The Dominican Republic Finds Its Beauty Again with the Way to Happiness
When you want to have a happy society, you cannot neglect the lack of a moral code,” says Diana Pedroni, Executive Director of The Way to Happiness Dominican Republic. A popular tourist destination for its postcard-perfect beaches, culture, music and warm people, the nation also suffers from over 2,000 violent deaths per year. “I saw the common denominator,” Pedroni observed. “Broken families that created criminality and then a society that was going down instead of up.” Looking for solutions, she found The Way to Happiness (TWTH) and soon teamed up with Bienvenido Flores, the Director of National Prevention and Citizen Security for the country.
“The Dominican Republic has been trying hard, through various state programs, to significantly decrease the homicide rate. In TWTH I found the precepts which define the path for an individual to have strong morals,” Flores said.
Pedroni and Flores became an unstoppable team. After meeting with the northeast region Police Commander, they delivered a seminar to his officers, who then distributed the booklet in a barrio in the city of Moca. At first, the residents were nervous about the police convoy, but as the booklets spread, so did the interest. So Pedroni and Flores gave a seminar to that community. While things were looking up in Moca, the situation in the rest of the island was worsening. Pedroni delivered to inmates in La Isleta Correction Center. Then, to reach the whole island, the team trained “multipliers” who went from city to city delivering seminars in every strata—from businesses to rehab centers and universities, reaching 250,000. Next they partnered with the government of Espaillat Province to deliver across that region. Then they trained the cadets of the Military Academy. With so much reach and delivery rolling across the nation, an official The Way to Happiness Foundation was established in the country. Soon people across the country were joining the Foundation and booklet distribution was happening everywhere from Old Santo Domingo city to Boca Chica Beach and at the Merengue Festival and more, ultimately reaching 2.2 million with The Way to Happiness. What followed was a 21 percent drop in violent crime, leading the Governor of Espaillat Province to say, “That is the essence of The Way to Happiness—to recover what the society has lost.”
Watch the full story at scientology.tv/DPedroni.
TAKING ACTION
Create Your Own Custom Cover
As the first moral code based wholly on common sense, The Way to Happiness delivers into your hands an effective and simple tool to uplift your own community.
The message and precepts of the booklet were meant to be shared. The page entitled “Why I Gave You This Book,” reads, “Your survival is important to me.”
Individuals, companies, nonprofits, law enforcement and government bodies have taken that message to heart and made The Way to Happiness their own. They do this by creating custom booklet covers that communicate their unique role in bringing about a better world—a goal the 21 precepts will help accomplish.
They then use the booklets with their members, staff, employees and those people they reach in their work to strengthen moral values in all sectors of society.
You can do the same by putting together your ideas for a custom cover, then contacting The Way to Happiness Foundation International.
RESTORE TRUST & HONESTY
The Way to Happiness Foundation International works to reverse the moral decay of society by restoring trust and honesty through widespread distribution of the 21 precepts. Donations support production and distribution of The Way to Happiness booklet and curriculum material.
