7/1/1992 - FEDOPO

This post is part of a series of explorations of Dominican society that I'm doing to commemorate the 20th anniversary of my LDS mission to the Dominican Republic. Links to the other posts in the series appear at the bottom of this one.

Twenty years ago at this time, I was living in Guaricano, a squatters barrio at the northern edge of Santo Domingo. I was one of the missionaries who "opened" Guaricano to LDS missionary work, meaning I was part of the first companionship permanently assigned to this community (other missionaries had visited periodically). We started work here in April 1992; by July, I believe we were holding church in a rented house, but for the first little while, we borrowed the building of FEDOPO, a local NGO. I taught a weekly English class for FEDOPO as well, for community service. And FEDOPO is what I want to explore in today's post.

Our fledgling LDS branch, posing outside FEDOPO's building in summer 1992.

FEDOPO is the Federación Dominicana de Organizaciones Populares--the Dominican Federation of Popular Organizations, "popular" meaning something like "grassroots." As I've been poking around online the past few weeks to learn about the organization, my understanding is that they were founded in the early 1990s--which means they would have been new when I was on my mission--and they're an umbrella organization encompassing 120 local organizations in Santo Domingo, though I know nothing about the constituent organizations.

FEDOPO was--is--dedicated to community development. When I was in Guaricano, they ran a very small clinic, with literally a closet-full of basic medical supplies. When we were using their building for church, the mission "paid rent" by donating medical supplies. I mentioned the English class I taught for them. They did sewing classes, as I recall. I sat in on a meeting where they discussed trying to find a way to clear drug dealers out of a particular hangout. One day, I got on a bus and found that FEDOPO was passing out leaflets protesting the fact that the bus conductors treated people like cattle. A senior missionary couple who assisted our work in Guaricano--i.e., organizing the donation of medical supplies--were in conversation at one point with the head of FEDOPO about funding a school in Guaricano after they returned to the U.S., but I don't think that ever came to fruition.

My last contact with FEDOPO was in 1997, four years after my LDS mission, when I returned to the Dominican Republic to do community development work with a Roman Catholic program. During a visit to Guaricano, I passed by FEDOPO's building; they were in the process of putting up a second story. That is, they were just getting started on this--this photo stunned me when I found it online.

FEDOPO's two-story clinic. Photo taken from an undated report by Case Western engineering students.

In my recent online searches, I discovered that in the late 1990s, FEDOPO was contacted by a professor in the medical school at Case Western, upstate from where I am now. That contact led to various groups of Case Western students--medical, dental, and engineering students--traveling to Santo Domingo to work stints in FEDOPO's clinic and to help with electrical and water issues in FEDOPO's building. That program seems to have continued into the mid-2000s, though its online footprint disappears after that. I did, however, make contact with one of the Case Western professors, who phoned me a couple months ago to tell me that the trips down to the DR continue; I got the sense, though, that their work wasn't so closely tied to FEDOPO anymore.

I need to say something about the head of FEDOPO, William Castillo. I had a lot of respect for him, for the work he did--I still do, I suppose, though we haven't been in touch since my last visit to Guaricano in 1997. (We just yesterday became Facebook friends, though. It still boggles my mind I can do that now.) He was a mover and a shaker, and he seems to have a notable presence in Santo Domingo's labor movement. When I was a missionary, I saw photos of him taken during a major strike, and he told me about a meeting he'd had with President Balaguer to negotiate an end to the strike. More recently, he's quoted in this news story (from Sept. 9 of an unlisted year--great web design, Diario Libre) warning the Dominican government that workers won't stand for fiscal reform measures that raise the prices on necessity goods. In 2009, he ran for public office, though I haven't been able to find out if he won. (Which probably means he didn't?)

Apparently he visited Case Western in the late 1990s, which  seems so weird to me, even though it shouldn't. He's been in the same state I live in now. In fact, he got here before me. There's globalization for ya.

William Castillo (right) with a member of Case Western's medical faculty, speaking on community television. Photo by lifeinterstitial, Flickr.

Two William Castillo memories:

First memory: One night, I arrive at FEDOPO (for my English class, it must have been) to be informed that William has gone into hiding because someone tried to shoot him. My recollection is that the shooting attempt was understood to be politically motivated.

Second memory: One day I go into FEDOPO's little back office--looking for chalk, probably--and see a poster on the wall with a hammer and sickle and a marching crowd with upraised fists. For a 19-year-old BYU undergrad, that was startling. Around that same time--probably afterward, i.e., cause and effect--I gave a "discussion" to William and a couple other FEDOPO people about LDS church welfare, to explain that for us concern about people's temporal welfare is tied to concern for their spiritual welfare, yadda yadda. (I don't recall having a companion with me for that discussion, which was, um, yeah... not unusual for a certain period of my time in Guaricano.) In the course of the presentation, I was talking about the ideal of Zion, and I quoted Acts 2:44, about how the early saints had all things common. The FEDOPO guys chuckled appreciatively, and William said, "Sounds communist to me." I could tell he was half-teasing, so I half-joked in response, "William, please, I'm an American; we don't like the word 'communist.'"

I want to conclude with a prayer for William, and everyone else connected with FEDOPO, and for their work. (Though as much as they might appreciate my prayers, I suspect they'd probably find a donation more useful. That will nag at me in a healthy way.)

May God's favor be upon them.
May God prosper the work of their hands.
O prosper the work of their hands!
(Psalm 90:17)

La bondad de Dios esté sobre ellos.

Afirma, oh Dios, su trabajo!

Afirma, sí, su trabajo!

(Salmo 90:17)

Other posts in this series: 
5/6/1992 - Guaricano
4/1/1992 - First day in Guaricano
2/5/1992 - The Zona Franca
12/4/1991 - La Romana
11/6/1991 - My first day in the Dominican Republic
10/9/1991 - Entered the MTC
9/4/1991 - Waiting to serve
8/1/1991 - Mission call