Sunday, January 4, 2009
BY ALEXANDER MACINNES
Herald News

PATERSON — Ranchete is a small mountain village in the Dominican Republic that just this year got its first paved road — a 1.5-mile stretch named after the city that is intrinsically linked to its livelihood.

Last Saturday, a group of Paterson delegates traveled to Ranchete to participate in the opening of La Carretera Paterson Bulevar. The street was named after the Silk City, because of the number of Ranchete residents who have immigrated to Paterson over the years.

“Most folks there have family here,” said 5th Ward City Councilman Julio Tavarez, who made the trip to Ranchete last week.

La Sociedad Pro Desarollo de Ranchete is a Paterson-based non-profit, made up of Rancheteros whose families have migrated to the Silk City since the 1960s. The group worked with the federal and provincial governments in the Dominican Republic to pave the road in the rural mountain region.

Ranchete is a neighborhood or borough of Los Hidalgos, near the northern coast of Puerto Plata. Those from the area estimate the total population of Ranchete to be about 300, with most working agricultural jobs or in the service industry. The lush area, known for its heavy rain, produces avocados and oranges. Jerineldo Guzman, a Paterson resident and member of La Sociedad, believes the mile-and-a-half of paved road will help farmers get their produce to market.

“Before, it was a gravel road,” said Guzman, who is one of the group’s leaders. “Now, there’s more commerce, and people from neighboring communities can access it easier.”

La Sociedad Pro Desarollo de Ranchete raised about $48,000, Guzman said, and the government covered the rest of the engineering and paving costs. In addition to paving the road, the group has raised money to bring electricity, running water and cable television to Ranchete.

The money raised for all of those projects comes from the extensive network of Rancheteros who call Paterson home. Guzman and Tavarez estimate that there are more than 3,000 people living in Paterson who were either born in or migrated from Ranchete.

Councilman-at-Large Rigo Rodriguez was born in the small town. On Saturday, Rodriguez said the night his mother went into labor with him, the rains made the dirt road impassable for the town’s only jeep.

“It’s a big hill and she couldn’t make it uphill, so my mother had no choice but to have me in a neighborhood house,” Rodriguez said. “[The new road] is a big thing for us, for those people who migrated from there.”

As for naming the street after Paterson, Rodriguez said it was his idea, because “Paterson has been so good to us.”

Rodriguez could not attend the official opening ceremony last Saturday, but Tavarez did. He said that when he was there, he was amazed at how many people are connected to both places. During the ceremony, one of the speakers asked the crowd of about 200 to stand up if they have lived in Paterson or have family that does.

“More than half of the folks there stood up,” said Tavarez, who was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic. “One thing I realized is what you can accomplish with collaboration.”

Asked about the condition of the road compared to some of Paterson’s, Tavarez said the Dominican villagers have a much smoother ride.

“You cannot compare Broadway to that road,” Tavarez said of one of Paterson’s main avenues. “That road would kick Broadway’s butt up and down Broadway.”

Reach Alexander MacInnes at 973-569-7166 or macinnes@northjersey.com.