In our studies of health and nutrition here in the Dominican
Republic, we decided that it would be good to look at some economic factors
impacting the health of Dominicans. We took a two hour drive down to a town
called Villa Altagracia, where a fair-trade clothing factory is. The factory,
Alta Gracia, was pretty big, but did not have nearly as many people working
there as you might’ve imagined. There was a cluster of people, mostly women,
working in what seemed to be a seated assembly line of sewing machines. The
tables were close together, and the materials were passed in a clockwise
rotation. The various sized machines on various tables looked much like a
monopoly board full of purchased property. The first thing I noticed about the
work arrangement was that everyone had their own office chair, the nice kind
that swivel all the way around with the curvy backs and the cushiony bottoms.
No crappy wooden or plastic chairs here. The second thing that I noticed was
that the people were all smiling. Every time I think of a factory, I think of
the seen toward the end of The Wiz,
before the part where Evilene sings “No Bad News” and everyone has on these hot
sweaty full-body suits, with evil scowls on their faces, doubting they’ll ever
see the light of day again… but that was nothing like what I saw here. 
As we took a walking tour about the factory, I got a closer
look at what the workers were actually doing, and it turns out they were making
t-shirts and athletic clothes, like sweats and hoodies. So here’s how it goes
down. Some guy with a very sharp saw cuts the fabric in small, but very
specific shirt-like shapes. Then the fabric get soaked and stretched out to
their right size. Once they dry, they are taken to the first sewing machine
where the sides are given a seam. Then they’re passed on to the next guy for
the sleeves. Next, they go on to get a good collar, and so on and so forth. The
coolest part was the little machine that presses on the tagless label to the
inside of the shirts’ collars. It looks like swooshy A, and I’m pretty sure
I’ve seen it before. So it’s a pretty basic, standardized process of making the
shirts, what makes this place stand out are its work conditions.
Every worked in Alta Gracia receives 3.3x the salary of
other Dominicans doing the same job. Also, they work 38 hour weeks, but get
paid for 40, instead of working 50 hour weeks and getting paid whatever. They
also have this initiative to get all of their workers adequate housing for them
and their families. Fun fact: every mother that works with Alta Vista has at
least one child. Also, this place is the only factory that allows unannounced
inspections for health and safety regulations. They have nothing to hide. We
got to talk to their boss and ask him whatever question we wanted to know. They
even went out and did research on what the cleanest and best water to provide
to their workers throughout the work day, which turned out to be Planeta Azul,
the same water we drink here (because we have sensitive American immune systems
that have never been exposed to anything worse than the flu and common cold).
It’s real clean.
After all of that, we got to see firsthand the living
conditions of one of the workers. We literally got on our bus and drove to this
woman’s house where all 20 of us, yes twenty people, piled into here little wooden
house and talked to her about what it’s like to live in this kind of condition.
We met her husband and she showed us pictures of her two kids and told us to
sit down and everything. After completely taking over that house, we drove a
little ways away to where she and her family where building a new house. The
woman was so proud of what she was able to pull off with her new job. 
She showed
us what in reality was a slab of cement, but what will be a two bedroom house
with a living room kitchen and bathroom. Her face glowed with excitement as she
walked us through her tiny, but decent, future home. From the slab of cement,
we could see the mountains and the town below, it was incredible and we made it
a point to tell her that she should have a big window there so that she can
admire the beauty of what was around her all day.
We returned to the factory for an informative Q and A
session and then had a Bandera lunch,
as usual. The day was sort of long, having driven almost all the way back to
Santo Domingo, but it was a good reality check to see what people had to deal
with, and these were the people who caught a good break with this job, as they
only have about 40 or 50 employees.
We were charged to spread the word back to
our schools about purchasing more of the fair trade shirts that come from Alta
Gracia, so they can expand and employ more Dominicans who really need the job.
So here’s what I’m going to do. Every college student, parent, alumni, faculty
and staff member who reads this, look at the bookstores at your school,
especially if you have Barnes & Noble, check to see if they have a fair
trade section of shirts and keep an eye out for Alta Gracia. The tags have
pictures and stories of real employees that testify to how your purchase is
changing their lives. When I get back to UM, I’m going to get one! J 
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