June 19, 2012

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you again to everyone who donated towards our fundraising efforts for projects in the
Dominican Republic and Cuba. We fundraised over $7,000 in total and have invested our
funds into three different projects: Mata Los Indios Sustainable Farm, Esperanza International
Northeastern Microfinance Fund, and Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos Garden Project.
Project A. Mata Los Indios Sustainable Farm
Our biggest project was the creation of a sustainable,
independent farm in a community called Mata Los
Indios. The community rests atop a large valley
through which a river runs at the base of the hill. While
some would consider a river a blessing, for this
community, the river floods during the rainy season,
isolating them from access to basic necessities such as
food, clean water and markets. Mata Los Indios also
used to be a batey (or a Haitian workers commune) for
a sugar cane company which has since closed down. As a result, only a handful of people in
this 96 family community have jobs. Needless to say, in this community, families often go
many days and sometimes weeks without a nutritious meal.

As a group, we have invested $3,600 USD to Mata Los Indios, which was used for the
Sustainable Farm:

- Renting a tractor to clear and till two acres of land for the farm
- Buying fencing materials to protect the land from animals and children
- Buying seeds, soil and fertilizer
- Buying tools such as rakes, hoes, gloves and machetes to work the land
- Buying an irrigation pump and generator to pull the water up from the soil
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We also used about $1,500 of
the $3,600 investment to
purchase food for the
community from a nearby
wholesaler to help them get
through this rainy season
which begins at the end of
May through November. The
following food was provided
for each of the 96 families:
- 22 pounds of rice
- 2 big cans of fish
- Many additional pounds of
oatmeal, beans, oil, sugar,
salt, soap and other necessities.

More importantly, rather than just providing them with food or the opportunity to grow their
own food to sell at market, your donation helped to give them hope. It was incredible to see
the grateful members of this community come together with a reinvigorated passion for life
based on the knowledge that there are people out there who care about them.
Juan Pena Salas, one of our classmates on the trip,
will be returning to the Dominican Republic as an
intern for Esperanza International. Juan will oversee
the project with the community leaders to ensure
sustainability. The farmers in the community met with
Juan to describe their current plan to allocate of the
farm produce to feed the elderly members (or
ancianos) in the community and of the farm to sell
within the community to sustain the project.
Thank you so much for your support! Please feel free
to contact me for more information or if youd like to
keep up with our project, visit www.numf.tumblr.com
Sincerely,
The Service Learning Committee, class of 2012
In the next few pages, youll be able to see a few of our photos which show the progression
of our projects over four weeks in the Dominican Republic.
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Phase 1












Phase 2










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Phase 3












Phase 4










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Phase 5 & Beyond
























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Jemoosttotes tbe ose of tbe oew mlol-qeoetotot.
Project B. Esperanza International Northeastern Microfinance Fund
We invested $2,500 to the Esperanza International Northeastern Microfinance Fund with the
Social Enterprise Institute, which invested $12,500 for a total of $15,000 to create new village
banks. These village banks will help to create 60 new business loans to fund entrepreneurs
and their enterprises!








Project C. Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos Garden
We e invested $900 towards our service project at Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos garden,
which helps to feed 217 orphaned and vulnerable children. The farm at NPH has lots of
delicious produce. While we were there, we helped out with the chinola (or passion fruit)
trees and watering/maintaining the garden.




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