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God is working at
Park School and Care Center!
Please pray for...
Protection for KA students and staff from COVID-19 and continued provision for the many unemployed families in the area around the school.
A relaxing summer break in July for our teaching staff after a challenging school year.
The restart of our independence, life skill and vocational training programs over the next few months.
Funding and successful construction of four new classrooms this summer as we position ourselves to be a two section basic education school for the entire community.
Prayer requests updated 06/2021
Park School and Care Center is located in the town of Caraballo and is a refuge for more than 200 children and youth. Our basic education program, which has served preschoolers through 5th grade, received approval from the government this year to expand to 6th grade, allowing us more time with our students. We are expanding our reading initiatives in a vigorous effort to foster a life-long love of reading among our kids. Our kids receive a nourishing breakfast and lunch at school, and because so many of them live in extreme poverty, these may be the only meals they will eat that day. And we are now offering regular dental care for all students.
Our high school discipleship program helps us stay connected with our former students, and recently we expanded to include life skills and vocational training. We’ve added work internships as well, giving older youth a glimpse of what they can work toward and experience in the future.
Some of our goals for the next year are to develop a soccer ministry and continue training in trauma-competent care to better help children from hard places. We also hope to incorporate a nearby building, which will allow us to open a program for four-year-olds. In serving kids who come from difficult backgrounds, we want to give them the best care possible and show them the deep love of Jesus.
As our Country Director Vic Trautwein says, “Our school in Caraballo is truly an oasis in the desert for children. God’s love overflows through our dedicated staff and many, many lives are changing in this spiritually and materially impoverished place.”
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