The trip - (one of many)
On approach ...
Airport Punta Cana - Dominican Republic
Domestic connection to Santo Domingo
The country - the tourists hardly see ...
Inland! - The region of La Vega. A place not many tourists get to see.
"Pico Duarte" is the highest mountain in the Caribbean. This is one of its spectacular waterfalls. ( Near Constanza, - Province of La Vega. )
The Free-Trade Zone in Nigua, - National District, Santo Domingo.
The Main street in Nigua besides the Free-Trade Zone
The gate to the Free-Trade Zone. This is similar to a customs check point on a national border.
Inside the Free-trade Zone
Your $30 Designer T-shirt in production at 5 Cents ...
The "beach" the travel agency will not send you to ...
Where river and ocean meet. Note the amount of floating plastic!
Another picture of the local beach in Nigua. On the horizon the skyline of Santo Domingo.
Another view of the beach of Nigua. All the waste from Santo Domingo that floats out to the sea will return here with the tide and wash ashore. So much for a "pristine" environment.
The "Barrio" of Nigua ...
These boys collect "kitchen waste" with their donkeys. This is one form of "recycling". The food scraps are fed to the pigs.
A Boa decided to visit us during lunch time inside the house. Note the blue shack in the back-ground! Above & behind it's roof is a well built house visible. Wealth & poverty are side by side.
Abandoned housing projects in Nigua.
My "Home" or "House" during my stays in Nigua.
Mind you, - this is luxury! I still have at least 1/2 a real stone wall!
The "Master Bedroom"
The "living room". Note the black "thing" above the door. This is the power transformer. And YES! - the wires are blank and LIVE!
The "Kitchen" - The smiling lady is the Founder's mother and without doubt the best cook on the island.
The father and younger brother of the Founder of Project Nigua.
Another "Construction Detail" of the roof of a "lesser" house.
The sunny "back-yard' ...
Another view of this "back yard". Here we began the timing of collection for plastics.
The Founder of Project Nigua - "Fabiano"
Our 1st meeting in 1999. He was 10 then and supplementing his parent's income with shining shoes. This is the same place where I took the picture of the main street before the Free-Trade Zone.
Fabiano 4 years later, at 14! By this time the principle idea behind Project Nigua had already been established.
Fabiano at 16 with his favorite cat.
Fabiano at the ground of the German Trade Commission in Santo Domingo in "winter" 2003 after having presented his vision for Project Nigua before a crowd of some 200 people.
Fabiano at 17! All smiles and confident that we will make his dream become reality.
The Co-founder, - Johnny
Johnny with the horse that one of our supporters donated for the kids.
The "Team"
The "Rat-Pack". Horse and the group of kids that desire this project to go ahead.
Fabiano & his "body guard" - (The young man with the bandaged hand)
The "Miracle". - Mandatory school attendance is just till 12 years of age. With a few donation and plenty of encouragement our supporters had enabled at least some of them to continue their education. Fabiano took this picture of his class at the the Christmas celebration 2003. Today all these kids have completed their High school and proceed with proper job training.
What more could be achieved if the project finally gets going?
Sunset over the Caribbean ...
