One has to clearly understand the definition of child labour vs. the definition of a 'child' in general as well the principle of 'learning by doing'. The high quality labour force for which Europe is famous in general is based on 3 principles. One of the most important principle is that in average a 'child' at 14 is considered a 'semi mature & responsible adult', - in other terms a 'youth'. In Europe with its high demands on academics, a student who cannot live up to the standards of these academics are after grade 9 steered into the apprenticeship system. Every blue colour profession, from small businesses as bakers, butchers and hairdressers to large companies as manufacturers, and other industries have to abide by the apprenticeship system. This means that a certain percentage of their labour force is to be students who will receive an education in their respective chosen discipline. The education authorities have the checks and balances in place that the youth is receiving an education and is not a cheap form of child labour. Also the apprentice does 'produce' products and services within this system, the way things are taught, the tasks performed etc. are all part and parcel of a well thought out process to teach the student the principles of his future profession. Only 'Masters' are permitted to teach. This is a blue colour title for a person with a set amount of experience and years in his profession and a competency to actually have the total know how concerning this profession. Only 'masters' are actually permitted to own businesses. Masters in this sense have the same legal responsibilities as one expects from engineers, doctors, lawyers, pilots etc. and they will be held accountable for their mistakes. - In a rather less glorious example: A 'butcher' is someone who just snuffs out the life of an animal, or guts it or skins it. A Master however knows besides the killing of the creature all aspects of hygienic food processing, is totally aware of the health regulations, the processing of meat delicacies etc. Therefore the local farmer who butchers part of his own livestock for his own consumption as most farmer do, and is maybe quite skilled in the task, cannot be compared to a master butcher, nor could he change profession and open his own butcher shop.

          Europeans take great pride in their 'profession', what ever this profession may be. It is their skill they are proud of and the mastering of all aspects of their profession. This concept is kind of absent in North America. One has to understand, that North America is an 'immigrant country'. What ever is lacking on professionals of a given discipline is simply 'imported' via preferred immigration quotas for this given profession. One has to understand that in Europe, a HIGH school is a trade specific institution; it is not for most parts a 'general' educational institution. Usually the humanistic schools or 'Gymnasiums' are generic academic schools that are mostly used by students aspiring for professions as doctors, lawyers and other rather intellectual professions. Someone aspiring for business administration or engineering will right away enter a business or technical high school respectively. Yes, a youth of 14 'does know' what s/he wants to be professionally in Europe. So at 18 or 19, a technical high school graduate is already in essence an engineer, - in basics that is. A few more years in actual jobs, maybe a few extra courses at the university for a specific discipline, and the young person is empowered to underwrite his decisions.

          The concept of streaming in Europe vs. the concept of 'let them find their own way' approach in North America can be debated to no end. Each system seems to have its benefits and drawbacks. However each system is in place in countries that are quite economical powerhouses. They are 'affluent' countries. Thus they can 'afford' to let their kids be 'idling' for years to come in schools and colleges. Developing nations cannot!

          We oppose child labour with the well-meaning intention for these kids to get an 'education'. We tend not to see, that our western society kids at about grade 4 have already received this education that the kids of a developing nation get in 8 years. Public education in the developing countries comes down to a few basics, reading, writing and being able to add and subtract a few numbers, - and this is it! Any real meaningful education is expensive and affordable only to the upper middleclass and the well to do.

          This then brings us to the 2nd problem of developing nations. The well to do and upper middleclass are usually business owners. The tendency now is to focus the education of their children with an eye on that these children will eventually run the family business. So the education focuses on business administration, law and maybe a few doctors here and there. Hardly will one see a 'rich kid' aim for engineering. So now the developing nations still need to 'import' the technical brains at a much higher price than what they would have to pay to their own local specialists. Most of these 'imports' then serve the interests of the foreign company they represent rather than the interests of the nation the work in.

          When we talk about developing nations, we rightfully associate them with shoddy workmanship, badly and dangerously wired houses, vehicles maintained by all means but the correct ones and more. This is not cliché; it has a certain truth to it. The concept of 'how' things are done is absent for most of the blue colour professionals. Other ‘professionals’ who had done it ‘this way’ for so long have taught them, and it had 'worked well' and so it will simply be passed on as 'knowledge' without understanding the consequences as to what will happen when things go wrong. This is best highlighted, when one realises that more people in developing nations die on electrocution than to snakebites or car accidents. With electrocution I do not mean the death penalty, but the abysmally dangerous wired houses and the plugging the same life and illegally into the main power grid. Plugging them in illegally might still be a necessary evil for years to come, but getting the houses wired to the proper standards could be a task accomplished with proper apprenticeship education. Since 'nothing' is done 'correctly', the wear and tear on equipment of any kind in such countries is tremendous, the associated waste as well. This is where education the way the Nigua project envisions will make a difference.

