Are we doing enough?

love da DR said:

I
I was thinking and would welcome any feed back on the idea of
adopting a Dominica child via "World Vision" or some other organization committed to helping the children of the DR. Isaac

Click to expand...

Better yet adopt a Dominican child since this is a Dominican Republic board - the country of Dominica can get their own message board, eh?

You want to help Isacc?

Then collect all the childrens clothes you can find! Church group,family,friends,rummage/garage sales.Bring all the clothes with you next time.Drive outside of Santiago,stop where you see poor children and give the clothes to their parents yourself.No 50%administrative fees,no expensive advertising campaigns,no "BullShit"!100% of what you collect goes to the kids! CRISCO

There are very good orphanages in the country. We worked with one in Puerto Plata teaching art and sewing. Devote you time to teaching a useful trade and this will be a terrific contribution.
MarionHarshman

One of the better ideas to pop up on this BBin some time.

rick you .

Dominicites and Dominimites??? Wonderful thinking!! Thanks!

Isaac, great post. We spent a month in Puerto Plata this summer and I found myself wondering how to "really" help. We went to Luperon which has a Compassion International office in town and I saw a mom reading a letter from someone in the states (a comapssion sponsor) while her little one toddled around. This made me feel like in that town at least there is a presence to help the kids get to school and get some of the basics they need to survive.

Cris Colon: the clothes idea is great. Give me more good tips like that one. I agree with you about giving 100% to the kids.

I went to a missions debriefing last week for our trip and one of the emphases was "make a relationship, keep a relationship" with the people we met while in the DR. Don't come down for a short time with lots of promises. Make a commitment to go back, to keep in touch, to build a relationship! My pastor said "Plan on your grandkids meeting their grandkids!" I thought this was a great idea and it helped me to focus on the people I had met. One girl was Damalbi. She is 7 and she is deaf. Soon enough I will have my pictures posted of this little girl. And I really hope to visit again before she turns 8. Just to give her a hug and encourage her mom and be a real friend.

I think the goal is not to make little americans (read: with all the BS privileges that US kids have) out of the kids but to give them what they need to survive, thrive and learn to provide for their own future.

Amity

y

Some posts had steered from the OP and I moved them to this thread.

pictures of Damalbi

As I said, I would post some pix (well, my brother did...thanks, bro).
http://www.xach.com/tmp/dr-damalbi/
We had a 24 hour stay in Luperon. We spent about 3 of them with this girl. She is in our hearts forever. She had made up her own signs to communicate. We taught her and her mom the alphabet and some basic sigsn used in signed English, such as tree, church, and some of the Spanish signs we know. It was so exciting for all of us, and she dragged me around pointing at things wanting to know their signs. She had old, broken hearing aids that an adult had given her. They didn't fit or work.
Anyway, this is Damalbi!
My brother said he is finishing up the scans tomorrow, so I will post a link of the entire trip.

I think this is a great post.

With all the baggage limitations to DR, how can one take or send clothes and used toys to children there?
Are there any exemptions for donations?

Ccarabella

My understanding was that at the current time that there can be difficulty importing used clothing due to the problems that were encountered with the used clothing business importing clothing from Haiti that was intended to be given away and that subverts the tax system here. I only caught it in passing, perhaps someone can fill us in on that?

Children

I have plenty of friends in Canada who have children's clothing in excellent condition, baby clothes etc. that they would love to put to good use.

Maybe someone can organize a drive, collect all the clothing. Then we could speak with a charter airline representative about getting the stuff shipped for free or a mininmum charge(Airlines would love the publicity).

Then someone on the Dominican end with ties could see that the things get through customs without too much hassle.

Perhaps the local orfanage or churches could distribute the goods.


Count me in.

Puerto Plata Contacts

Our church in Puerto Plata, la Iglesia Biblica Cristiana, would be a good point of contact.

As of TODAY, I am organizing a missions trip for my high school Spanish students for next April. This would make an excellent focus for the trip. We can take clothing from the DC area, and spend a week to 10 days in country sorting and distributing. Depending on baggage restrictions, kids can pack a carry-on and back pack and we can use luggage from our thrift store to bring down clothes in lieu of personal checked baggage. (I have done this before for trips to Venezuela.)

The drop off point for clothing would be in Ashburn, VA...within reach of the Beltway! If any one is interested in dropping off clothes from the MD, DC and VA area, email me and I can give you the address of our church, or go to www.cfellowshipc.com.

Would any locals on this board help with the idea of bringing down school supplies as well. What would be MOST useful for a school aged child in the DR?

Mainely Missing Maine-Girl

Hopefully you can expidiate your research on this subject, will be coming in about one month, already have one suitcase of kids clothes. Would hate to lose them at Customs.
Mainer2

MainGirl...I have some new and used children and women's clothing I would be willing to donate...I know you mention DC and VA as drop off points...I live in Boston area....so let me know if you will be driving up I-95 to Maine so I can gather up some of those clothes for you to take with you...

mondongo

PS Is your organization officially registered with the IRS? That yould help the donors possibly get some tax deductions.

donations & deductions

Mondongo,
Yes, my church has a tax number with the IRS, I believe they usually give letters to people who donate with the value of the items donated...I usually get a statement at the end of the fiscal year listing any donations we have made throughout the year.

BTW, we have brought loads of supplies (medical and school, plus a suitcase full of shoes) down to both Venezuela and the DR in the past and we have never had a problem at customs...