Today, on UN Public Service Day, we recognize our people, like Yanna Valdez, who are active members in our host communities
June 22, 2018
Dominican Republic
Yanna Valdez (third from left), Communications Specialist at Barrick’s Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic, has helped build 85 houses with the Chilean non-profit TECHO.
Today marks the annual United Nations Public Service Day, which celebrates the value and virtue of public service to the community. Barrick is committed to developing long-term mutually beneficial partnerships and continuing engagement with local communities through acts of public service.
Yanna Valdez, a Barrick Communications Specialist at the Pueblo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic has seen first-hand the impacts of public service through her work with TECHO. TECHO is a Chilean non-profit that works across Latin America to diminish poverty through the construction of transitional housing and the implementation of social inclusion programs.
Valdez joined Barrick in 2012 and has been volunteering with TECHO for over eight years. Since the massive earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, Valdez has helped build 85 houses with TECHO in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica.
“I think there was a time in my life when I felt that I was doing many things, but none of it really fulfilled me,” she says. “Then a friend told me she was going to build houses in Haiti. A few hours later, I was in a bus heading to the Haitian border with a group of TECHO volunteers. It’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”
For Valdez, participating in public service is much more than giving back to local communities. “The thing about TECHO, is that it’s not just about building houses,” she says. “That’s just the starting point of a long-term plan to lift people out of poverty.”