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By Jose Ayala
Impact News, WCEC 1490 AM

Traslation by Alberto Surís

The First Lady of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez, visited the historic City of Lawrence on Tuesday, March 30, where she had a busy schedule with Mayor William Lantigua and other elected officials and local leaders of the community.

Cedeno de Fernandez arrived to Lawrence at about 5 pm in the midst of a storm that broke the monthly record of 11 inches of rain set in Massachusetts in 1953.

Upon his arrival to Lawrence, known as "The Immigrant City", with a Latin population of almost 80 percent, the Dominican First Lady, along with local education authorities toured the modern Lawrence High School, built 5 years ago at a cost of $ 110 million. Latinos make up about 90 percent of the campus student population, mostly of Dominican origin.

Dr. Cedeño de Fernández is no stranger to the U.S. educational environment and that in addition to graduating from law at the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), has conducted studies in the universities of Georgetown, Harvard and Geneva.

Later, the wife of President Dr. Leonel Fernandez went to Lawrence City Hall where she held an official ceremony sponsored by the Dominican Consulate in Boston and the City of Lawrence where she received the keys to the city as guest of honor and made the announcement of an agreement in support of Dominican children who migrate to Lawrence from the Dominican Republic.

During the meeting, Cedeno de Fernandez, announced the formation of the program "Migration for Education" which will be under the direct supervision of the Office of the First Lady in the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Consulate in Boston and the City of Lawrence.

She said that "Migration for Education" will begin as a pilot program in the City of Lawrence depending on the agreements reached with the authorities of this city located in the heart of the Merrimack Valley, 45 minutes north of Boston and 8 minutes from the State of New Hampshire.

This program is intends to adequately prepare children and young Dominicans who emigrate to the U.S. on matters of the American educational system as a way to lessen the culture shock and potential dropouts in the future, and will include classes of immersion in English for at least 6 months, said the First Lady.

She said that the key idea of this joint effort is to form responsible citizens with themselves and society through education and integration into American society.

Speaking for Impact News after the ceremony, Mayor William Lantigua said he was pleased to support this historic effort for Dominican students who come to Lawrence from the Dominican Republic with little English proficiency.

During the well-attended event, Dr. Cedeño de Fernández shared with other elected Dominicans officials, including City Council President, Frank Moran; Councilors Danny Rivera, Modesto Maldonado, Oneida Aquino and the Dominican-Puerto Rican Sandy Almonte. Also present were Councilors Mark Laplante, Eileen O'Connor Bernal, Police Chief John Romero of Lawrence and Deputy Chief Mélix Bonilla.

After the ceremony where she received the key to the City of Lawrence, Cedeno de Fernandez stayed in the lobby of City Hall talking with people who gave her gifts and memories of Lawrence.

The delivery of the keys to a city has its history. In the Middle Ages in Europe, and even well into the nineteenth century in many nations, the cities were walled and had doors that were closed or opened as desired. This custom came to America with the arrival of the Pilgrims to the Cape Cod area and with the Spanish in Latin America.

To let you into a city, they had to let you in. Entrances and exits were always controlled.

The keys were already somewhat symbolic then, that meant the privilege to come and go as prominent members of the city with the same privileges as the monarchy or the local nobility, which were granted to those who had played an important role in the advancement or defense of the city.

Cedeno de Fernandez became First Lady of the Dominican Republic on August 16 2004 when her husband, Dr. Leonel Fernández Reyna, was sworn in as constitutional President of the Dominican Republic.

As First Lady, she has made five programs and projects to benefit the most needy in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, through which it has based its philosophy and actions, including Progressing Program, Community Technology Centers (CTC), Social Solidarity, Unit to Develop Special Projects, and Project Libraries.

The Progressing Program has inserted 60,000 families with limited economic resources. She has made viable the construction, improvement and renovation of hospitals, specifically in areas of infants in the Hospital Infantil Dr. Robert Reid Cabral; Francisco Moscoso Puello Hospital; Hospital Municipal de Engombe; Hospital Militar Dr. Ramón de Lara and Central Hospital of the Dominican Armed Forces.

The Dominican First Lady has also led charitable and development programs in rural Haiti, mostly for development of Haitian women. Last October she was the sponsor of a mega-concert in Santo Domingo with the participation of world music stars as part of FAO's efforts in the fields of Haiti.

The First Lady, on behalf of the Dominican Republic, has sought the support of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union, to pool efforts on behalf of earthquake victims in Haiti in January that killed more than 220 thousand people.

Cedeno de Fernandez has signed over fifty national and international agreements in favor of the Dominican family in extreme poverty. In 2007, Cedeno de Fernandez won the Prize of the World Information Society in Geneva, Switzerland, in recognition of her contributions to the use of information technologies and communication in her country.
Her published works include "The influence of the economic situation of the adoption of children and adolescents", in 2006, and "The First Lady Speeches" in 2007.

On October 16th, 2009, Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez was appointed Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).