Students from Santiago and Santo Domingo Travel to the Cocoa Trail with RDescubre Program

A group of 50 outstanding students from 10 schools in Santiago and Santo Domingo participated yesterday in the educational excursion to theCocoa Trail, in the province of San Francisco de Macorís, an excursion organized by GFDD/Funglode’s RDescubre program, in collaboration with Plan Lean of Listín Diario.

The tour was conducted in the framework of the Week of Geography, which is celebrated under the theme "The Future
of Food: Feed the World, Protect the Planet", in order to promote sustainable agriculture in the country. Students from the schools Hogar Mercedes Amiama, Brisas Oriental, Simon Orozco, Pilar Constanzo and Unión Panamericana, along with six teachers and representatives of the Ministry of Education, Gildan, La Altagracia Cooperative and Falcondo as well as Rosario Vásquez of Listin Diario’s Plan Lea, participated on the educational trip, making a total of 61
people.

The RDescubre program provides children and young people from disadvantaged communities the opportunity to participate in educational
expeditions to places of interest in the Dominican Republic. Through these activities participants learn to appreciate the beauty of the landscapes and numerous natural resources. These extraordinary experiences contribute to personal and social development in youth, so they can become environmental leaders in the future.

Cocoa Processing
Within the Cocoa Trail participants had the opportunity to recreate, in an entertaining and educational
way, the process of making chocolate at Hacienda La Esmeralda García Jiménez. There Miguel Hernández explained different aspects of the process of growing cocoa, from planting a seed to the various forms of products derived from this product that is so popular in the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, the GFDD´s Enviromental Programs coordinator, Omar Shamir Reynoso, spoke to the young people about sustainable agriculture and its components, in addition to answering questions about the
practices for sustainable management of natural resources.

There was also time to talk about the different projects for sustainable socio-economic development of GFDD/Funglode, like the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival, ReCrearte and EcoHuertos. The tour ended
with a tasting of chocolate.