Lots Going On

 Hey Friends,

Well, it's been quite awhile since my last post. The world has gone through a crisis of, dare I say, biblical proportions (yes, I dare) in the last year and Las Margaritas has responded in equal measure. Perhaps that's a bit of hyperbole but we have done what we can to help out in the DR. As the pandemic hit the DR we diverted funds from El Campamento, which we couldn't run, of course, to support front line workers. Mainly, we provided meals to the Red Cross folk and hospital staff that were caring for those affected by COVID.

This Spring, as many Dominicans got vaccinated, we turned back to the programs we have run for many years and then started two new initiatiaves.  Here's a summary of what we've been up to (and, yes, I do know that you shouldn't end a sentence in a preposition, which is why I added this paranthetical comment): 

Long Time Programming

•  Send a Girl to College: We ramped up this program, which has been going on for four years now. This year we were able to provide financial support (tuition, transportation, books, supplies) to 14 girls, including our first graduate!!!

                            Top left corner: Karen Medina Martinez, our first graduate who just completed a program in                                                               Clinical Psychology from UTE (Las Universidad de Tercera Edad) in Santo Domingo.                                                                        And, yes, we are missing a couple of photos. Working on that.

• El Campamento: We're back! After skipping last year we are running the camp again this summer. The camp is going to run at La Escuela Doña Chucha, a local school in Madre Vieja Norte, a small community in San Cristobal. The camp will be led by the principal and teachers of that school and is going to use a hybrid model with some programming done in person and some virtually. For my devoted and historical readers Doña Chucha is the school where we built the garden a few years back.

Here's a video montage as a gentle reminder

                                                 

Super Fun & Exciting New Stuff (SFENS)

• Cradle to College: We started this program to support teen mothers. A number of former female participants in El Campamento became pregnant at a young age. In this initiative, we are donating care packages for these new mothers: formula, diapers, children's books, clothing, etc. to help them manage their newfound responsibility.

Basket of Supplies

•  El Centro Comunitario: In our most ambitious project to date we are opening ... get ready for it ... a community center for the youth in San Cristobal. After many years of running El Campamento in the Summer we came to the realization that it was not enough. We were able to help los jovenes in our summer camp develop literacy and leadership skills, but some of that progress was lost during the school year. We needed to find a way for our campers to build on the progress that was made in the summer. We began the literacy clubs to address this concern but it was not enough. Hence, the community center. We have rented a space in the heart of Madre Vieja (near where El Campamento has traditionally run) and will begin programming in a few weeks. At first we will relocate the reading club to the new community center, create a lending library (which doesn't exist in San Cristobal) and develop a homework center. Once we get up and running we will add programming such as music, art, sports, and coding classes. 

 

                            An artistic rendering of the lending library/homework center in our new community center

All of this is made possible, of course, by the generous contributions of our supporters. Of special note is the partnership that we have been able to create with the Burkhaven Family Foundation. We applied for and were awarded with a a $10,000 grant from this foundation for this year to get the community center up and running and they have committed $60,000 over the next three years. Wowza! 

So, we've been busy right?