1
School Attendance Program
Of our adult population, the majority are illiterate or struggle to read. Less than half completed high school. Only 5 individuals in the history of our community have a university degree. God began to change this situation when Dr. Jacob Ramirez became the first in his hometown, Altagracia, to graduate from a university, followed by several more graduates of similar age in the next few years. This year, we have a record number of young adults enrolled in local universities. Praise God!
We believe improving our community's future starts by enhancing the culture of education for our current primary and high school students. Many parents who didn't complete their own schooling don't prioritize the school attendance of their children, but we do! We constantly remind our children how important it is to plan for university and careers, but they need some extra encouragement to get started. We began an attendance tracking and rewards program that grew from 30 elementary students to nearly 300 elementary and high school students within two school years. Children receive a sticker each day, then candy or another small prize at specified benchmarks throughout the year. The highest attenders qualify to attend an ice cream party at the end of the year, where everyone receives an achievement certificate and the top "winners" receive grand prizes.
You can support this attendance program by praying for our students, as well as donations of stickers, hard candy, or funds to purchase these.
2
School Uniform Sponsorship
After starting our incentive program, we realized that the ability to attend school was not always within the students' own control. In Dominican culture, and by mandate of the government's Ministry of Education, students are required to wear only a specific uniform and one of just a few accepted types of closed-toe shoes. While this rule is quite strict, many families can barely afford for each of their children to own even one complete uniform and maybe one pair of shoes (which are often worn-out, damaged, or ill-fitting). Students miss days or weeks of school if something happens to their only uniform or pair of appropriate shoes. At times, the community pipes produce no water for laundry, and students miss school simply because their only uniform is dirty.
When we began holding students accountable for their own school attendance (and created a new community-wide competition among these young friends and neighbors!), we realized the need to support them in meeting the basic requirement for attendance: uniforms. So in the summer of 2017, we began our uniform sponsorship program with the goal of providing a complete uniform (shirt, pants/skirt, and shoes) to every school-age child in the community. God exceeded this goal and supplied a huge donation of quality shoes, plus plenty of funding to provide uniforms to all of Altagracia's students, about 1/3 of Algodon's students, and a few additional students in Fundacion. Please pray with us for success in the upcoming 2018 program (especially as the government has approved a new, more expensive uniform), watch for postings when this sponsorship begins in June, and consider sponsoring one or more of our students' education.
