became aware of the work put into picking each vegetable and fruit that we eat and how little of what we paid for it actually goes back to the people who worked the hardest and needed it most. We then visited the next step: cleaning and packing the produce. Following every step of the cucumber cleaning process, from the initial inspection to its export to New York, we saw the large impact that consumerism in the U.S. has on packing companies in Constanza. As consumers, we unconsciously look for the vegetable with the brightest color and the fruit with the cleanest appearance. This causes Natura Fields, the packing company, to reject about 5,000 cucumbers per producer per day. These perfectly good cucumbers just didn’t follow the standards of a beautiful cucumber that we would buy in the markets., hurting the local producers and community. Seeing these processes allowed us to experience and understand the reality of hardships in the working world of developing countries like the Dominican Republic, and the struggles its citizens have to go through while we, in the U.S., rarely think twice about picking a perfectly round orange off the beautifully stacked shelf at the supermarket.

We ended the day with a special birthday celebration for Hugo. We (Kristen and Mary) went to a local supermarket with Liz and Heather and bought a few balloons, noise makers, and party hats for a small surprise party after dinner, while our generous GG Leaders and program coordinators bought a cake for him from another local shop called Punto de Nieve. The excitement of the group in celebrating Hugo’s birthday showed not only our care for Hugo but our growing love for each other.