Summer/Spring Newsletter
SPRING/SUMMER DOMINICA SCHOOL AND ORPHANAGE UPDATE
The 522 students of the Dominica School and Orphanage (DSO) send you their thanks for allowing them to continue to attend this fine institution. I just returned from another trip to the Dominican Republic a few days ago, and I never cease to be amazed by the children—well behaved, polite, eager to learn--and very grateful for the opportunity that the supporters of the Dominica School and Orphanage Support Fund (DSOSF) are providing for them.
Once again, the visit strengthened my view that our efforts are accomplishing a massive amount of “good work” by educating and feeding some of the poorest and most disadvantaged children in our hemisphere. I was accompanied by my two sons, Austin and Miles, and by Patrick Toohey. Patrick is a junior at Colgate University and he is assisting us this summer as we attempt to obtain additional funding for the DSO by submitting grant applications to various charities/NGOs. All three of them were impressed with how much can be done with so few resources. As Austin put it, “I’ve never seen one person (Dominica Rosario) manage so many things at the same time and do it so well."
Now for a summary of the status of the DSO:
STUDENTS
Of the 522 students, 306 are in the “social program," which means that they receive tuition and all meals for free. There are 19 orphans living in the orphanage. Every night two aides stay with the children at the orphanage. 106 of the social program students have been placed in foster homes. Some of these children are orphans, while others come from homes that are not felt to be safe for the children, either because of domestic violence, extreme poverty, or other issues. The kids range in age from preschool (the youngest being an 18-month-old girl who was abandoned at the front gate of the school last year when she was 9 months old) to 9th graders. There is a waiting list of 65 children for acceptance into the school.
Academically, the school continues to be one of the highest ranked schools in its district. The students take standardized national tests to assess their progress at the end of the 3rd grade and 9th grade. Any students who are not progressing on schedule are placed in a remedial summer program at the school.
In addition to providing an excellent learning environment, the school prepares 800 hot meals a day using the stoves donated last year by the DSOSF, plus hundreds of “snacks” which are served in the late afternoon. For many of the kids, this is the only food they receive all day.
STAFF AND PROJECTS
There are 19 teachers on the faculty, including 5 teachers who migrated to the DR from Venezuela last year with assistance from the DSOSF. In addition, there are twelve other people on the staff including two cooks, a handyman, an administrative assistant, and 8 aides. The aides help with the preschool children, and assist with bathing and dressing the younger children every morning. For many of the children, the only bathing they receive is at the school in the morning.
We asked Dominica to prioritize the capital projects which she feels will be helpful to the school over the next five years. The number one project in her mind is to continue to reopen a new high school class each year so that the older students at the school can finish high school at the DSO. Ever since the high school classes were stopped in 2014, Dominica has watched her older students go to the public schools, often with disastrous outcomes—girls getting pregnant, boys joining gangs, etc. This year ninth grade classes were resumed. In order to resume tenth grade classes next year and resume all high school classes in the coming years, two new classrooms must be built. Fortunately, the expense for this project is less than expected ($20,000 US) because the new classrooms will be on the second floor of the school and the infrastructure for this expansion was put in place when the school was built in 2003. The fund advisors of the DSOSF agree with the importance of this project, and $20,000 was wired to the DSO on June 11, with the goal being to have the classrooms ready when school resumes in August.
We are also working on developing a new website and a Facebook page for the DSO. These will outline what is going on at the school, the initiatives of the DSOSF, and other projects being sponsored by the four other organizations in the United States who are providing support to the DSO.
FINANCES
We met for two hours with the school’s accountant on the second day of our trip. The school’s financial status has improved significantly over the past three years. The projection for the 2017-2018 fiscal year, which coincides with the school year, is to have no deficit. Income and expenditures will both be approximately $190,000. The largest source of revenue is the money from the DSOSF, which accounts for 65% of the operating budget. The next largest source of income is the tuition paid by the 200 students who can afford to pay some tuition—either in full or partial payment.
I assured Dominica on this trip that the DSOSF will have the resources to continue our present level of support throughout both the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years. This type of financial stability allows her to retain the excellent teachers on the faculty. Over the past three years, your generous donations have provided Dominica with over $400,000.
NEWS
I also have some really great news: Dominica will be visiting Columbus this fall on Sept 21-24. She will be bringing Athenas, her daughter who graduated from the DSO and is now a veterinary student, and Yeritza, another DSO graduate who is now in medical school (their travel costs are being covered by one of the founders of the DSOSF, not from the DSOSF funds). Multiple events are being planned for the weekend, and we will be sending out notices of these events in the next 4-6 weeks. We will be focusing on fundraising for operational support of the new high school classes during the visit.
Once again, thank you so much for your continued support. Your contributions are allowing the 19 orphans and 306 children in the “social program” to remain in the school. Our immediate goal is to keep them in the school by reopening the high school classes which were closed during the school’s financial crisis of 2014. Once again, if you have any ideas about other potential partners (churches, corporations, foundations) who can assist us with this project, or if you have any questions about the DSO and the DSOSF, please let us know.
- Phil Hawley, fund advisor to the DSOSF
Sent to email list on June 12, 2018