Carmelo's Story

The importance of education in the life of a child cannot be over estimated. Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” Consider the following two stories.

Carmelo is an 11 year old boy living with his family in the community of Los Alcarrizos in the Dominican Republic. He is the second youngest of 8 children and lives with his mother Maria and his father Mariano. Carmelo is a smart, bright child who spends his day helping his mother with her work. His mother washes and irons the clothes of single men in the neighborhood who belong to the military.

Carmelo begins his day going round the houses to collect dirty clothes. He takes the clothes home then collects water for his mother from the community well. Carmelo’s home, like all those in Los Alcarrizos, doesn’t have running water. Collecting the clothes and water takes most of Carmelo’s morning. During the afternoon he plays in the street, baseball maybe, with the other local kids until it is time for him to return the clothes, now washed and ironed, back to their owners.

Carmelo would like to go to school but like 6,000 other children in Los Alcarrizos there is literally no room for him in any of the local schools. The Dominican Republic has a chronic shortage of class rooms.  Carmelo’s family have applied for him to go to school since he was four years old but because there are no class rooms he has never been accepted. 

Now, let me tell you about Jardis. Her mother works in the small café just outside the Lighthouse School. The café is an income generating project run by the Lighthouse School. 

Jardis started going to the Lighthouse School when she was 9 years old. Like Carmelo, she couldn’t get into a government school because there were no spaces due to the lack of class rooms. Initially, she had trouble catching up with the others in her grade because of her poor reading and writing skills. However, with the help of her teachers she worked hard and gradually began to excel in her studies.

Jardis graduated from school and did so well that she was accepted as a student at the local medical school where she finally qualified as a doctor. Jardis is now 28 years old, married with a daughter of her own and her medical work with local communities has been recognized by the government of the Dominican Republic.

Jardis is not alone. There are many other stories of children who have grasped the opportunity an education provides to make more of their lives and the lives of others around them.
Careforce, together with the Lighthouse School in Los Alcarrizos, are committed to build more class rooms so children get to go to school. This year we plan to build three satellite schools with two class rooms each to expand and provide quality Lighthouse School education in the community.

These satellite schools will make room for 400 children like Carmelo to receive an education. Satellite schools can accommodate 70 children per class room per day; 35 children per class room for the morning session and 35 different children per class room for the afternoon session. During the evenings, the buildings will be used to teach basic reading, writing and math skills to teenagers who, like Carmelo, have been denied the opportunity of going to school.

Not every child will achieve what Jardis achieved. So, will providing education make a difference in the lives of children previously denied the opportunity to go to school, or those who aren’t scholastically inclined?  Well, the evidence suggests most definitely that it will. Cristian Santiago, Director of the Lighthouse School, says that for people with even a basic level of education there are jobs to be found in the tourist industry, such an important part of the Dominican Republic’s economy, or in a vocation.  It is equally as important for these kids to realize their potential, as it is for those academically inclined like Carmelo.  All kids can look to graduates like Jardis and see what is possible.

We need your help to send Carmelo to school.  CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN DO SOMETHING.

 

Support Satellite Schools in the Dominican Republic

The Lighthouse School in Los Alcarrizos, Dominican Republic now has more than 1,000 students coming for lessons each day. These children are part of the 78,000 people who make up the informal Los Alcarrizos community. While the Lighthouse School is without doubt a great success (it was voted one of the top ten schools in the DR last year), it is only able to provide education to a fraction of the children in Los Alcarrizos who need it. Rather than simply expanding the building, the school has developed a strategy of taking education to the children by building satellite schools throughout the community.

These schools cost $37,000 each and Careforce has committed to raising funds for three of them. If you'd like to be part of this vision, please click here for more information.