I have been here nearly a year now while watching the country go through an economic meltdown but I haven't mentioned much about it in my stories. I am not complaining because we knew what we were jumping into when we moved here and did our best to plan for it.
A very ignorant and corrupt party was voted into office during the last election. With the help of unscrupulous foreign bankers the president was able to take out billions in high interest loans which were either wasted or stolen. Following the collapse of a large bank and after the resulting bail out the country has been spiraling down ever since. The IMF and the IDB continue to loan money to this government, in spite of the fact they are aware that at least 50% will be stolen and the burden of the debt placed on the dominican people. That is the short version at least.
Wherever there is change of this scale, there are opportunities to had. My dollar savings go progressively stronger as the peso slides. Low labor rates suddenly make services cheap and producing products competing with imported goods more attractive. Inflating food prices makes farming very attractive. Rapidly changing exchange rates and wild price swings lead to all kinds of opportunities for enterprising people. Speculating in goods and currencies, arbitraging exchange rates, and bargain hunting are only a few.
On the other hand, it is really hard to watch so many people suffer. Our friends, our neighbors, our employees are all struggling to make ends meet. When a pound of rice is 20 pesos and a gallon of gas at 100 RD while a man makes as little as 100 pesos a day it isn't easy to pay the bills. Past experience had shown us that charity only makes the situation worse so we try to provide as many jobs as realistically possible. Sometimes we can't buy gasoline or diesel for a week and we went a month and a half with no propane for sale. Electricity is out more often because the government can't pay the bills.
| How to fix a broken PVC tube with a old rubber inner-tube | Savings: 10 RD |
| Most motorcycle repairs can be made with a hammer, a flathead screwdriver, and a pair of channel locks | Savings: a whole tool box |
| How to use wire to replace a broken screw | Savings: 2 pesos |
| Pulling staples out of fence posts is cheaper than buying them, even after paying for labor. | Savings: about 20% |
| Cooking with firewood is free. | Savings: 500 RD per month |
| Horses and bicycles are cheaper than gasoline | Savings: 400 RD a month |
| Hand weeding is cheaper than RoundUp | Savings: 600 RD |
My point is that Dominicans are masters at "Make do what have we". This economy is a mess but Dominicans are resourceful and will get around the problems somehow.