Today was our first day in the Dominican Republic and I am starting to realize how much I really missed it here; the relaxed lifestyle, the culture, and most of all the people. I woke up nice and early to the sound of a rooster and motor conchos zooming by on the street. The place we are renting is in Puerto Plata, and a bit of a drive up the mountain. Liz is the lady who we are renting from and living with; also the sole ground missionary in DR for Dove Missions.
Our morning started out with the boys club that she runs. The boys club is a safe place for street boys to go, and is a stepping stone for the older ones for a future vocational school that we are going to help get off the ground. The boys club is for boys who have unfortunate home situations and end up working on the streets to earn money for themselves and their families. Most of the boys in the club were part of a pedophilia ring that was broken up last summer. DOVE missions describes the boys club like this:
“The Boys Club program is designed to foster self-esteem, cooperation, respect, responsibility, goal setting and leadership skills in the youth we work with. Our program seeks to empower these young boys to be agents of change not only in their own lives but also in their communities. We currently have 14 boys enrolled in the program in Agua Negra, and have seen great improvement in each of these boy’s ability to focus, to collaborate, to complete projects and to empower each other to succeed. Our goal is to refine this pilot program over the next few months, and then to implement it in other barrios in the Puerto Plata area”.
The boys club actually now has more than 14 boys; there are actually around 20-25. Today we brought the boys juice and bread and then set them off with a project. We gave them materials to make a creative puppet character that they had to tell a story about to the club.
The fact that the boys are expected to show up for club at a certain time, behave respectfully to the other boys and use their imagination instils a certain behaviour that DOVE is striving to a achieve. They are taking responsibility for their actions.
In the afternoon, we toured the village that most of the boys live in and met some of their families. Another program that DOVE runs is families sponsor families. “This program is designed to help the families of the street boys we work with to meet their basic needs, so that the boys can go to school instead of work the streets. It is meant as both a source of financial or material support for acute needs, as well as a means to cultivate accountability to the families to keep their children in school or enrolled in our vocational boys program”. (Dove Missions)
Part of our job down here is to go into the homes of these families, find out what their needs are, set up updates for the sponsors, and collect information for potential sponsors. We also need to be checking up on the boys to ensure they attend the boys club, since attendance is a mandatory aspect, and that teaches them responsibility.
One cool moment that I had today with one of the boys, named Richard, was when we were beginning to make the craft. At the beginning, he would not speak to anyone, nor would he participate in the craft. Eventually I broke through and just put the craft materials in front of him. And he began to brighten up, and ended up making a really great puppet figure.
Today was an amazing day and I am excited to keep working with these boys. They are very sweet and I can already see after one day that they have a lot of potential. With some guidance, like this program is going to provide, they will be able to make something of their life.
Our morning started out with the boys club that she runs. The boys club is a safe place for street boys to go, and is a stepping stone for the older ones for a future vocational school that we are going to help get off the ground. The boys club is for boys who have unfortunate home situations and end up working on the streets to earn money for themselves and their families. Most of the boys in the club were part of a pedophilia ring that was broken up last summer. DOVE missions describes the boys club like this:
“The Boys Club program is designed to foster self-esteem, cooperation, respect, responsibility, goal setting and leadership skills in the youth we work with. Our program seeks to empower these young boys to be agents of change not only in their own lives but also in their communities. We currently have 14 boys enrolled in the program in Agua Negra, and have seen great improvement in each of these boy’s ability to focus, to collaborate, to complete projects and to empower each other to succeed. Our goal is to refine this pilot program over the next few months, and then to implement it in other barrios in the Puerto Plata area”.
The boys club actually now has more than 14 boys; there are actually around 20-25. Today we brought the boys juice and bread and then set them off with a project. We gave them materials to make a creative puppet character that they had to tell a story about to the club.
The fact that the boys are expected to show up for club at a certain time, behave respectfully to the other boys and use their imagination instils a certain behaviour that DOVE is striving to a achieve. They are taking responsibility for their actions.
In the afternoon, we toured the village that most of the boys live in and met some of their families. Another program that DOVE runs is families sponsor families. “This program is designed to help the families of the street boys we work with to meet their basic needs, so that the boys can go to school instead of work the streets. It is meant as both a source of financial or material support for acute needs, as well as a means to cultivate accountability to the families to keep their children in school or enrolled in our vocational boys program”. (Dove Missions)
Part of our job down here is to go into the homes of these families, find out what their needs are, set up updates for the sponsors, and collect information for potential sponsors. We also need to be checking up on the boys to ensure they attend the boys club, since attendance is a mandatory aspect, and that teaches them responsibility.
One cool moment that I had today with one of the boys, named Richard, was when we were beginning to make the craft. At the beginning, he would not speak to anyone, nor would he participate in the craft. Eventually I broke through and just put the craft materials in front of him. And he began to brighten up, and ended up making a really great puppet figure.
Today was an amazing day and I am excited to keep working with these boys. They are very sweet and I can already see after one day that they have a lot of potential. With some guidance, like this program is going to provide, they will be able to make something of their life.
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