Some Assistance Please?

Just Show Up

Starz_in_my_eye said:

I was wondering if some one might assist my family in a little dilema that we are having. It would be greatly appreciated if you guys can direct us, and perhaphs answer a few questions.
We have been buying school supplies wich we would like to present personally, so that we may have the opportunity to interact with teachers and children

Does anyone know of a way we might go about contacting or making arrangments so that we will be able to visit one of the local schools?

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As long as school is in session when you arrive , if you have armloads of the stuff just go to the school, ask for the principal and donate away. You may even find the school district office nearby, e.g. in Boca Chica it's next door to the school. So you could start there, expect little or no English speakers.

I am not sure how equitably this stuff will be doled out as there is a range of need on a student by student basis, so you may also want to consider the local church as if they have awareness of the more poor kids they can perhaps hand out the supplies to those in need. Less humiliating too.

I think the biggest need is uniforms, as with paying a small cost for them, they can go but to some it is too great a cost and they can't attend, so you might want to offer to buy 5 or 10 for kids in need.

I am not totally convinced the Cuban model of schools etc., having literally nothing, no pens and paper is accurate for the DR and whether these kind intentions are all that suitable. The kids I see with backpacks and cell phones and going to the candy shop every day across froom the school do not seem in dire need of pencils.

Dominican Dream Project

Contact Tricia at www.dominicandream.org They've done some really great things.

Good answer

I would hope and suspect this group doles out the stuff according to need which is what you want with this sort of thing.

Good post Rick !!

Unfortunately, some of those who take "school supplies" (which they may have gotten at little or no cost to themselves) may be helping their own self-esteem more than the needs of the children.

If one truly wants to help, he can find a kid that obviously isn't in school (they're everywhere) and put him there step by step. Maybe the kid needs a birth certificate or other documentation that costs money. He'll certainly need a uniform, shoes, books, backpack, and a few pesos a day for snacks in school.

Those unfortunate "school-less" kids are quite likely being regularly ridiculed as being "stupid" by other kids and even the parents who simply don't want to face up to their own responsibilities.

This approach requires a little effort on the part of the Good Samaritan, but then he will have the satisfaction of knowing that he has truly done something.
Helping one kid this way is more effective than an entire planeload of donated supplies. It will also gain a lifelong friend for the giver.

A Story About Why Mass Charity Fails

andy a said:

If one truly wants to help, he can find a kid that obviously isn't in school (they're everywhere) and put him there step by step.

Those unfortunate "school-less" kids are quite likely being regularly ridiculed as being "stupid" by other kids and even the parents who simply don't want to face up to their own responsibilities.

Helping one kid this way is more effective than an entire planeload of donated supplies. It will also gain a lifelong friend for the giver.

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Three Xmas' ago a friend ran a free gift day in Boca Chica - food, small gifts, drinks, some cake - out of a hotel there. He paid for all food etc., and some American and Canadian regulars brought gifts ( including this really annoying guy the other 364 days of the year who brought about 500 stuffed animals in huge suitcases and dared customs to charge one peso taxes or bribes for them - they didn't)

Promotion was by word of mouth mostly in the barrios of Coquito and the lesser well off areas. The children to whom it was promoted showed up on time as they were sort of gathered up by the sponsors.

An hour into the fun, the cars of quite well to do Dominicans showed up (this inclues Lexus' and such , better than I drive) with kids in pretty good fiscal shape mooching for free stuff. Well it got pretty busy, the cops came to keep order and it ended OK.

The following year he did it on the QT, got some donations, went to the church in Coquito and they gave out what they could to the poor kids. Even then word got out and some other showed up but by then the good deed was done.

Last year he didn't bother. It was just too much work to dole out disorganized charity.

Taking stuff to schools to give to rich kids is not anywhere near as donating money for the uniform and such ( I bet one kid cannot need $50 to $100 to last a couple years) via the church , probably as the easiest way to find the needy kids. Then One kid gets to GO to school , vs. 20 kids getting to color.

I don't kow much about the posted charity but it seems like a start, as long as part of the mandate is to make school accessible , not make school nicer for the kids who can afford to go.

Change

Here is what I think. On your next trip to the DR, find what you think is a poor school age child. Ask them to take you to their home. Take a good look around the home and your next donation will not be school supplies. It will be cooking oil, beans, rice, and orange juice. That is if the family is lucky enough to have a 2 burner propane stove to cook and some way to ref. the juice.

As for me I will never again take any type of goods to the DR. When you learn where to shop, you can find almost anything there. Most of the time it will be cheaper than you can buy it in the US.

The big problem as I see it is that the Peso needs to return to around 20 cents per dollar so the local people who are making the same amount of money they were making 4 years ago can survive. If you want to see change in the DR it must be done on the political side. Not with charity.

ricktoronto said:

Taking stuff to schools to give to rich kids is not anywhere near as donating money for the uniform and such ( I bet one kid cannot need $50 to $100 to last a couple years) via the church , probably as the easiest way to find the needy kids. Then One kid gets to GO to school , vs. 20 kids getting to color.

I don't kow much about the posted charity but it seems like a start, as long as part of the mandate is to make school accessible , not make school nicer for the kids who can afford to go.

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