Child Sponsorship Report 2010, from Los Jardines, Dominican Republic

Please note: This report may have been written by someone whose first language is not English.  We have left it largely unedited, as this is how a sponsor would receive it.

Dear Sponsor,

This half of this year passed between school, recreation and family activities, special occasions such as national holidays, carnival, valentine’s day, mother’s day, among others, and we want to share some information with you, because without your generous support this would not be possible.

In our SOS Children's Village Los Jardines there currently are 16 families, with 73 boys and 65 girls for a total of 138 children and youth.

Since the school year ended we had about 95% of school effectiveness for children and youths. This also includes the Haitian children that were taken in our village, after the devastating January 12th earthquake. We have 16 children, 9 boys and 7 girls, who have become part of the Village, and are awaiting for the Dominican and Haitian authorities to conclude the investigations on the status of their biological families for the reunification of those who can and the admittance into the SOS Children Villages in Haiti of those who unfortunately lost they relatives.

Some of the children are doing extracurricular courses such as English, computer repair, electricity, styling and secretariats.

We made several trips to beaches where the whole community was involved. Many of the children and youth went on holiday with their biological relatives. Others went on outings with their SOS mothers for shopping, watching movies, etc.

We are working with the families of origin, as we believe it is important that children and youths know their roots and keep the bond with their biological relatives. Within this framework, we have the challenge to form a strong team consisting of SOS mothers and SOS aunts committed, and employees motivated with the work they do.

Maintenance work was conducted in the village: we fixed and painted the interior of some houses, tasks that the youth of the village helped in. In some houses we changed closets and waterproofed the roofs. Similar changes were made to the playground and the basketball and volley ball courts, thanks to Yellow Pages in Dominican Republic.

We take this opportunity to extend heartfelt thanks for the generous support and best wishes.

With many greetings

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Lucia Veloz Cabral.
Sponsorship coordinator
SOS Children’s Villages Dominican Republic