3R's and Recycle with Clean Spot
With the “Centro para el Desarrollo Agropecuario y Forestal” (Center for Agricultural and Forestry Development -CEDAF) we run the 3R's Communities program, as part of a long-term intervention that seeks to create changes in the lifestyle of young people and adults in the communities of Haina and Los Minas.
Over the years, this program has impacted 300,000 families. We have communities that have become models of the 3R methodology, and others that, with the implementation of these actions, have obtained recognition from local authorities.
SDGs linked to the program: 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, 12 Responsible Production and Consumption, 13 Climate Action
Alliance with the Asociación Dominicana de Rehabilitación (ADR - Dominican Rehabilitation Association)
Since 1959, ADR has served a highly vulnerable segment of Dominican society, having the greatest positive impact at the national level in the general rehabilitation of people with physical and cognitive disabilities, whether congenital or acquired, regardless of their socioeconomic condition. For these reasons, the AES Dominicana Foundation has created a strategic alliance with ADR to jointly manage the "AES Dominicana Foundation- ADR Community Center".Through this inter-institutional collaboration, AES seeks the progressive implementation of community and socioeconomic projects, plans and programs, in order to contribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of fundamental rights in the Dominican Republic, such as integral health and the inclusion of people with disabilities.
This program, in alliance with the AES Foundation, has been carried out since 2018 and has impacted approximately one million people. Since services are not only offered at the center, but they are also taken to the communities through medical operations, and monthly technical courses and workshops are offered to community members and disabled individuals on specific topics that the community itself requests. We also offer medical consultations with diverse specialists for preventative purposes, and partner with laboratories to safely provide medications for those who need them.
SDGs linked to the program: 17 Partnership to achieve Goal, 3 Good Health and Well-being, 10 Reduce Inequalities
Eco Escuela
This program has been carried out through the Instituto de Derecho Ambiental de la República Dominicana (IDARD- Dominican Institute for Environmental Rights) since 2013, granting international certification to schools that develop educational programs and projects that involve children and neighbors in the implementation of environmental improvements for the community. This program is implemented worldwide by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).
To date, the program has impacted 2000 students from 2 of our sponsored schools.
SDGs linked to the program: 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, 13 Climate Action
Berklee College of Music Scholarships
Since 2014, our Foundation has granted scholarships to music students of the National Conservatory of Music and Berklee Collegue of Music, where outstanding students in this art have benefited. To date, 37 summer scholarships have been awarded. Most of them have continued their studies thanks to additional scholarships awarded by Berklee in recognition of their musical talents.
SDGs linked to the program: 4 Quality Education, 17 Partnership for the goals
Museo Trampolin (Trampoline Museum)
Through our alliance with the Trampoline Museum, we are promoting the evolution of electric energy by sponsoring A thematic room that recreates the history of energy and electricity from prehistoric times to the present day, associated with the different forms of production of AES Dominicana.
Every year, we receive around seventy thousand children from educational centers and families from all over the country.
SDGs linked to the program: 4 Quality Education, 17 Partnership for the goals
AES Internships
Since 2008, the AES Foundation has been sponsoring the Haina Polytechnic Institute, which trains technical professionals in different areas related to the companies in the Haina industrial zone. The AES Foundation offers internships to high achieving students at the Itabo plant, of which we have brilliant employees in our generation plants. To date, we have received eleven promotions, of which we feel extremely proud since this has impacted the professional and personal lives of these young people, their families and their environment. This is the program most valued by the community in the area. Parents are eager to have their children join this program, because of what it represents for the professional growth of their children.
SDGs linked to the program: 8 decent work and economic growth , 17 partnership for the goals, 10 reduced inequalities.
Back to School
The AES Foundation supports students of its communities to go back to school by donating school supplies and vouchers at the beginning of each school year. This initiative has been carried out since 2003 in the communities surrounding our power plants and has contributed to allow hundreds of students to attend school with dignity. This program is expected annually by community members and encourages parents and children to strive to maintain good grades, as students are required to bring their report cards in order to prove their attendance at school and be considered for the program.
