Her name is Jenny Melo, but everyone knows her as “Jenny the Female Taxi Driver.”
She was born in the spring of 1976 in the city of Higuey, the capital of La Altagracia Province.
She grew up in a humble family consisting of her mother and her two sisters, with her being the youngest. She never knew her father. She saw him once when she was 24 years old and has never seen him again.
This made her very close to her mother and led her to adopt her mother’s strong character (since her mother is a resilient woman who raised her three daughters without anyone’s help).
At the age of 13, they moved to the province of La Romana, where she finished high school so she could study Business Administration at the Universidad Central del Este (UCE) in San Pedro de Macorís; she commuted 54 km round trip every day.
Her mother paid for all her education; she never had to work until she finished her degree, graduating at age 25.
She got married and became pregnant, but she still had a dream to fulfill—to become an engineer—so she went back to college; at that time, her mother was paying for her education. Three years later, she had graduated with a degree in civil engineering, had given birth to her first daughter, and had separated from her husband.
After that, she returned to her hometown, the city of Higuey, to work as an engineer.
There she met her current husband, Diomedes, with whom she had her second daughter and started a construction company that continues to operate today as a subcontractor for various companies, including the Punta Cana Group.
Since her husband is a taxi driver, when she met his colleagues—the leaders of the Beron Taxi Union—and they learned of her education, they saw her as the perfect candidate for the position of organizational secretary (second-in-command).
She has been a member of that union for two years. She is also the secretary of minutes and correspondence for the Juanillo Fishermen’s Association (which protects marine species, corals, and reefs, among other things).
When she first started dealing with customers and didn’t have any other jobs, she didn’t see taxi driving as a means of livelihood but rather as something that made her feel different from others.
She enjoys interacting with tourists and, above all, knowing that through her work she helps her country—the Dominican Republic, which she adores—and contributes to making it one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in the world.
Currently, she only works as a taxi driver by appointment, which allows her to pursue her other activities. That’s where the name “Taxi Engineer” comes from—the determined woman who learned from her mother that, as long as it’s dignified work and she enjoys it, she should do it and keep moving forward.
JENNY lives in a humble home, but one that’s filled with love and affection from her two “princesses,” Crismaury and Kamil, as well as her husband, Diomedes.
This is the very special person to whom we want to pay our small tribute—the one all of us forum members know for her most memorable rides, her thoughtfulness, and the warmth with which she treats all of us who were lucky enough to travel with her.
We owe all the projects we’ve carried out on elvalordeuneuro to her. We met her last year and saw that she was a very special person. She offered to take us to one of the bateyes on the outskirts of La Romana, and since that day she’s been very special to us. From that day on, we started asking her how we could help the children in Bayahibe and Higuey, and she began telling us about Dorianny, Carlos Alberto, the Foundation for Foster Children, and so on. It’s true that all of this has been organized from Spain, but she was the driving force behind this project. She came to pick us up at the airport; we were carrying more than three hundred kilos of clothing, shoes, medicine, and school supplies.
She provided her taxi, but her taxi wears out tires, oil, shock absorbers, etc. (because you have to see the roads in this country). She also gave her time—she didn’t earn a single euro during those days—but she volunteered to drive to all the places where we needed to deliver the items we’d collected. It involved many hours on the road, and that was her great contribution to our projects.
Thank you, JENNY—I always capitalize her name because, to me, she’s just as great as her name, and I imagine everyone who knew her feels the same way.