InteRDom Program Organizes Cultural Trip to Salcedo and Santiago

On Saturday, June 28, 2008, the InteRDom program organized its second major excursion of the summer, a cultural trip to visit the Mirabal Sisters Museum in Salcedo and the Centro Leon in Santiago.  During the three-hour bus ride to the interior, tour guide, Tirso Cabra, recounted the story of the Mirabal Sisters. Among the most famous female protagonists throughout Dominican history, the sisters where ordered to be killed by former dictator, Rafael Trujillo. While passing through La Vega, Cabra also provided students with an overview of the Dominican agricultural economy, pointing out the various crops cultivated in this agriculturally rich region of the country.

Upon their arrival to the museum, InteRDom interns were greeted by Dedé Mirabal, the surviving sister of Patricia Mercedes, María Argentina Minerva and Antonia María Teresa. After touring the museum, students had the opportunity to speak with Dedé about her life and the lives of her sisters. Ms. Mirabal answered questions and spoke of how the lives of she and her sisters differed from Julia Alvarez’s portrayal of them in her book, In the Time of Butterflies.

The next stop on the trip was Centro Leon in Santiago. There the group toured the brand new exhibit, “Geografías (In)Visibles” (“(In)Visible Geographies”), an exposition of Latin American contemporary art.  The theme of the exhibit was translucence and opaqueness. Each piece of artwork interpreted this theme from a different angle.  Many of the interns were particularly impressed by a series of short films produced entirely using children’s toys.  From that exhibit, the group proceeded to the anthropological exhibit titled, “Signos de Identidad” (“Signs of Identity”), which featured works representative of Dominican history and identity within the context of the Caribbean as a whole.

InteRDom, an initiative of Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), offers students the opportunity to gain professional experience by interning with Dominican organizations and businesses related to their field of study.

The Program fosters and promotes the professional, academic, scientific, technological and cultural exchange of students and professionals in public, private and non-profit organizations of the Dominican Republic. It significantly contributes to the development of the nation’s employment sector and the advancement of academic research, while providing spaces for personal and professional growth, internationalization and multicultural understanding.

Related links:
www.centroleon.org.do
www.unifem.org/campaigns/vaw/facts_figures.php