Teens building community in Petaluma, Dominican Republic

When Casa Grande High School senior Makenna Mattei first traveled to the Dominican Republic for a service trip in 2015, she was immediately struck by the poverty in the country, which stood in stark contrast to her life in Petaluma.

The 17-year-old knew she wanted to help make a difference, so she’s spending her senior year working with three of her fellow students to raise money to fund a handful of service projects to help bolster the quality of life for residents in rural Dominican Republic villages. The group is also working with their teacher, Lynne Moquete, the executive director of Petaluma nonprofit Una Vida, to help organize a March volunteer trip to execute some of the ventures they’ve raised funds for.

“For me, it’s hard to go to the Dominican Republic,” said Mattei, who has twice traveled to the country to complete humanitarian work with Una Vida, a two-decade-old organization that helps impoverished families in the Dominican Republic. “When you go, you see how they live versus how you live, and I just want to help every single person I see. I know I can’t help every single person, and that’s the hardest part – I can’t change all these people’s lives, I don’t have the funds to change the entire city.”

In 2013, the United Nations reported that 41 percent of the Dominican Republic’s population was living below the poverty level, and though the teens know they can’t alter the entire economic picture, they’re dedicating their senior project to small-scale efforts they feel will have a big impact.

The students plan to host a Nov. 13 “Brews and Bringing Change” event at Taps to raise about $9,000 to fund the project proposals, which include building a house and several latrines, sponsoring dental care for an orphanage and purchasing musical equipment for a local school. They also plan to buy a bed for a family of five that shares a single mattress, sponsor the cost of tutoring for a 20-year-old Haitian man to learn how to read and to purchase tools to help support a local construction worker.

For 17-year-old Hannah Luiz, who has never traveled outside the country, the trip and the projects are an opportunity to expand her world view while improving the quality of life for the villagers in La Descubierta and Los Pinos del Eden.

“These projects are not just giving toys to children – which is also great – but they are giving things that are basic human needs that other people don’t have, and that’s what makes is special,” Luiz said.

The team is working with Moquete, who founded Una Vida after serving as a Peace Corps health volunteer in the Dominican Republic, to organize a week-long service trip in March, when nearly 30 local students and adults will stay with host families while working in the communities. Among the group will be Casa Grande High School senior Alondra Martin, 17, who has dedicated her senior project to working with Moquete to raise awareness for Una Vida’s Madres Jewelry program, which employs Dominican and Haitian women in a sewing collective.

Moquete said the girls’ effort has far exceeded the requirements for their mandatory senior projects, giving them a platform for building skills outside the classroom.

“They’re learning organizational things and genuine grassroots nonprofit stuff that they wouldn’t have a chance to learn unless they were doing something like this,” Moquete said. “They’re multiplying skill sets in ways they haven’t realized yet ... They’re required to do 20 hours, and I’m sure they’ve put in 100 already. For them, it’s not about meeting a requirement, it’s a passion about the fact that they have one opportunity to do this and they’re going to kick ass.”

The group has been working to prepare themselves for the trip, and 17-year-old Shelby Althuizen, who has never traveled internationally, is brushing up on her Spanish and doing researching on the country.

“A lot of it is just preparing myself emotionally for it – it will obviously be way different from what I’ve grown up with, and I feel like it’s going to be a little hard separating myself from them at the end of the trip.”

Michaela Krnaich, 17, who traveled to the Dominican Republic with Mattei in 2015 on an Una Vida trip, said she’s looking forward to helping make a difference in the country, where she hopes to pursue a career as a nurse after graduating.

“We are going to be able to change these lives for these people with the support of others, and hopefully we’ll be able to inspire other people to do that as well … we’re building community and inspiring change in Petaluma and we’re doing that in the Dominican Republic as well,” she said.

To find out more about the Nov. 13 fundraiser and the March trip, visit Make Life Count on Facebook.

Contact Hannah Beausang at hannah.beausang@arguscourier.com.