UMDNJ School of Public Health
Health Systems and Policy Division
COURSE SYLLABUS
PUBLIC HEALTH APPLICATIONS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Summer, 2008
Course Directors: Dr. Lois Grau and Dr. Bernadette West
Office: UMDNJ School of Public Health
E-mail: graulo@umdnj.edu and westbm@umdnj.edu
Course Credits: 3
Pre-requisites: Permission of the instructors and faculty advisor
COURSE DESRIPTION AND PURPOSE
This course is designed to introduce students to basic issues confronting the public health of marginalized populations in developing countries. It addresses the socio-economic and political factors and conditions that place populations at risk for poor health. Although the general principles discussed and observed during the course apply to dislocated populations, such as refugees and illegal migrant workers, in general, specific focus will be on Haitian communities of sugar cane workers living in the Dominican Republic.
The course consists of three phases. The first planning phase requires students to complete required readings and plan for the implementation of public health interventions during the one-week field component of the course in the Dominican Republic. Students are required to develop the materials and obtain the resources (from contributions) necessary for project completion. Discussion of the reading materials and planning will be undertaken during three to four student meetings during the fall semester. Students will maintain on-going contact via e-mail to facilitate donation collection and other planning efforts.
The second phase is a “hands on” field experience in the Dominican Republic during which time students will work in a number of Haitian “bateyes”, or communities of sugar cane workers and their families. This component of the course is undertaken in collaboration with Crossroads, a non-denominational mission located outside of Sosua, Dominican Republic. The mission of Crossroads is twofold: first to provide direct support to the poorest people of the Dominican Republic through the provision of housing, food, employment and emergency social and health services; and second, to increase social awareness of conditions in the bateyes by hosting groups of students and others from the US and Canada who work on various Crossroads projects. Crossroads is a charitable not for profit organization operated by Bob and Jana Amelingmeir. Both are US citizens who have worked in Haiti and the Dominican Republic for over 25 years.
The third phase of the project is the completion of a research paper or project relevant to students’ public health concentration. The paper/project is due at the end of the spring semester. Students are encouraged to select their topic prior to the field trip and to collect information, or at least insights relevant to their project during the field experience. Additional library or other necessary research will be conducted following return from the Dominican Republic. The course grade will be based on level of participation in the planning and fieldwork component of the course and faculty evaluation of student research papers or projects.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. To identify linkages between economic, social and political conditions and analyze their impact on the health and health risks of marginalized populations.
2. To experience first hand the barriers and opportunities associated with implementing grass roots public health projects without access to a public health or personal health care system.
3. To identify and analyze the various steps involved in developing community empowerment and the role of public health in and during this process.
4. To research and analyze a public health problem and/or strategies specific to the student’s academic interests.
STUDENT CONSIDERATIONS:
Students should be aware that the field component of this course is undertaken in extremely poor rural communities without running water or sanitary facilities. However, we will be working with experienced and competent mission staff that will serve as translators when needed and in other ways assist us in undertaking projects. Students will be housed at Crossroads Mission. The Mission is located at the end of a long rough unpaved road on the top of a small mountain. It is an extremely beautiful facility with all necessary amenities, including a swimming pool, but it is not a luxury hotel. Crossroads is home to Crossroads staff as well as a variable number of rescued dogs and the usual flora and fauna of the Caribbean. Students will be housed in a dorm type building and will be required to help with chores, such as doing dishes. Because Crossroads is located within miles of luxury hotels and the town of Puerto Plata, medical, dental and other care is available. This trip can be emotionally taxing and requires hard physical work. As a result, some recreational time is essential. Students will have two half days off to visit Sosua and Cabarette, nearby tourist towns known for their beautiful beaches and good and inexpensive restaurants.
REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED READINGS:
(Required readings are indicated by *)
Reports
Howard, David. Dominican Republic Spurns Haitian Migrants, NACLA Report on the Americas, 10714839, Oct. 2001, Vol. 35, Issue 2. (www.web2.epnet.com/citation)
Conflict on the Haitian-Dominican Border: Report of the Haiti Support Network’s Delegation to the Dominican Republic for the Second Assembly of Caribbean People, 2001. (www.windowsonhaiti.com/windows on haiti/w040404.shtml
*Human Rights Watch, Dominican Republic: “Illegal People”: Haitians and Dominico-Haitians in the Dominican Republic, Vol. 14, No. 1 (B), April 2002. (www.hrw.org/reports/2002/domrep/index.html)
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Organization of American States, Chapter IX: Situation of Haitian Migrant Workers and Their Families in the Dominican Republic, 1999. www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/DominicanRep99/Chapter9.htm)
*United Nations Economic and Social Council, Commission on Human Rights, Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, 23rd Session. Forced Labour on Sugar Cane Plantations in the Dominican Republic, Geneva, May, 1998. (www.antislavery.org/archive/submission/submission1998-05Dominican.htm)
International Human Rights Law Clinic. Unwelcome Guests: A Study of Expulsions of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian Descent From the Dominican Republic to Haiti. Boal Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, 2002.
USAID/Dominican Republic 2002 Annual Report, March 2002.
Human Rights Watch, Dominican Republic, 1989.
(www.hrw.org/reports/1989/Dominica.htm)
*Amnesty International Report 2002. Dominican Republic. (http://web.amnesty.org/web/ar2002.nsf/amr/dominican+republic!Open)
Press Articles/Magazines/Journals
Bernier, Sugar Cane Slavery : Bateyes in the Dominican Republic. (www.nesl.edu/intl/journal/vol19/bernier.pdf)
Fletcher, Laurel, and Miller Timothy. New Perspectives on Old patterns: Forced Migration of Haitians in the Dominican Republic. Immigration Studies, Vol30, No. 4, July 2004. (www.demog.berkeley.edu/~tmiller/papers/haiti.pdf)
Arthur, Charles. A Different Kind of Migration. Latinamerica Press Organization, January 22, 2003. (www.lapress.org/Summ.asp?lanCode=1&couCode=13.
San Martin, Nancy. Haitians Crossing into Dominican Republic Seeking Jobs are Finding Abuse Instead. The Miami Herald, July 19, 2001 (www.rose-hulman.edu/-delacova/dominican/haitians-dr.htm)
Arthur, Charles. Haiti’s Not-So-Free Zones. Multinational Monitor, Vol. 23, No.6, 2002. (http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm2002/02june/june02front.html)
Sagas, Ernesto. A Case of Mistaken Identify: Antihaitianismo in Dominican Culture. (www.windowsonhaiti.com/windowsonhaiti/antih.shtml)
Goodman, Marty. Haitian Workers Persecuted in the Dominican Republic, Socialist Action, May, 2001. (www.socialistaction.org/news/200105/haiti.html)
Mobekk, Eirin. Enforcement of Democracy in Haiti. Democratization, Vol. 8, No. 3 Autumn 2001, pp. 173-188
McKenzie, Ryan. The Plight of Haitian Workers in the Dominican Sugar Industry, Spring, 1999. (www.windowsonhaiti.com/windowsonhaiti/dhdr-mk2.shtml)
AmFAR: AIDS Research: Global Initiatives: Dominican Republic. Part of AmfAR’s report on the epidemic in the Caribbean and Latin America. (www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/programs/globali/record.html?record-1332)
Third World Traveler. The Dominican Republic: Latin America’s Latest Economic Miracle, Dollars and Sense Magazine, March/April 2001. (www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Caribbean/Dominican_Republic.html.
IUF, Information and Analysis for Unions in the Sugar Sector, Vol. 1, No. 1, July 1999. (www.iuf.org/iuf/sugar/old_sw/su1-99.htm
Griffink Regina. Hidden from Site: Cane Cutters in the Dominican Republic, America, vol. 173, Issue 3, 1995. (http://seb2.epnet.com/citation.asp?tb=1…449+sm+SO=831A&cf=1&fn=201&rn=201)
ICFTU ONLINE.. Dominican Republic: High-risk work free trade zones and sugar cane plantations, 7/10/02. (www.hrw.org/reports/1989/WR89/Dominica.htm)
Books
*Wucker, Michele. Why the Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians and the Struggle for Hispaniola. New York: Hill and Want, 1999.
*Lemoine, Maurice. Bitter Sugar: Slaves Today in the Caribbean. Chicago: Banner Press, 1985.
*Kidder, Tracy. Mountains Beyond Mountains, Random House, 2003.
