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Program Dates: August 5th - August 14th, 2011
The Dominican Republic and Haiti share an island that is filled with richness in culture, food, music, and people. Its beautiful landscape and remarkable political, economic, and social history marks the island as one of the jewels of the Caribbean. TGL invites you to come and gain advocacy, leadership, social and political skills and get a chance to meet future leaders, students, and young professionals from all over the world. This program combines environmental capacity building with cultural programming to provide program participants with the skills and training on issues such as environmental policy, advocacy, and community service. With a community and environmental capacity building centered approach, TGL aims to give program participants a comprehensive experience and an opportunity to understand how policy and practice in the ground are connected. We believe that a combination of interdisciplinary programs and the network of individuals working together to address the most pressing challenges will give program participants a competitive edge in the area of field development, capacity building, and leadership in today’s volatile job market. By attending lectures, workshops, small working sessions and hands-on community development projects with environmental specialist, local and public advocates, journalists, politicians and other individuals representing a wide range of entities, participants will obtain a unique understanding of issues affecting Haiti and the Dominican Republic and its significance to the world’s agenda. Program participants receive housing accommodations, food and transportation to all the program activities.
Please check our program poster for more detailed information.
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The Dominican Republic, despite suffering from economic and social instability, has found a path to prosperity and solidity. The program will be carried out in various locations throughout the Dominican Republic. In conjunction with other organizations and community leaders, participants will engage in leadership-building activities, community service, and ongoing lectures with Dominican leaders. In addition, participants will visit government offices, historical sites, meet with Dominican and Haitian students, and explore the beautiful ecosystem of the Hispaniola Island. The program objective in the Dominican Republic is to fully equip the next cadre of environmental leaders through hands-on experiences and capacity building opportunities with experts in the field.
Haiti is a country mired with social injustices, political mismanagement, and ravaged by periodic natural disasters. Due to its close proximity and relevance to the Dominican Republic, capacity building in Haiti is a focal point of this program. TGL aims to present program participants with a keen awareness of the relationship between Haiti and the Dominican Republic by incorporating key role players on the current challenges affecting the Haitian society. TGL recognizes the importance of engaging our program participants in different communities by giving them the opportunity to partake in a meaningful symbiotic relationship between the community and themselves. Through site visits to the Dominican-Haitian border and meetings with local leaders from Haiti, fellows can participate and learn about the change efforts on a first-hand account. In light of the tragic earthquake that has devastated Haiti- the opportunity to rebuild and assist in capacity building efforts is an opportunity for our program participants to join social engineers in the mission of providing transformative learning experiences.
Elie is a consultant on strategy and coordination management with a special focus on climate change and development. He has worked extensively with the United Nations system on climate change issues, attending all the major UNFCCC climate negotiations since 2007 first as a consultant for Columbia University, and more recently as Strategy and Political Advisor with NGOs supporting the most vulnerable islands states of the pacific. Elie has worked as a consultant for UNDP on their Global Project, "Capacity Development for Policy Makers to Address Climate Change," and the coordination of UN activities, designing and leading a consulting project for the United Nations Regional Commission New York office. Elie holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie and a Master of Public Administration from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) of Columbia University. He is fluent in French and English.
Emad is an international development consultant, with expertise in conflict prevention, mediation and advocacy. Currently he is an associate at the Center for International Conflict Resolution (CICR) at Columbia University. His has worked on collaboration and coordination issues with United Nations Regional Commissions (UNRC). His latest project involves renewable energy solutions for the Gaza Strip through partnership between local and international NGOs. Emad holds a BSc from University of Stony Brook, majoring in Economics, Finance and Political Science. He completed his Masters at School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, with a concentration in economic and political development. He is fluent in English and Farsi, and proficient in conversational Afrikaanse.
