Volunteer program aims to preserve Yuna River basin

Bonao, DR.– The National Institute for Technical and Professional Training (INFOTEP), together with the Popular Foundation, have initiated talks to create a volunteer program to support communities in the upper basin of the Yuna River, in the Loma de Blanco area of Bonao.

The proposal was made during a meeting with representatives of the Federation of Farmers Towards Progress, which groups together residents of the Loma de Blanco area. The provincial governor, representatives of the Agricultural Bank, and the ministries of Economy, Planning and Development, and Tourism also participated.

Rafael Santos Badía, INFOTEP’s director general, explained that the aim is to join forces with other state institutions and companies to train and educate people in the community so that they can develop without leaving the area, improving their family economy and, above all, protecting the basin that gives rise to the Yuna River.

“INFOTEP has entered a line of work with the people, in coordination with the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development, which has three lines: to bring development to where people live; that development cannot be a personal adventure, but a public policy; and empowerment for the citizen,” said Santos Badía.

Elías Dinzey, the general manager of the Popular Foundation, said that the institution has been contributing and making efforts for inclusive and sustainable community development in Blanco for ten years, so he welcomes the initiative presented by Rafael Santos Badía to create the volunteer program.

“The more economic opportunities we can bring here, the more opportunities for development and entrepreneurship for young people, the more we can boost the ecotourism business and the more people we can lift out of poverty, the greater the possibility we will have to preserve this basin, for today and for the future of generations to come,” Dinzey affirmed.

The initiative includes the creation of an agroecological school so that farmers can acquire the necessary knowledge to develop agricultural work with an ecological orientation.

Esteban Polanco, president of the Federation of Farmers Towards Progress, said that with the agroecological school, a new page is being written for the mountain farmers.

“For us, it is one more step towards the great dream that the farmers of this mountain have always had, to have and count on an agroecological school that allows us to build capacities, to respond to the needs and problems not only of the mountain but also of the producers who benefit from the waters that are born here,” Polanco affirmed.

The provincial governor, Adela Tejada Gil, the general administrator of the Agricultural Bank, Fernando Antonio Durán, the vice-ministers of the ministries of Tourism and Economy, Planning and Development, Carlos Andrés Peguero and Domingo Matías, respectively, and the president of the Board of Directors and coordinator of the EGEHID Social Cabinet, Rosa Ruiz, welcomed the volunteer initiative for its importance to the country.

“As a government, we are willing to work at this table, responsibly, especially because the president is following Monseñor Nouel very closely and what has been happening with the waters here in the province, so this is not a matter of rhetoric, this is something that we have a responsibility to help solve,” said Tejada Gil.

The general administrator of the Agricultural Bank, for his part, assumed the commitment to promote actions with rice producers so that they can get involved in the volunteer program, in addition to studying other options from which the institution can collaborate.

“The issue of water and sustainability is very important, so it will be a great experience, we want to put tourists in contact with this nature,” Peguero expressed.

“We can contribute to this project, when you come here you see that the effort is worth it, since this area can be a national and international reference,” Matías said.

They explained that within the powers of their institutions there are actions that can be activated to implement them in the entire project of preserving the basin, and that benefit the people who live in the community, so they will inform their respective ministers to start as soon as possible.

Rosa Ruiz, president of the EGEHID Board of Directors, assumed the commitment to be part of the volunteer program and support the initiatives that arise.

“Water is the raison d’être of our institution, not only to generate energy, but to generate life and that life has to come hand in hand with the environment, with the quality of life of people and education and training,” Ruiz indicated.

In October 2023, the Popular Foundation, the National Institute for Technical and Professional Training (INFOTEP), and the Federation of Farmers Towards Progress signed a collaboration agreement to offer technical and professional training to the rural population residing in the Loma de Blanco community, Bonao, Monseñor Nouel.