Dominican teachers show solidarity to Haitian refugees
Teacher unionists in the Dominican Republic are doing their utmost to bring water, food and medicine into the border zone as Haitian refugees flee Port-au-Prince in search of humanitarian relief.
The Asociación Dominicana de Profesores(ADP), an EI affiliate, has set up a system to help the people in the border-area tent cities and to identify the Haitian teachers who have been hospitalized in the Dominican Republic.
On 20 January, ADP officers including Maria Teresa Cabrera, who is also a member of the EI Executive Board, helped a female teacher who was in very critical condition and required surgery.
Aftershocks that reached a magnitude of 6.1 caused many more Haitians to cross the border in panic and fear for their lives. However, the aftershocks were felt in the border areas of the Dominican Republic as well. In an email to EI, Maria Teresa Cabrera reported that many schools have suspended classes as the buildings may have been damaged in the aftershocks and are too dangerous to enter.
Cabrera emphasized that she and the ADP members, along with all the Dominican people, are expressing full solidarity and support to their Haitian fellows.