Five educational centers have benefited from this assistance program, covering a student population of 5,000 students on a yearly basis.
SDGs linked to the program: 4 Quality Education, 10 Reduced Inequalities
Agreement with Patronato Pro Desarrollo de PADESHA
The Haina Industries Board of Trustees is a nonprofit institution aimed at promoting the sustainable development of the Haina community, integrating the sectors that compose it to carry out joint actions; The AES Foundation has an alliance with PADESHA to channel contributions and aid in the Haina community.
Through this agreement, contributions are made to institutions such as: schools, hospitals, the Fire Department, the House of Culture, the Civil Defense, the City Hall and specific donations in the community.
In addition, technical courses and workshops, community education programs, medical operations, gully sanitation operations, beach cleaning, reforestation and recreational activities are carried out within the community.
This alliance with PADESHA directly and continuously impacts 8 communities and more than one million people per year.
SDGs linked to the program: 17 Partnerships for the Goals, 4, Quality Education, 6 Clean water and sanitation, 3 Good health and well- being, 11 sustainable cities and communities
Recovery of Santo Domingo's Hydrographic Basins
In 2018, an agreement was signed with the Santo Domingo Fund on the reforestation of the watersheds that supply the Santo Domingo aqueduct, as well as other awareness and training activities for the inhabitants of the areas near the rivers.
This is a high impact mechanism that aims to contribute to water safety in the metropolitan areas through investment in natural infrastructure, and also contributes to strengthening the integrated management of the basins and the governance of water resources, through the financing of long-term conservation actions and by bringing together the relevant stakeholders in the water management field.
In 2019, 5,950 trees were planted and in 2020, 9,500 trees have been planted, for an overall total of 15,450 trees on 15.73 hectares.
SDGs linked to the program: 17 Partnerships for the Goals, , 6 Clean water and sanitation, 13 Climate action.
IDARD
AES Foundation maintains an alliance with the Environmental Law Institute of the Dominican Republic/ Dominican Institute for Environmental Rights - IDARD). Together we developed the Eco School program, which consists of the international environmental certification granted to schools that develop educational and participative programs and projects, where children and friends of the school, following the methodology, are involved in the implementation of environmental improvements in the center and the community. This program is administered worldwide by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE).
This program has been operating since 2008 and has been able to reach more than 50,000 children since its inception.
SDGs linked to the program: 17 Partnerships for the Goals, 13 Climate action, 12 responsible consumption and production.
Trust for the Americas
We currently run the Competitive Funding program through the Trust for the Americas, which provides access to economic and social inclusion opportunities. This project promotes innovative entrepreneurship, through which small entrepreneurs receive technical and financial assistance through the "competitive funds" model for their different business ideas, thus improving the quality of life of individuals and their families.
Currently, 152 entrepreneurs of four different communities have benefited from these undertakings and have developed production mechanisms to improve their economy. Some of these entrepreneurs have brought to their communities the knowledge acquired and with this they have been able to cover their needs during the pandemic.
SDG : 11 Sustainable cities and communities, 8 Decent work and Economic Growth, partnership for the goals.
Energy Hall in the Trampoline Children's Museum
This is an educational project that completes the Trampoline Children’s Museum’s offerings, to be enjoyed by present and future generations in terms of energy education, benefitting more than 70,000 children annually.
This hall represents the history of energy, starting with the caveman era, when most energy came from fire or was produced by animal traction. It takes the visitor through the industrial revolution, the introduction of coal and oil until today, a world of technology with renewable energies and efficient generation with natural gas.
The hall was conceptualized in three thematic segments which involve the visitors allowing them to feel the decisive march of human progress in terms of energy, and the importance of raising awareness in new generations about its efficient use. Through graphic resources, cartoons, interactive games, and simplified non-technical language, it also communicates the value of saving energy, caring for the environment, and the secure use and production of energy.
Haina Recycles Contest
“Haina Recycles” consists of a contest to recycle plastic PET and PEAD materials, with the principal objective of raising people´s awareness about their social duty and responsibility to the environment.
