Slide Show: Hoyo del Toro
Hoyo del Toro* joined the list of communities participating in the Clinic's Community Health program in mid-2009. It is a rural community just west of San Pedro de Macorís, surrounded by sugar cane fields. While it is 'rural', it is more sort of a transitional community, depending upon both the agricultural activity surrounding it as well as the urban enviroment of San Pedro. It is a poor community with health, nutrition, and hunger problems.
Hoyo del Toro
Hoyo del Toro's accessible location close to the city, yet in a rural setting, means that it gets lots of attention from various groups and NGO's, though we are told that most of the projects there have been one time deals and not oriented toward longer-term devleopment. The volunteer community health promoter group there is enthusiastic and we hope (and pray) that we can assist the community to find some pathways to a better communal life.
* Hoyo del Toro: According to Collins Spanish-English Dictionary (5th Ed., Unabridged), "hoyo" means "hole, pit; hollow, cavity; grave." Hoyo del Toro is probably best translated as "bull pit." So far, we have not found anyone who can offer us insight into where the name came from. Perhaps this was an area where they kept the oxen that pulled the carts in the sugar cane fields in the past?