Ministry Highlight: Dominican Republic
We began our ministry in the Dominican Republic in 1970 as a relief program donating food, medicine and money for children selected by the local churches. In 1994, we started our Child Sponsorship Program.
Our Child Survival Program not only helps young children survive the vulnerable first four years of their lives; it also provides mothers an opportunity to be trained in vocational skills so they can help increase their family income.
Helping Kids With the Letter Writing Process
In the community of Barrio George, children learn to read and write around the age of 8, which is why many children don’t normally write introductory letters themselves. We give the child development centers seven days to complete their child introductory letters and bring them to the office in Santo Domingo.
On our Compassion tours, parents often bring their teenagers but rarely their younger children. Which raises the question: When should we start teaching our kids about poverty and exposing them to the needs in the world around them?
Five Ways You Stopped Poverty in Its Tracks
Five Compassion program graduates share a common story – they overcame the slavery of poverty and are now able to provide for themselves and others.
Does child sponsorship through Compassion really work? How does it make a difference in the life of a child?
Ana Morales: A Hero of the Faith
“When you are young, and when you experience hard times, you grow up with lessons in courage and perseverance. You realize that you will make it and that God will provide.” — Ana Morales
Leave Things Better Than You Find Them
“I grew up poor, just like you,” explains Albert Pujols. “No matter how successful you may become in baseball or in life, you can never forget where you came from. Never be ashamed of being poor; never forget that Batey Aleman is your home. You will always have a responsibility to your God, your family…
Anticipating the Launch of Batey Baseball
The anticipation of the official launch of “batey baseball” with Albert Pujols, the president of Rawlings, 60 Minutes, the Pujols Family Foundation and of course Compassion, is evident at Batey Aleman. People have really come together in this community to take ownership of it, to take pride in it, and to give thanks for it.…
Hold on Tightly Loosely
The question of whether child sponsorship is about us or the children we sponsor generates a lot of discussion – and sometimes disagreement. Should we hold on tightly to the things and people we cherish or should we hold on loosely?
Good Games for Kids
One good game that kids in the Dominican Republic play is “El Pañuelo” (The Handkerchief). Another is called “El Juego de la Silla” (The Game of the Chair). This is how you play the games …
Why We Love the Church
The church is essential in helping people escape from poverty. And Cristo Es La Solucion Mennonite Evangelical Church in the Dominican Republic is helping build a foundation for the spiritual growth and development of its community, something it’s been doing well, in various ways, for nearly 50 years.
One of the goals for our Child Sponsorship Program is for every child to successfully graduate with faith in Christ and the necessary life skills to become self-sufficient. Onidis’ story reflects the importance of the Child Sponsorship Program, even for the youth who don’t move on to our Leadership Development Program.
The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces; nine are in the southwestern region of the country: San Cristóbal, San José de Ocoa, Azua, San Juan, Elias Piña, Barahona, Baoruco, Independencia and Pedernales.
The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces. Eight are in the southeastern region of the country: Distrito Nacional, El Seibo, Hato Mayor, La Altagracia, La Romana, Monte Plata, San Pedro de Macoris and Santo Domingo.
United by Baseball, United Through Christ
I found out today that the word “batey” is Creole for a shanty town. I find it hard to imagine feeling good about wearing the word “batey” on a uniform. I would have difficulty feeling a sense of belonging with that polarizing label sewn across my chest.
For these kids, that does not matter. Where…
If You Build it, He Will Come
Yesterday was Father’s Day in the Dominican Republic. It’s no coincidence that the day we handed out uniforms to these young men and boys is a day that represents the absence of a father for many of them.
When we arrived at the batey, we assembled all of the parents for a meeting. The assembly…
Bringing Baseball to the Batey: Rained Out
Yesterday, I made it into Batey Aleman, during a complete rainout. Tropical Depression Bonnie paid a visit and the rains haven’t ceased.
Right before going to the batey, I stopped at the Compassion Dominican Republic office and saw the 87 boxes of Rawlings and Nike equipment lining n entire wall three feet deep. I also…
Bringing Baseball to the Batey
A batey (buh-TAY) is a sugar plantation in the Dominican that mostly uses the labor of Haitians. Most bateys are defunct, but in some case the Haitians have been permitted to stay on the land, living in slums with little clean water or any means of support.
The Dominican Republic is divided into 31 provinces; 14 are in the northwestern region of the country: Dajabón, Duarte, Espaillat, Hermanas Mirabal, La Vega, María Trinidad Sánchez, Monseñor Nouel, Montecristi, Puerto Plata, Samaná, Sánchez Ramírez, Santiago, Santiago Rodríguez and Valverde.
Chiropractors With Compassion
The hard work of Chiropractors With Compassion has helped transform the community of Batey Angelina from a place many wanted to leave behind into a model community in the Dominican Republic.
With a network of nearly 100 doctors of chiropractic throughout Canada and the United States, committed to donating U.S. $20.00 for every new patient that comes…
Helping Haiti: Our Food Kit Distribution Process
We continue to procure and deliver relief supplies through our staging area in Florida and our two supply warehouses in Haiti. We estimate that 1,000 emergency relief food kits are arriving in Haiti daily, some of which are donated by church partners in the Dominican Republic.
Food kits are put together in the Dominican Republic…
Clean Water for Haiti
The critical need the poor always have for water has been heightened in Haiti after the earthquake. We’ve used various ways to distribute water to our church partners, and we’re looking to our strategic partnerships to continue to meet the short- and long-term needs.
We have a long-standing relationship with Healing Waters International, providing water…
This morning, Compassion President Wess Stafford interviewed Edouard Lassegue, Vice President of the Central America and Caribbean Region, who spoke by cell phone from Haiti about the situation on the ground and our efforts to minister to the Haitian people.
The call includes insights into our disaster response work and updates about the status…
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