A right without borders.

Ricardo Piantini

The fact that Juan was born in the community of Los Tramojos, a place in the municipality of Azua and plays with children from the community, goes to the same school, church, community centre, plays sports in the same field and swims in the same pool, earmarks him as a “Tramojero”, an “Azuano” and a Dominican. 
 
Despite all the above, his status as the offspring of a Haitian parent turned him into an elusive boy but didn’t stop him from being a good student, well behaved with other children and respectful of adults.

Like other youngsters living in the community, completing 8th grade has been an important achievement, but his dreams did not stop there. Juan wants to earn a high school degree and keep on studying.

This is where his struggle began, as he watched his classmates enrol in high school and he could not, for lack of a birth certificate. Up until that point, he could do everything that other children in Los Tramojos could, without the need of the document.

Ricardo Piantini

He was not discouraged even as 2005 went by and he could not enrol. In 2006, during the development of a program to promote community education sponsored by Plan and Raíces y Alas (“Roots and Wings”), he found out that a group in the community had conducted a survey to identify the population without birth certificates and was accompanying the people, all minors below age 16, to obtain the certificate.

Juan approached the group with his father and the process was started. Along with him were three other young persons (children of Dominican parents) with the same problem. All were treated equally. The high school director allowed them to enter school provisionally until they could be properly enrolled once their paperwork was completed as provided by law.

This young man of Haitian descent, as well as the other young people, was acknowledged by the community as persons who could not be denied their status as Dominicans. They received the support they needed to ensure their rights, own a birth certificate, have access to an education and, along with this, all civil and political rights.

See some of the actions made by Plan in the Americas for the Universal birth registration

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