Raising the awareness of the community of Los Bajos de Haina, especially of students and teachers in the participating educational centers, about the concept of the 3Rs: Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle.
This program is sponsored by Empresa Generadora de Electricidad ITABO, S.A. (EGE-ITABO) and the AES Dominicana Foundation, coordinated by CEDAF, with the collaboration of the Town Hall of Haina, the Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources (MAREN), the Ministry for Education, the Haina Development Trust (Patronato Pro-Desarrollo de Haina – PADESHA), and the company Exportadora M & F, SRL.
Through this project of “Haina Recycles,” we want students, teachers and employees from these 30 Educational Centers, and indirectly the inhabitants of this Township, to learn about and implement the 3Rs Culture (Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle). It is our hope to educate students about the separation of waste, and have them share their learnings by promoting good habits in their homes and communities through active cooperation with their Municipal Government. One innovation that characterizes this project is that, in addition to separating and delivering PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) plastic, these 30 Educational Centers and their associates are also going to separate and deliver PEAD (High Density Polyethylene) plastic, allowing them to add value to a larger quantity of plastic and get it off the streets, and out of the houses and rivers of the Township of Haina and its surroundings.
“Love your School” 5 Educational Centers, 2,750 Students
Through this program the AES Dominicana Foundation has made it possible for students from the schools it sponsors to be taught under optimum conditions, thereby supporting the work of the education authorities to reduce the number of school drop-outs, which often causes poor conditions in some centers.
This program has meant that more than 2,750 students from the elementary schools of Bajos de Haina, Brisas de Caucedo South, in Boca Chica, and from Pueblo Nuevo, in Los Minas, have been benefited directly from this initiative, which includes educational activities about the teaching of universal values, the conditioning of the centers, repair of the bathrooms, floors, desks, and other work that has been carried out throughout the school year.
This project works hand in hand with the schools´ Parent-Teacher Associations, and with the teachers and directors of each one of the centers selected.
Lend a Hand…. It´s Time to Reforest
AES Dominicana Foundation, with the San José de Ocoa Development Association (Adesjo) and Pronatura, participate every year in reforestation operations intended to counter the emission of greenhouse gases (CO2), which are responsible for climate change.
The volunteers in this program are AES Dominicana employees, their families and friends. They are first taught about planting trees, climate change, preventive measures against it and its direct consequences all over the world.
Care and conservation of the environment and natural resources have been a commitment that AES Dominicana has assumed as part of its corporate philosophy. This is also carried out through the AES Dominicana Foundation as an environmentally responsible entity, and through the generation of clean energy and its Corporate Social Responsibility policies.
Program Granting Scholarships to Outstanding Students
The AES Dominicana Foundation, conscious of the importance of motivating and supporting young Dominican talent, contributes to Intec's Outstanding Student Program (PIES-INTEC) by granting scholarships to strengthen that valuable work in favor of education.
Through this strategic alliance, a total of 19 students received the scholarship: 9 students between 2007-08, and 10 more between 2009-10. In the future, we expect that some of the beneficiaries will be able to do an internship in the group's companies.
Within the bilateral agreement existing between the AES Dominicana Foundation and INTEC, the school has promised to grant a ten percent (10%) discount on the amount of the scholarships sponsored by AES Dominicana. The scholarships are donated to the PIES-INTEC program by the AES Dominican Foundation include registration costs, credits selected and investment in laboratories. The student beneficiaries must maintain a grade point average of 3.0, according to the rules established by this program.
Internships with students from the Haina Polytechnic Institute
This project incorporates three basic aspects: technical visits by electricity and mechanic students of the Haina Polytechnical Institute to the AES Itabo installations, and internships for deserving students.
During 2008, seven students completed their three-month internships in AES Itabo. Additionally, two of these students stayed on as interns through December of the same year. In 2009, nine students completed their three-month internships; and 2010, the internships program continued in AES Itabo with ten students. It is important to note that these internships also receive economic compensation.