By Jessica Lawson | Co-Founder
Dear Friends,
We're excited to tell you more about the new space we have been working on at The Mariposa Center for Girls. Thanks to a generous sponsorship by the Garretson family and volunteers from Lawrence Academy, the Minou Mirabal teaching kitchen is almost ready! In March a group of enthusiastic volunteers from Lawrence Academy brought us one step closer to finishing the Minou Mirabal Tavarez Teaching Kitchen by building our very own pizza oven! With help from a local expert they constructed an oven where we will be able to make our own delicious pizza. What girl doesn’t love a pizza party? Besides making special treats for our girls we hope to have the oldest girls utilize the pizza oven as part of our restaurant training program to gain valuable job skills.
This summer we will expand our job skills development opportunities and provide cooking classes and hospitality training to girls that are intersted in pursuing this path. Tourism and hospitality is the number one industry in the Dominican Republic and is growing rapidly. This can be a great career option for many of our girls. In additional to cooking classes teaching girls to prepare international dishes, training for this track will also include English classes, administrative management and other skills that would enable girls to work in a leadership position or start their own business.
Many of the girls in our program have been cooking since a very young age, as adolescent girls take on many of the domestic responsibilities at home. Strengthening the skills they already have and helping them understand how to leverage them to create a viable career is very empowering. 14 year old Vivianna says "Cooking is my favorite chore that I have to do at home. At Mariposa I have learned to grow food and I can't wait to learn how to prepare different dishes from around the world. I would like to own my own restaurant one day".
We look forward to updating you on the final touches to the teaching kitchen and the kickoff of our culinary program this summer. None of this would be possible without your generosity and we thank you for your support.
With gratitude,
The girls, families, volunteers and staff at The Mariposa DR Foundation
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