““If you can’t feed a hundred people, feed just one.””
Our International Outreach Destination
Socioeconomic Realities of Dominican Republic
More than a third of the Dominican Republic lives on less than $1.25 a day and over 20 percent of the country lives in extreme poverty. Most of the poverty in the Dominican Republic is concentrated in the rural areas. The rural poverty rate is about three times as high as the urban poverty rate.
This natural island paradise has an unnatural marriage between the glamour of luxury tourism and suffocating local poverty.
We are fighting to make Healthcare and Education more accessible for the poor in Dominican Republic.
The Dominican Healthcare System Presents Significant Hardships for the Poor
Problems in Access to Quality Healthcare for the Poor
Lack of supplies and professional staffing in Government Facilities.
Patients are still required to purchase medications, and often other essential treatment supplies.
Patients are often required to be admitted over night for minor problems, which creates significant cost to the patient, and patients are not allowed to leave the clinical facilities or hospitals without making payment. In this process the cost often continues to rise.
Essential health costs can be financially crippling for many families.
Problems in Access to Quality Education for the poor
More than 40% of Dominican children are uneducated. Children living in rural areas, as well as migrant children, do not have easy access to schools. Furthermore, the quality of the education itself is not as good as it should be: teachers are poorly trained; scholastic programs are ill-suited to the needs of the students; and school buildings stand in dire need of repair. Also disturbing is the fact that in the Dominican Republic, only 60% of children complete their primary education. Moreover, many families encourage their children to drop out of school and work full time to increase household finances. Many schools lack the equipment and supplies that are necessary to effectively serve the educators and students.
Uncultivated Talent So Often Lost to Being Marginalized
A Video Tour of the Major Regions of Dominican Republic from the Air
Tour this island paradise filled with natural beauty, opulence, and suffocating poverty.
Black in Latin America Episode 1 - Dominican Republic and Haiti : The Roots of Division
Learn the History, Culture, and Conflicts of the Island of Hispaniola, The Birthplace of the European and African Experiences in the New World.