Where We Work
Petaluma, California
Una Vida is proud to call Petaluma, California home. Lynne Moquete, Una Vida Founder & Executive Director, has taught Human Interaction at Casa Grande High School in Petaluma for more than 25 years. In fact, it was a Casa Grande student who inspired Lynne to take groups of students to the Dominican Republic to participate in cross-cultural community development work. Twenty-five years later, Lynne is still taking Petaluma students and residents on annual trips to the Dominican Republic-- all the while inspiring, organizing and leading community development initiatives locally throughout the year.
La Descubierta & Los Pinos del Eden,
Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic, Una Vida's work is focused on La Descubierta and Los Pinos del Eden, two communities in the Southwest of the DR where Lynne did her Peace Corps service. A day’s walk to Haiti, poverty is more or less ubiquitous in the rural and somewhat isolated region, which attracts marginal tourism and very little industry. Haitian and mixed families living in the DR are highly discriminated against and some of the most afflicted by poverty. Some make that day’s walk frequently, carrying agricultural wages and firewood to their deforested mountain villages. In spite of their struggle, or maybe in part because of it, the people of these communities are warm and generous and kind, rich in humor and love.