The road to development is through the power of knowledge

Since becoming First Lady of the Dominican Republic in 2004, Dr. Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez has focused much of her time, energy and budget to strengthening what she strongly believes should be the foundation of Dominican society.

“Education is what saves a society, a people. Knowledge is the only true power,” she explained in her office across the street from the Presidential Palace. “Education is the most important pillar of our revolution, our democratic revolution.”

President Leonel Fernandez Reyna’s political driving force has always been one of empowerment for the people. His brand of populism thrives on giving top priority to education, which he believes lays the foundation for development. In his first stint as President between 1996 and 2000, he worked hard to mend a broken public education system while placing emphasis on reinforcing higher education possibilities for low-income students.

Constitutionally impeded from seeking a second term in 2000, he continued his work through the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development, better known by its Spanish acronym FUNGLODE, which has served as a think tank to develop the model of government Fernandez inserted into his campaign platform in 2004 and which today still serves as an international forum to discuss public policy issues.

“The only path to development is through gaining knowledge,” he repeated throughout his campaign. Since his election, he has invested an unprecedented amount of the budget in the building of public schools and “Community Technological Centers,” (to be run by the First Lady’s Office), which are the Dominican version of the public library, but focusing specifically on digital education and communications, social inclusion and development of the community in which they are established.
Vernet Dominicana is working hand in hand with the First Lady on these projects. It has been doing a pilot study at no cost on the impact on the use of educational technology in the Centers. The academic results are exceptional. Manuel Figueroa of Vernet stated that, “The Dominican Republic is leapfrogging other developing countries through the use of technology in these CTC’s. The improvement in academic achievement for both adults and children will have a long-lasting impact in economic development.”

As a lawyer with her undergraduate degree from Santo Domingo’s Autonomous University and post-graduate degrees from Georgetown and Harvard, Cedeno took her husband’s words to heart. Through her office, she is running major programs to benefit education and family empowerment, including a program emphasizing entrepreneurship for single mothers.

“We need to move on and build capacities to set the foundation if we want to aspire to better jobs with better salaries,” Cedeno said. “We need to build programs that allow for people to gather the skills needed for our economy, to become competitive in the world markets,” she continued.

A glimpse around her office tells you she’s not a figurehead in the Fernandez presidency. Newspaper clippings of her strong stance against child labor in the Dominican sugar fields are prominently displayed. A 100-year-old souvenir of the World Series, box scores included, that illustrates the Dominican passion for baseball adorns the waiting room in her office. Volumes of literature, ranging from reports on her many programs in the areas of education, healthcare, child abuse and even adult literacy can be found on her desk, while a busy staff juggles her schedule of public appearances, progress reports and future plans.

“There’s a lot to do,” she stated with a smile. On this particular day, her staff is getting ready to celebrate the International Day of the Woman as they organize a graduation for a dozen Dominican women from low-income households who completed a course on small business administration and are now running thriving businesses in places such as Barahona, El Seibo, Boca Chica and Hato Mayor.
Known as “Progressing as a Family,” this program alone has impacted more than 52,000 families in the two years the program has been in effect from the Office of the First Lady. Cedeno explained her office, in conjunction with independent non-profits and multilateral organizations, consistently offers workshops to teach vocational and manufacturing skills in order to develop and encourage the creation of small businesses.

“This is a project of hope. It’s a project that gets right to the community, giving these women, many of them single mothers, new tools to get ahead. And quite frankly, that’s what this is about, providing new tools that go all the way down to the community,” Cedeno said.

Her emphasis on education is the main focus of her work. Using her leadership as First Lady, she has joined forces with her counterparts from Central America and Panama to establish and fund literacy programs. In the Dominican Republic, she has also established student exchange programs with the government of Spain. The program has allowed dozens of Dominican students, most of them from the most impoverished areas of the Dominican Republic, to do their high school studies in Salamanca, Spain.

“It’s about broadening their horizons, aside from being a fascinating experience,” Cedeno described, explaining that with the collaboration of the office of Queen Sofia, of Spain, the two countries fund a similar program for disabled children from low-income families.

“This is where it all gets started, by expanding horizons and giving the next generation the tools needed to be competitive,” she said. “As Martin Luther King said, ‘if you are able to give hope to one person, then your life has not been lived in vain’.”