By Melanie Forstrom, Farmer-to-Farmer (F2F) Volunteer Being the first volunteer of a cycle gave me the exciting opportunity to contribute to and shape the youth involvement strategy for the following 5 years in the Dominican Republic. I was mainly stationed in Santo Domingo but had the opportunity to travel to Jarabacoa and Mao. There I saw and experienced organic strawberry and banana production, talked to young producers, and had rich conversations about protecting the basins of the Rio Yaque del Norte.   The main outcome of my assignment was creating a draft youth development strategy ..read more

“You never get satisfied in your paid job at the extent you can get as a volunteer because your effort can bring smiles on the faces of needy people.”  On April 28, 2019, F2F volunteer Ram Ray, Research Scientist of Prairie View A&M University, Texas traveled to the Dominican Republic (DR) to work with three different communities who have issues with soil erosion, flooding, and landslides. Although it was his second assignment for the F2F program (his first F2F assignment was in India), this was his first time in the beautiful country of the Dominican Republic. When he landed in Santo Do ..read more