Dalal Mawad is a program officer and researcher at the United Nations Development Program in Beirut, Lebanon. She is working at the UNDP support office for " Consensus Building, Civil Peace and Consitutional Empowerment". Mawad has also previously worked for the political programs of the National Democratic Insitute in Beirut and for the Lebanese Permanent Mission at the United Nations in New York. She is also currently the Youth Coordinator and executive board member of the Green Party of Lebanon, a young and new political party seeking to promote secularism, environmental development and sustainable growth in Lebanon. Mawad is also a freelance journalist, she has published articles in the Dailystar, NowLebanon, The Palestine Chronicle and LOrient Le Jour. Dalal holds a BA in Economics from the American University of Beirut and Masters degree in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Participants will have time to explore the beautiful Dominican ecosystem. Anticipated regions to be visited include the eastern part of the country, San Pedro de Macoris and the town of Jimani before arriving to Haiti.
Arguably one of the most interesting aspects of the program will be a visit to the Dominican-Haitian border- where participants will have the opportunity to meet with Dominican Haitians, understand the economic and political issues affecting both countries, and gain exposure to a transformative experience.
One of the core components of TGL is to make sure program participants experience the diversity of the Haitian and Dominican cultures. A way to advance that goal is by bringing our participants to various offices and organizations to observe briefings and informational sessions. Participants will have the opportunity to visit government entities for site briefings with experts on the issues affecting the island. Site visits to the Dominican Police Headquarters, the Supreme Court, and the Secretary of Education will be among the sites that are currently planned for participant visits.
One of the pillars of the TGL experience is to expose participants to community service projects. We are going to participate in community service activities in partnership with Dominican-based organizations. Our approach to community service is simple: expose the participant to the policies that influence public service and combine it with hands-on experience in a public service area. Rebuilding of schools and sustainable development activities will be the focus of our community engagement projects. One such example of community service is in Haiti, where we are conducting a workshop with staff and volunteers from the organization, Haitian Action for the United Nations, to conduct vital training in marketing, organizing, and web management skills.
Arguably one of the most interesting aspects of the program will be a visit to the Dominican-Haitian border- where participants will have the opportunity to meet with Dominican Haitians, understand the economic and political issues affecting both countries, and gain exposure to a transformative experience. During the border interaction, participants will be able to get a more accurate picture of the realities affecting both countries. This will be an opportunity for participants to obtain multiple perspectives on the issues at hand and alternative ways to cope with these issues. In collaboration with the Argentinean organization EIDOS and experts in negotiation and conflict resolution from Columbia University, we will conduct an innovative workshop in conflict resolution not only for our program participants, but for the residents of the area as well. Our goal is to bring various civic leaders from the area to interact and participate in this transformative experience with TGL.
The admission process is simple and straightforward. Although, we make every effort to look for well rounded individuals, we also give the opportunity to those with limited and no professional experience. Currently we ask for the following:
The cost of the 2011 program is $598.00 (USD) (Approximately: 365 GBP, 434 EUR), which inclues programs fees, acomondation and transportation, food and program related activities. Students attending the program should purchase their own tickets to and from the Dominican Republic. Please be advised that it is the responsibility of the participants to get their own health insurance. However, we minimize every risk in order to provide a safe environment during the course of the program. Once accepted, our representatives will email them with the appropriate airport transportation details.
For participants attending one of our programs, the total program fee must be paid by July 5th, 2010. TGL staff will send email and phone call reminders, but it is the student's responsibility to ensure that payment is received by the deadline. Payment may be made by check, money order, or by credit card (via the website) to “Transformative Global Learning”. If full payment cannot be made by the deadline, either because money has not yet been issued from a lending institution or financial aid office, a letter must be sent by that lending institution or financial aid office and received by Transformative Global Learning by the deadline date. The letter must verify the date that full payment will be disbursed, the party to whom the funds will be issued to, and the amount of the disbursement. If money is to be disbursed from a third party, including the home university or lending institution, it is the student's responsibility to ensure that the money is sent to Transformative Global Learning at the designated time. At the scheduled time of disbursement, students must verify that payment was received by Transformative Global Learning.
APPLICATION TIMELINE
Our systen of Payment is through Paypal. Please go to our programs page and follow the application instructions for payment.
