Daily Life Continued....
While the majority of citizens live in rural areas, some of the wealthier citizens live in the cities. The wealthy or middle class citizens consist of doctors, government workers, etc. The poorest citizens consist of factory workers and the unemployed. Like the U.S, the Dominican Republic offers many public services, such as free education. But, because of the extreme poverty, many children don't finish their education. They are forced to drop out of school and work to help support their families. In fact, about 13% of Dominicans between 10 and 14 years of age have already joined the workforce.
Santo Domingo, the nation's capital, is about the size of Manhattan, New York. (Population about 2 million). Santo Domingo, unfortunately, has more than its fair share of extreme poverty. According to an article put out by "Stateless in the Dominican Republic", the streets of Santo Domingo are filled with what Dominicans call "Palomos" or "street children." These children, unfortunately, do not have access to many of the public services. In other words, they are often "ignored" by the law. They often survive by begging, or by doing odd jobs on the street for small amounts of money. Also, they have to rely on shelters, or any public services they can get.
Fortunately, the Dominican Republic has established the Dominican National Council for Children and Adolescents. This organization provides shelter, and some food for these orphaned children on the street. But unfortunately, it is only for a while. The children are often kicked out of these shelters, and put back on the streets. Also, unfortunately, many of these children grow up to be criminals because they don't know how else to take care of themselves.
One job the street children often do for money is window washing. The picture below shows one of these children.
Photo from "Stateless in the Dominican Republic", a project put out by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Sources:
"Children Struggle to Survive on Santo Domingo Streets." Children Struggle to Survive on Santo Domingo Streets. Walter Cronkite's School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Web. 4 May 2015. <https://cronkite.asu.edu/buffett/dr/street_kids.html>.
"Encyclopedia of the Nations." Dominican Republic Poverty and Wealth, Information about Poverty and Wealth in Dominican Republic. Web. 4 May 2015. <http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Americas/Dominican-Republic-POVERTY-AND-WEALTH.html>.
