Healthy Girls make Healthy Women

Year: 2011
Country: Dominican Republic
Project Status: Funded
Impact Sector: Education
Project Investment: $500.00

Project Launch:

San Pedro de Macoris is in Eastern Dominican Republic, sugar cane country. Like much of the Dominican Republic, the region is made up of descendents of the Cocolos (islanders from the English-speaking Caribbean) and Haitian immigrants. Spanish is the main language, although Haitian Creole can be heard in almost any barrio and main street. The average community member has a seventh grade education and the majority of residents have no fixed income and no consistent employment. The average age of new mothers is 19. The girls at the local orphanage tend to be taught the traditional Dominican female roles: cooking, cleaning, laundry, doing their hair and nails and rarely play sports or discuss gender roles, much less have the opportunity to understand what gender roles are. With a $500 grant from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program, the girls participated in a program where they learned about self esteem, personal health, women’s history, and HIV/AIDS prevention.