          One simple and brutal fact for developing nations is this: A child at age 14 IS an adult in physical means. This means s/he can haul water buckets, can work the fields, and be otherwise employed whatever concerns physical strength. No impoverished parent will sit idle by to see their adolescent kids 'waste' time in a public school that gets them hardly beyond a western grade 4 education when these same kids can be productive elsewhere, even for peanut wages. No matter what little financial contribution the child makes, it is 'additional' income vs. the additional 'loss' of having to use money for books and paper when this kid is still in school. It is simple milkmaid accounting. Income vs. expenses, and the income incentive will always win.

          An UN study on child prostitution in Columbia in the 1990's came to the conclusion that child prostitutes earn as much in ONE month, than a professional in government employment (highest wages) in SIX month. So right there, the poverty is the incentive for such a desired income, regardless of the consequences in later years. Yet western societies wail against child prostitution, try to stem it with all kinds of laws and do not see the simplest solution, namely meaningful education.

          When we drew the plans for Project Nigua, we insisted to stick with the European model for several reasons. The main reason was that developing nations see in their adolescents some form of young adults that should be productive, while Europe sees in them about the same and encourages them to try their best in academics. When Europe sends its kids to apprentice ship programs, it does so for a simple rational: If this 'semi adult' tends to be too lazy or not mentally capable to handle more academics, then s/he should become productive. Any trying to coax the kid through a high school he will not manage anyhow is seen as a waste of time. Apprentices do get paid. One can call it more like an allowance, rather than a real pay, yet the pay rises with each year, till after completion of the program it is matched with the standard entry level salaries of the said profession. Developing nations have also no place for 'time wasted' in something that does not produce substance. While Europeans 'could afford' such luxury, developing nations simply cannot. This is why I mentioned, that the European vs. American education approach can be debated to no end, while for developing nations, such debate is futile.

          The next issue for Developing nations is the proverbial corruption. Time and time again we have observed how the best-meaning ideas and Millions of Dollars later the idea was left in shambles. From huge projects all that remained were a few empty foundations, roads ending in nowhere, bridges half built, fleets of equipment rusting away unused, etc. We have come to the conclusion, that 'development' is just that, a process from the 'ground up', not from the 'top down'. All development is negotiated on government level between the respective countries. What ever then comes in sort of 'trickles' down the 'pay off ladder' to friends and relatives of these government people. If 1 single % of the moneys even reach the people it was intended for, one can call it a 'great success'. Denominational and special interest group organisations usually work from the ground up. However these are limited to their interests and are usually also in political conflict and controversy with their host country.

          Right from the start did we realise, that Project Nigua has to be absolutely denominational, special interests and politically neutral. With special interests I shall cite this example: If one is concerned about women’s rights in a male dominated culture, the sensitive approach is NOT to send 200 feminists down there to agitate and activate. Our school by accepting females that spend 5 years in a course with a predominately male class will instil the sense of 'equality' in these 20 male students much faster and better, than 200 feminists rallying and stirring up sentiments. At voting age, for these students, the notion to pass laws that promote equality will be 'common sense'. No 'feathers' got ruffled, no controversies raised, it simply became 'normal' to see in females equal partners. This is what we mean 'from the ground up' education. Female inequality is not so much an issue among the rich and well-educated classes, which naturally such a SIG would talk to on campus and in other workshops, but the inequality is worst among the poor. It is the poor woman that suffers the rage of family violence, and to change this, we have to change the perception among these people and especially the conditions that cause violence to begin with. Most of the violence among the poor is a violence growing out of frustration. Remove the frustration, and the violence will diminish dramatically.

          Most people we approached are quite puzzled by the concept of self-sufficiency for a school. Well till the actual school project will get off the ground, much more actually being completed, we expect another 3-5 years time having passed. The immediate need for the children is however pressing.

