The who, what, and where
In the town of Los Limones in the Dominican Republic, we collaborated with The Peregrine Fund to host a two-week co-design workshop. Our trip followed a full-semester collaboration in the MIT class D-Lab: Development. Hoping to assist in protecting the endangered, endemic species of the Ridgway’s Hawk, we designed our workshop to center on human health, agriculture, and animal care. Participants picked systemic issues in their community that led to the killing of the endangered Ridgway’s Hawk to address during the nine-day event. They separated into three groups focusing on animal protection, health, and agriculture.
Gender and empowerment during the co-design workshop
While we created our workshop with the intent of including a variety of people from the community, our participants were overwhelmingly educated women with children who were connected to The Peregrine Fund. Topics such as the lack of employment opportunities for women, the use of nicotine products in the home, the price of baby formula and diapers, and the environmental impact of burning agricultural and inorganic waste dominated the conversation. Even when acknowledging the skew in the demographic of our participants, it seems clear that public inaction to “clean up the streets” is not due entirely to a lack of education or information, but due in part to a lack of empowerment. On a household level, many of the female participants were already acting as problem solvers, mashing fruit for their newborns to supplement formula, feeding pasta to chickens in the absence of expensive feed, mending clothes, or weaving textiles.
The more formal engineering exercises we led, such as the group design portions of the Plantain Raise and Egg Drop, generated high energy and participation and utilized existing social bonds between women. When working alongside other women from their community in an encouraging environment, the female participants took initiative and displayed enthusiasm in ways less evident in the solo aspects of the design challenges. Very few participants were male and while we may not be able to attribute these observations solely to gender, it led us to think about the underutilized female talent base that currently exists in Los Limones.
Economic opportunity: diversifying options for income generation
It is easy to assume the economic desires of a community like Los Limones based on prior experiences and theoretical readings. However, the actual needs and wants of a community can only be understood by direct immersion and conversation. For example, many community members directly expressed their wish for a basketball court or a space for adults that does not involve the consumption of tobacco or alcohol. Simply put, people want to be human and have fun. Many of the workshop participants had modern smartphones and were well-connected on social media, further emphasizing the desire for quality entertainment. In addition, the community members of Los Limones value stable, meaningful employment very highly with a number of people employed or seeking employment through the Peregrine Fund. A job not only provides income but also purpose and direction.
The co-design workshop was well-received by participants because it sought to empower participants through choice. By providing the initial capital and technological investments (tools, materials, and participant training), members were able to take control of their situations, ideate solutions, and create prototypes to address their problem statements. Many of the workshop participants also hypothesized how they could apply their new skills. For example, several women expressed the desire to create clothes and furniture with the crochet hooks and loom, even while working on the flexible cage prototype, proving a readiness and enthusiasm for entrepreneurship. Thus, we learned through the workshop that you can create economic diversification by keeping the community’s options open. Given more choices, a stake in their family’s income, as well as an initial investment, people can happily and successfully create, ideate, prototype, and solve complex problems.
NGOs in Los Limones: the importance of continuity
Despite our outsider status as U.S.-based students, we successfully ran the co-design workshop by utilizing our partner organization The Peregrine Fund as an entry point. This NGO is well-established in the geographically isolated, rural town of Los Limones. The Peregrine Fund has become intertwined with the community by distributing chicken cages (aimed at protecting chicks from predation), engaging in outreach and environmental education, and even helping other NGOs with installing much-needed water infrastructure. With 12 employees in the town, The Peregrine Fund was directly responsible for arranging our homestays, physical workshop space, transportation in and around the Dominican Republic, and advertising the workshop, granting us legitimacy.
Through the co-design workshop, we aimed to form a two-sided relationship, as this can be more valuable and effective than transactional one-sided relationships: participants get to decide what they would benefit from through joint fact-finding. This is in contrast to the gifting of cages, which ceased when it was discovered that they were being used to house wild animals or being sold for a profit. Similarly, the field house (labeled “gavilán” on the front door, meaning Ridgway’s hawk) belonged to an American director who reportedly gave large gifts to community members. The Peregrine Fund has thus worked to end damaging and possibly dependent giving practices, while still being committed to livelihood support.
As a final remark, be aware of the power you were given and be humble. At our workshop, it became clear that this was a mutual learning experience, which allowed people to open up and participate. Additionally, as we reflect on our own positionality and commitment, we must not just finish what we start, but also think about the long-term impact. Throughout the workshop, our approach was not only to provide the physical tools to enable engineering and design thinking, but also to facilitate the growth of technical skills through hands-on activities. Participants can now use the tools and
knowledge, thereby creating a more lasting and sustainable impact. We hope to be the first of many D-Lab groups to visit Los Limones, to ensure continuity.
Workshop tips and lessons learned In Los Limones
- Always build in a break for a sugary treat and coffee, an afternoon pick-me-up is an absolute must!
- Be aware of when local schools end. The primary school began letting kids out at 2:30 pm, meaning that swarms of curious, hungry, and bored kids were bouncing around our power tools by 3:00 pm. Take into consideration the lives of kids and give them something to do to keep them safe and happy.
- Artificial intelligence, the Internet, and smartphones have made their way all over the globe; be prepared for your participants to use these tools.
- Even if you have a limited proficiency in Spanish, make an effort to communicate! People appreciate the work and will meet you halfway.
- People are very physically affectionate and may express endearment in ways that are different from American standards.
- Don’t be afraid to make mistakes–humor can help build rapport, it can make participants less fearful of making mistakes themselves.
- Think carefully about how you recruit participants as this can inform your workshop demographic, because we recruited through our partner NGO this meant all participants were relatively well connected to the organization.
Meet the team
- Natalie Dean - Department of Mechanical Engineering & Women’s and Gender Studies at MIT (Class of ‘26)
- Sandra Youssef - Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT (Class of ‘26)
- Gabriel Rodríguez Castillo - Department of Urban Studies and Planning, & Computer Science at MIT (Class of ‘25)
- Marta Curti - Hispaniola Program Director at The Peregrine Fund
- Gabriela Diaz - Ridgway’s Hawk Field Technician at The Peregrine Fund
- Libby Hsu - MIT D-Lab Lecturer and Associate Director of Academics
More information
MIT D-Lab class: D-Lab: Development
D-Lab student project page: Wings of harmony: Co-creating solutions in Los Limones
D-Lab student project page: Bird Box
Contact
Libby Hsu, MIT D-Lab Associate Director of Academics