The Dominican Republic economy began reopening in phases starting in June. But since many families remain unemployed and hence have no …
read more »Around 80% of the ANIJA families are unemployed and without income, as most lost jobs with the pandemic and the …
read more »SCHOOLS COVID-19 presented many challenges for the seven Kids Alive schools in the Dominican Republic. Our first priority became keeping …
read more »As the fight against COVID-19 gets deeper and more protracted, our formidable staff ministry-warriors dig their heels in even deeper …
read more »
God is Working in ANIJA!
Please pray for...
Continued protection from COVID for both students and staff, especially with the relaxing of protocols and restrictions in the country.
A restful July vacation for our dedicated teaching staff and other personnel.
Permission from the government to move from semi-present teaching to full classroom teaching this fall.
Funds to purchase more books as we try to rebuild and expand our library and place additional books in each classroom to promote literacy.
Prayer requests updated 06/2021
The ANIJA School’s name is the Spanish acronym for “helping the children of Jarabacoa” and that mission is lived out every day. We serve more than 380 children and youth and we also house the administrative centers for the Kids Alive soccer club and university scholarship program. Our experienced staff have a passion for helping at-risk kids and they make our program feel like a big family. About 30% of our staff were once at-risk kids who attended our school and benefited from our ministry.
We have almost completed a major facility expansion which will add a new cafeteria, sports court, and several more classrooms. The project is 90% complete and fully funded. Our hygienist graduated from university to become a dentist, which means we can now clean and seal teeth as well as fill cavities on campus. Our soccer club has close to 300 kids participating, and our 8th and 9th grade girls’ team finished second in a national high school tournament.
Our objectives for the coming months include improving our computer-based learning opportunities and reopening a school library that has been unavailable due to a lack of classroom space. And we remain committed to improving our intervention practices as we seek to care for the children’s physical, spiritual, and emotional health in our social services. There is much work to do in Jarabacoa but with God all things are possible!
Our students come from the poorest communities and would otherwise not have access to a solid education. Not only do we offer them a quality education including English, computers, and art, but our after-school program provides lunch, tutoring, and extracurricular activities. We are thankful that more than 80% of the students who enter our program graduate from high school, and each one hears daily about the hope found in Jesus.
Once again, we greet you from the ministries of Kids Alive in Dominican Republic, where your partnership and your gifts are helping to plant hope in the lives of at-risk children and young people. We rejoice that this is not simply a hope for escaping poverty or for a better career – you are planting the living hope (1 Pet. 1:3) in their lives which means an eternity with the One who loves them!
Within Kids Alive DR, we have the privilege of working with over 2,000 kids between the ages of 3 and 22. While this seems like a large window of opportunity to cultivate these seeds, the culture here often works against us, making the labor difficult. And nearly all the children we serve come from, and still live inside, backgrounds of abuse, exploitation, or extreme poverty. These “hard places” make the sowing of hope a real challenge.
However, one of our great joys is seeing the visible, healthy growth in these young lives and watching them blossom into beautiful new creations before our eyes. They are developing strong roots, watered by your compassion and love, and are going on to have a positive impact on their families and communities.
All our ministries are benefiting from unprecedented favor with government officials. Our schools are receiving awards for excellence; our homes are receiving commendations for our quality care, and we’re increasingly being asked to take additional children that Dominican officials have identified as abused or neglected. We see this as a tremendous privilege – and a great responsibility. read more »
Vic Trautwein
Co-Country Director
Dominican Republic
Ramon Prenza
Co-Country Director
Dominican Republic