We have outlined above, that the issue of child prostitution is directly proportional to the amount of poverty one is exposed to. The higher the poverty, the stronger the desire to make it out from it the 'quick way'. This then means prostitution and drug pushing.

          We have realised very early in the Project, that the most inexcusable waste of any commodity is the waste of talents that is hidden in those street kids. During the Holocaust, the survival rule among KZ inmates was to help those who not necessarily are the most physical fit ones, but those who would be to the best benefit to the group. This is a natural survival concept, and developing nations do just that, survive. On the streets and in the Barrios, this raw concept of survival is well and alive.

          Project Nigua will target, till to the day we are able to provide elementary education as well, only the most apt kids. Apt in the sense of intelligence, aptitude, attitude and desire to achieve. What rate this maybe is hard to say. However we did notice that such kids with the desired aptitudes usually tend to be together. The group and pack order of same interests seems to be much stronger visible in such nations than elsewhere.

While our western society kids group in peers according to fashion, music and sports, these kids seem to group in desires and dreams about their future. So one can say every 2-3 blocks one encounters such a group of 5-8 highly intelligent kids with the desire to make it. We have observed that there is among those children a certain 'code of ethics' that makes them immune to the lure to easy prostitution and drug money. These kids operate under a 'no matter what, but I will not go illegal' attitude. Not that these kids have it any better than their other companions, they simply seem to have this maturity to see beyond the glitter of an easy money to be made. These kids are 'special', and we intend to target exactly those.

          Self-sufficiency is based on the apprentice ship concept. As in Europe each business 'has to teach' an apprentice, so can we do the same. However instead of enlisting businesses to do such, we become the businesses. We know exactly, that the moment we contract other businesses, these people will 'claim' to teach but use the kid for nothing else but cheap labour. Project Nigua however will operate under a strict code of ethics to absolutely avoid abuse of this situation.

          We will operate on a 2:1 academic vs. practical education in the school system and a 1:2 system in the apprenticeship program. Apprentice ship is meant to educate blue colour professionals, as mechanics, metal workers, electricians and so forth. The school system is to educate future engineers in the respective professions and has to prepare them for college and university.

          Naturally, in any business there will be serious competition, however the pressing needs of developing nations to just to survive, makes for many untapped businesses. One of them remains the abysmal concerns for the environment. So we have targeted recycling as the key entry business for our project. Since recycling is quite labour intensive and the equipment also not on the cheap side either, we have a few aces up our sleeves to become competitive. As I said before, we will work from the ground up, not from the bottom down.

        Recycling has so far failed to a large extend in many developing countries for several reasons. Most of the packaging industry is unable or unwilling to impose a deposit on their bottles and cans. Secondarily, contractors, who simply collect without any thought of what they collect, as long as they get the proper money/tonne, do most collection.

      Project Nigua has 2 key advantages over any competition

        We have our own designs in machinery

        This machinery will in the end cost 1/4 of any presently available turnkey facility per recycling line. It will consume 50% of the common energy rates and it will produce 80% less toxic emissions. To build this machinery from scratch will give employment and education to at least 10 students who right now shine shoes or sell trinkets or do other menial jobs. It will cover basic metal working, tool and die making, welding, electricity, plumbing, hydraulics and pneumatics, as well machine maintenance. All those are key professions within the industrial blue colour sector.

         These machine systems in themselves will become an export article. At the correct and competitive price on the world market, we could expect to sell it at 3/4 of the standard turnkey systems. Selling it at 3/4 of the market price would still give us a 200% profit of the cost price. As the apprentices gain confidence and skills, these same students will become the future experts in their respective fields and will become responsible for the machinery export market, while new students will enter the shops to be educated in the respective trades.

From the ground up - collection & employment:

          We have pointed out, that the average developing nations public school system's instructions are just a few hours/day. Kids of all ages begin to find some moneymaking activity. Most shine shoes or sell fruits and trinkets. Let us now use the Dominican example; since we do know the prices there as well Nigua will be the 1st stop of the project. In Santo Domingo, garbage collectors charge $18US or RD600 per metric tonne. 324 Pesos is in average 3-day minimum salary for an unskilled worker. A shoeshine costs 5 Pesos; an average shoeshine boy makes 20 Pesos per day, 30 if he is very lucky.

