This category is for Humboldt State University's summer immersion in Appropriate Technology and Spanish taking place in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We are a group of U.S. and Dominican students working together with various community members to co-create sustainable solutions. You can see more program details or see projects from past summers at HSU Chiapas and HSU Parras.

Summary[edit | edit source]

In the summer of 2011, students studied appropriate technology and Spanish while working with community members of La Yuca to build a schoolroom from plastic bottles and concrete, lit with solar and homemade wind power from bike parts and newspaper press waste, that catches its own rainwater for cleaning and drinking.

• Prezi on Practivistas Dominicana 2011

In the summer of 2012, students returned to Santo Domingo to continue our learning and community collaboration. Students worked with community members of La Yuca to make the renewable energy system from bike parts and newspaper press waste more hurricane safe and durable, and to make the rainwater catchment more potable and tested. In addition, students worked in Las Malvinas II to build a classroom from plastic bottles, concrete, sawdust, papercrete and industrial wood waste for 25 young students.

In the summer of 2013, students returned again to Santo Domingo. Students and community members worked together to design and construct:

• Rainwater catchment for all the water needs of an urban school (La Yuca rainwater catchment 2013) and a rural community center (Las Malvinas rainwater catchment system).
• Solar power for lighting an urban schoolroom (La Yuca) and an off-grid stray animal shelter (Ghetto2Garden solar power).
• Natural plaster from clay, sand and flour, and other improvements to an urban schoolroom we built from plastic bottles in 2011 (La Yuca schoolroom renovation).
• A rural public pharmacy (Las Malvinas) made from plastic bottles (Las Malvinas botica popular ecoladrillo 2013) and blocks made of rice husks, rice husk ash, lime, cement, and sand (Las Malvinas botica popular hullkrete 2013).

In 2014, we continued working with the communities of La Yuca and Las Malvinas in addition to a new partner community Arroyo Norte. Together, the following projects were designed and constructed:

• Prototypes for a sustainably constructed market using materials from a city landfill located near the community (Arroyo Norte sustainable market materials)
• Rainwater catchment system for the previous year's botica popular (Las Malvinas Rainwater 2014), a feasibility study for a large-scale rainwater catchment system (Las Malvinas Feasibility 2014), and an update for the rainwater system on the schoolroom (La Yuca rainwater 2014)
• A bamboo and billboard shade structure for a community center (Las Malvinas community center shade)
• Fiber-crete block prototypes (Hullkrete and fiber-crete)
• A design and foundation for a community police station (Las Malvinas destacamento)
• Solar power system for an animal shelter (Ghetto2Garden renewable energy 2014) and an updated solar system for the schoolroom (La Yuca renewable energy 2014)

Some past press:

• TreeHugger article on the 2012 projects
• Spanish article from UNIBE
• Spanish article from Gikplus
• Article in Humboldt Now
• InHabitat article on the Ghetto2Garden renewable energy system

This program is open to all skill levels, but does require some ability to do manual work and move around. Expect to work hard, learn a bunch, build lasting projects and friendships. See Practivistas Dominicana Program invitation for more.