Jose Manuel Gomez Peralta
17 April 2008 | Turks and Caicos, Tiki Hut
One of the many significant people we met cruising in the past two years is Jose Manuel. Born 1982 in Santo Domingo the capital of the Dominican Republic Jose moved to Puerto Plata with his mother when he was only three years old. Earning money came to him at a very young age. He started shoe shining tourists shoes on the malecon in Puerto Plata when he was only 8 years old. For one peso he would bring garbage from the neighborhood houses to the dumpster. Jose earned his first money and started reaching for a better life. At 14 he carried luggage for tourists at the airport. He went to work every day after school, he knew the importance of staying in school and learning how to speak english, a huge advantage for everybody trying to get a better job in the DR. Most good employment opportunities are in the tourist business and fluent english is mandatory. Jose found a job in one of the big resorts in Puerto Plata and started to have a better life. His english became more fluent and his hard work caught the attention of his aunts friend. She offered to help him to go to a foreign country. Jose was stunt and excited at the same time. He took the opportunity applied for a visa with the help of his friend and went to Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos. His friend helped him also to get a working permit and soon after Jose started working as a bartender at the Tiki Hut in Turtle Cove. Jose had earned enough money to build himself a house in Puerto Plata when he got married in may 2007. Today he and his wife are still living in Provo and planing to move back to the DR in about four years when he has saved enough money to open his own business, until then his parents are living in his new house. What a success story, we are very glad we met Jose who will be reaching for even higher goals in the future.