Greetings to all, Touching base with family and friends with an update on my recent activities. As some of you may know I’ve been living in the Dominican Republic (D.R.) for the past 12 months. Ive visited the D.R. off and on for the past 20 years. In late 2013, I rented an apartment in Cabarete, a town located on the North Coast of the island. Cabarete is known for it’s water-sports activities i.e. kiteboarding, windsurfing and surfing. The local economy relies heavily on tourism. Over the past year I’ve had the chance to meet and establish friendships with many Dominicans. I’ve been invited into their homes for celebrations and had some delicious home cooked meals. The people are warm, hospitable and seem to always have a smile on their faces. It’s been a GREAT experience. Here’s the thing, unlike in the USA and other industrialized countries, the resources available in the D.R. to help it’s people develop skills needed to rise up from poverty are severely limited. According to UNICEF, public investment in education is 2.3% of their gross domestic product, which ranks 122 out of 132 countries. I and a friend from Holland, Stefan, have decided to help! Our plan is based in part on the model developed by “Boys ands Girls Club of America. Currently, in the Cabarete area there is an organization providing skills training for girls; however, there isn’t one for the boys. We formed Inspire By Action (IBA), an out-of-school youth organization with the purpose of educating, mentoring and inspiring boys to develop into productive and responsible citizens. We’ll launch our program on January 19th, 2015, by teaching English as a second language. We believe this will help build their self-confident and will create job opportunities. Also, we’ll incorporate regular physical activity, team building exercises and skills and character development initiatives. As we build on our successes, we envision building a full-scale training campus. Stefan and I have much work ahead to ensure the organization effectively and efficiently achieves its goals. We’re up for the challenge. Of course, funding, supplies, equipment, and volunteers are all needed to help support the organization. If you’ve read this and you feel inspired to help, OUTSTANDING! Please visit our website: inspirebyaction.org to learn a bit more about the organization and pitch-in if you can. Make sure to view the page: “How You Can Help”. Below are a few figures that illustrate some reasons we’ve chosen to help: **40% of the population lives below the national poverty line. **Public investment in education is 2.3% of their gross domestic product, which ranks 122 out of 132 countries. **Children entering formal education: 75% complete grade 4; 63% complete grade 6, and 52% complete grade 8. **Only 12% of low-income students who start high school will complete their studies, compared to 62% of those from higher income brackets. Sources: UNICEF, World Bank, United Nations, UNESCO, OECD, Wikipedia, USAID Basic Education and Policy Support and American Association of Fundraising Counsel, Programa de Promoción de la Reforma Educativa de América Latina y el Caribe (PREAL),
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 01:18:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015