Offer Hope for 300 Youth in the Dominican Republic

Last month, I had the privilege of spending a whole month in Santo Domingo. It’d been about a year and a half since I last visited The Bienvenido Project, and the first time since we’ve become partners with GlobalGiving. I couldn’t believe the changes I experienced, and I want to share a couple of them with you because YOU have helped make them possible.

1. The whole time I was there we were never without or running low on food and haven’t been since partnering with GlobalGiving. In prior years, lack of consistent funding meant we were always scrambling to find food. There were even days when no food was available. Veronica, our program founder and director, shared with me how amazing it is to no longer worry about food. It not only has freed up her time, so she can focus on other aspects of the program, but means the children are consistently being fed nutritious meals. This has led to improved health, behavior, and the ability to focus better in school.
2. We have hired a full-time Program Assistant. Daniel joined the team last year coming to us from Venezuela. He has done an excellent job working alongside Veronica and assisting her in countless areas. He also serves as a much-needed positive male role-model for the boys in Bienvenido. It’s hard to imagine how the program ever functioned without his support. Having him on our team is such an asset!
3. The overall atmosphere of the program has gone from feeling rather hectic, to one of joy and peace. I think the previous two points are a big part of this. The kids are consistently being fed and fed well. As a result, Veronica and Daniel have now been able to devote more time on the sociological and psychological development of the children. And because the kids aren’t hungry, they’re mentally able to process these things. As someone who has been working with the project for over 5 years, the biggest change I experienced was a difference in the behavior of the children. I didn’t witness fights or arguments during my time there, but rather children helping one another, cleaning up after themselves, etc. It actually brought me to tears! Of course, kids are still kids, and I don’t want to paint a picture that everyday is problem free. But calm days are now much more the norm than the exception.

When we became a partner with GlobalGiving, my hope was that (at a minimum) we’d be able to fund the feeding program, so the children would be guaranteed a meal and Veronica would be able to devote her energy to other needs in the project. With a lot of hard work on my part, and a whole lot of support on YOUR part, we’ve achieved this. Together, we’ve also now raised school scholarships for 46 children to attend school this upcoming school year between one-time and reoccurring donations made over the past couple months. So, what’s next?

We need to raise enough funds to purchase a small bus to transport students to university; which we estimate to be $20,000 USD. Although university tuition is fairly inexpensive, the cost to take public transportation from Bienvenido is more than double what the average person makes in a day. We don’t want this to stop our youth from receiving a college education. A few of the students shared their dream to attend university in videos we posted on Facebook. Check them out here! For further information on this need, please reach out to me at thebienvenidoproject@gmail.com. And if you know already this is a cause you want to support, donate today!

And finally... enjoy a few photos from my time there!

Have you ever seen the smile of a child who just learned how to read and write on there own? That was the radiant smile we saw from ten-year-old Miguelina this week!

Our after-school program, Sala de Tarea, or "homework room", teaches kids to read and write in small, interactive groups led by qualified tutors. It's an important program because many kids in the community never learn these skills even if they attend school. Through Sala de Tarea, many have sucessfully learned to read and write!

Miguelina came to the project two years ago when she was eight. At the time she had never attended school and she didn’t know how to read or write. Her father had abandoned her family and she lived with her younger brother and her mom, who worked as a maid. Miguelina often misbehaved, didn’t listen to her mom, and would get into fights with the other kids in the neighborhood. Her mom wasn’t sure what else to do and considered taking her out of the community to see if she would fare better somewhere else. Instead, Miguelina became one of the recipients of our school scholarships and joined one of our Sala de Tarea groups.

Although Miguelina initally didn't enjoy attending school because she was the oldest in her grade and didn’t know how to read and write, she always looked forward to coming to Sala de Tarea because she loved her teacher and liked the activities—especially writing on the white board.

The day Miguelina declared she knew how to read and write, she was beaming. In fact, she’s been beaming every time we’ve seen her since. She says school is more fun now, and her favorite subjects are math and social studies. Her mother is just as excited, and says she is very happy that Miguelina has been able to attend school and learn to read through our programs.

Our programs at The Bienvenido Project are meant to provide our kids with the skills and resources they need to excel long-term, in every area of their life. Miguelina’s home life has improved, her self-esteem is higher, and she can now complete her school homework and be successful as a student.

Thanks to support from our donors, we are able to provide similar experiences for many other kids beyond Miguelina. The impact is real— their smiles say it all!

And speaking of financial donations… SAVE THE DATE! For those of you interested in making a donation towards our school scholarship fund for the 2018-2019 school year (or towards any other part of our program), on Wednesday, July 18^th one-time donations will be matched 50% and reoccurring donations 100%!!! Plus we’ll be competing for additional bonus funds for raising the most funds, most donations, or most reoccurring donations. It's a great day to make your donation go even further and have an even greater impact.