          1 metric tonne of plastic bottles is in average 20,000 bottles. Thus 20,000 bottles would bring the cost of one bottle to 0.016 pesos. Since no deposit is collected, a 5 cents refund as here in the west is never expected or even implemented. Now we can come up with a scale price of x amount/metric tonne or amount of bottles to match the $18 collection fee from the contractors, or we can go further. Since we can expect, (world market price) to have a gross income of $1,000/MT of plastic and a conservatively $500 net profit after wages and expenses, why shall we not raise the pay out price for the collection to let us say $36/MT or even $50/MT. We still would be left with a net profit of $450/MT.

          However we can also do something completely different. Instead of paying actual money, we can pay in coupons and have a store available for the collectors, in which they can buys staple foods and other vital commodities at 'cost' prices. This then would enable them to stretch their income farther. It would break the cycle of the perpetual from hand to mouth economics these people have to endure right now. We can also add to this a collective foreign currency account. Let us say we contribute to each worker/collector each month $10 US to an account that will mature in a given time. This could drastically improve the persons buying power in a future date when maybe the local currency has devaluated considerably. This foreign currency account would be for each individual. In case of a child collecting for us, this account would be blocked till the child either reaches the age of legal maturity, or has other needs as like marriage, tuition fees for college and university. With this we would ensure, that the moneys the child earns will not be diverted by its parents for trivial needs, (drugs and alcohol).

          20,000 bottles may seem a lot, and they are a lot. However kids have come up with many ingenious ideas as like lightweight carts that can hold a large quantity. Also 1MT remains simply 1MT, the volume of 20,000 bottles is quite huge. So even a cart filled to the brim will not mean a heavy load for the kids to collect. If we pay $50/MT we expect a collection of 400 bottles/$1US or 18 Pesos. 400 bottles is not much and can easily be collected in a matter of an hour. It would be an after school activity for the smaller children, offset by payment, by us providing for the educational needs in terms of school clothing, books and so, as well by providing coupons for staple products, foreign currency accounts and maybe weekend courses on elementary level.

          With this done, we would have eliminated the competition in a matter of moments. The competition does not care about giving work to the poor. Most of what is recycled in the Dominican Republic is collected from 'disciplined' institutions such as Hotels in the tourist regions. There naturally the many western tourists used to recycling will deposit their cans and bottles in appropriate containers. So it is a simple pick up job. However the landscape is littered with discarded plastics, and these plastics the contractors refuse to touch. Simply let us concentrate on what the rest does not want to touch. The parents of our students will work the actual recycling facilities. With this we do financially as well educationally empower whole families. With this concept at hand, we reform and better the lives one family at a time, growing steadily as we add more and more businesses to our project.

          With this steady growth, continuous insistence on quality and a growing reputation for craftsmanship, we will gradually shift the perception of shoddiness usually associated with developing nations to a reputation for excellence. One has to remember, the now so much coveted tag, "Made In Germany" was some 150+ years ago a tag of 'shame'. Germany at that time was producing such poor quality goods, that they were forced to attach this tag to all their products. Today, this label is assurance for top quality. So maybe 20 years from now, "Made in the Dominican Republic" will have the same notion of excellence as today's "Made in Germany".

          As a final note we will address the issues of profit distribution. In essence most members of our Project are idealists who are deeply committed to the plight of these kids. We have for years close contact with the children and their families. We are realistic enough that we cannot live on rice and beans and a few pesos. Most of us have families of their own in our respective countries that will not lower their standards of living just for an idea. However there is a 'ceiling' concerning profits. Beyond a certain income, everything else is hardly useful. There is a limit how many cars one can drive at the same time, how many clothes one can wear etc. So for now, we project the salary ceiling for the top professionals at $5,000/month, a standard over seas rate for professionals. Also we are partners and owners of those businesses, we will limit our salaries to this amount. Beyond this, we will reinvest the profits into the projects. We will pay to our workers above minimum level salaries. We will ensure that each family is well covered in health insurance and will try to offset many needless expenses via co-op means of procurements. This co-op could find many forms. One is the above mentioned at cost availability of products. It can also be expanded in that we as a company acquire a fleet of cars and distribute them to our workers similar like a rental car. Acquire a large property where our employees can build their own houses and be supplied by our own power grid, sanitation and water utilities.

          The key element is not to just teach one kid to be a mechanic or machinist. The key idea is to have a tangible product, a village, and a community that has become an example how one develops and prospers. This then will be our ultimate export product, a lesson in sustainable development, peace and prosperity for all nations who are in similar conditions as the Dominican Republic.