”Hey, what’s up?”
This greeting, familiar in the United States and around the world, is the foundation for one student organization’s desire to help fight poverty in the Dominican Republic.
Que Lo Que, a fairly new student organization on campus, seeks to redefine global citizenship through asset-based community development, according to Hunter Isgrig, director of operations and a sophomore in agricultural business management.
Unlike other service organizations, Que Lo Que’s mission is not to change the society of their target nation, but instead to integrate themselves into the culture to better understand it, Isgrig said.
“We take the role as listeners in the community of the Dominican Republic and really focus on the organic need of the community instead of the sometimes implied need from a non-native perspective.”
Que Lo Que organizers have worked to develop new, creative ways to provide global service, according to Isgrig.
“We have no product to offer, no great invention to end world poverty,” Isgrig said. “All we have are two eyes, two ears, and a closed mouth.”
Isgrig also said the organization does not use their own preconceived notions to help the community.
“We do not assume any need or any direct fix to an issue,” Isgrig said. “Our programs revolve around the issues voiced by the community alone, not influenced by an outside perspective.”
The organization has recent origins in ShoeManity, another service-based student organization, according to Brian Gaudio, a junior in environmental design in architecture.
Gaudio, who serves as president of the current organization, was involved with ShoeManity from its inception in 2008 at the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for Global Entrepeneurship.
“Our group of high school students created a way for subscribers of Runner’s World magazine to donate their lightly-used running shoes,” Gaudio said.
According to Gaudio, the organization held its inaugural trip to the Dominican Republic last year and donated a large amount of shoes to the Dominican people.
However, after returning to the United States, Isgrig said the organization needed to truly determine what was best for the organization and the people they were trying to serve.
“We went back to the drawing boards to evaluate our values and to see where our passions truly lie,” Isgrig said.
This is how the organization developed its own unique method of serving the Dominican community.
“Que lo que,” an informal Spanish idiomatic greeting comparable to “hey, what’s up?” in English, reflects the values of the organization.
“This name means we approach our programs as an equal instead of with a superior hand,” Isgrig said.
According to Gaudio, Que Lo Que’s approach to service begins with understanding the culture they are trying to serve.
“Que Lo Que does not seek to eliminate poverty, halt hunger, or save the world,” Gaudio said. “We simply try to understand our world from a perspective different than our own.”
This summer, the organization plans to put those beliefs into practice by visiting the Dominican Republic with a new set of goals.
“We will live with families, share meals, and interview community members for two weeks this summer,” Gaudio said. “In those two weeks, we hope to grow as global citizens and be able to return to the United States ready to make change in our lives.”
Kevin Miller, a junior in business administration, echoed those sentiments and said he hopes Que Lo Que can become a staple in the Dominican Republic.
“We’d like to establish ourselves as more than a ‘one and done’ service group,” Miller said.
Miller also said the organization is seeking to inspire change from within the Dominican people.
“We will lay the foundation for this process by performing ethnographic field research to try and pinpoint what the people truly want to improve in their community,” Miller said. “Change from them, for them. We are solely facilitators.”
For Isgrig, the issue of global service as opposed to domestic service has always been a part of his life.
“I have always faced the issue of why help someone in a far away country when you have the same opportunity in your backyard,” Isgrig said. “My answer to them is: “because I can.”
Isgrig said the opportunities that have been made available to him to help a place he is truly passionate about is all the motivation and affirmation he needs.
“I have the resources to help those in far away countries that have no access to such things. The Dominican Republic is my passion, and it lies deep within my heart,” Isgrig said.
Although it is currently only a student organization, Gaudio said he hopes it will transition to a 501(c)3 organization in the near future.
According to Gaudio, this transition, in addition to members’ constant learning, will help them accomplish their goals by meeting the needs of the Dominican people and by impacting the Raleigh community.
“There are strengths unique to the community of Lajas [Dominican Republic] that may go overlooked in our fast-paced, American culture,” Gaudio said. “By highlighting these unique strengths in our presentations in Raleigh, we will learn something from the people of Lajas and progress toward our goal of retreading global citizenship.”
