Salon Work

One of the longer term goals for Dove is to teach the kids vocations so that as they grow older, they can support their families. These older girls are interested in working in a salon. Conveniently, there is one located right near the Center. The girls are very excited to learn how to work in a salon, as you can see from their big smiles! The girls are: Yohani, Loraina, Vanessa, Rosemary, Elizabeth, Raysa, Anamilka, Isamay, Patricia, Tatiana, Alani, Cristina, and Yaneli.

Mothers

At Dove, we strongly believe in 'giving a hand up, rather than a hand out' and we try to think of this in everything we do. When we were doing applications for children in June, prior to entering the new building and starting the Club, we knew we wanted the kids and their families to feel at home in the Club, and to feel as if it was something that they had worked hard for. In mid-June, as we started classes with the kids, we had a big meeting with all the children and their families and we explained this to the mothers. In order for their kids to attend and for them to receive grocery vouchers every month, they would need to help out as well. We wanted all of the family members to have a role in the Center- not just the kids. Since then, the Mothers have taken it upon themselves to be in charge of the cleaning of the Center. Every Tuesday at 1:30, Thursday at 1:30, and Saturday at 4:30 (a half hour before the kids leave) we have Mothers show up to tidy up for 30 minutes. They sweep, mop, tidy up, and sometimes help with the children and the Center itself (organizing, doing hair, etc.) We think this has been a really great way to get the Mothers involved, and we really enjoy spending that time with them. To the left, you can see Carolina and her mother, Dinora, as she was in the Center helping to clean. Below, you can see a cleaning schedule that the Mothers came up with on their own.

DOVE Staff and Board of Directors

DOVE Missions would not be as successful today without the help from the friendly staff living onsite in Puerto Plata. We thought it would be great for DOVE supporters to get to know the people who work at all hours of the day to make this program a successful one. We have several staff members in the Dominican Republic, as well as a Board of Directors in the United States.

Dear readers and supporters, we would like to introduce you to our incredible staff members:

Liz Rooney Sunel, Executive Director and Founder: Liz is responsible for the organization's consistent achievement of its mission and financial objectives. She is responsible for overseeing the day to day operations of the organization. The Executive Director assures that the organization has a long-range strategy which achieves its mission, and toward which it makes consistent and timely progress. She provides leadership in developing programs and financial plans with the Board of Directors and staff. The Executive Director maintains official records and documents to ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations.
Liz can be contacted at: info@dovemissions.org


Melissa Almonte, Volunteer Coordinator: Melissa plays a long-distance, but vital, role for DOVE. She moved back from the Dominican Republic to Canada and has done humanitarian work in the DR, Haiti, and Mexico. Melissa is in charge of our volunteer program; she will plan and coordinate trips for volunteers and then coordinate with our field staff  in the Dominican Republic to make sure volunteer trip is well planned and runs smoothly.
Melissa can be contacted at: volunteer@dovemissions.org

Meet our Youth Development Center staff! We are so blessed to have them on our team!
From left to right, Domingo, Gabby, Junior and Richard. 
These individuals are Dominican natives and they help out by recruiting and involving the children in the community to participate in all the activities and school lessons happening daily at the club.

Juan Gonzalez, Operations Director:
Juan is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of all DOVE Missions programs and implementing organizational strategies that best support DOVE's mission. Juan also oversees all the activities at the Youth Development Center, and supervises all staff, volunteers, and assists with community relations, the development of new programs, and assists with fundraising efforts for DOVE.

Martina Hiresova, Field Director:
Martina facilitates the volunteers' experience while in the field. She is responsible for coordinating all individual and group service days, while also providing the proper transportation to and from each of the volunteer sites. Martina is knowledgeable about the historical and geographical sites of the Dominican Republic, and is fluent in spanish, so she is able to teach all of the children at the Youth Development Center about their amazing city and she is able to provide the right resources for the volunteer's while they're out in the field.

PHOTO COMING SOON!
Deb Srbich, Treasurer: The treasurer is responsible for managing the organizations finances. She presents a financial report at each board meeting. The treasurer chairs the finance committee, assists in the preparation of the budget and taxes, helps develop fundraising plans, and makes financial information available to board members and the public. Deb can be contacted at treasurer@dovemissions.org

PHOTO COMING SOON!
Lee-Ann Marks, Child Sponsorship Coordinator: Lee-Ann is responsible for coordinating our child sponsorship program. This includes communicating with current sponsors and providing updates about their child. She also manages matching up new sponsors with a sponsor child, and coordinating all the logistics with paperwork and payments. Lee-Ann can be reached at childsponsorship@dovemissions.org

Our Jefes

Our "jefes" (bosses) are our older boys in the Club. We are really wanting to expand our programs with them. Unlike the younger kids, they need more than just crafts, singing, dancing, and games. Many of them are considered adults in their culture, and we need to set them on the right track so that in the future they can support their families. If you are interested in supporting these programs, please use the paypal button on the sidebar and specify your funds for the older boys or the "jefes".

Volunteer With Dove

 Interested in volunteering with DOVE and our program? We would love to have you!

We know that even spending one afternoon with us in our club will prove to be a very rewarding and life changing experience. Whether you want to come spend a day of your vacation with us, or come to volunteer for 2 weeks (or more!) we would love to have you come and serve.

DOVE charges a fee of $75/day for each day a volunteer is working in the field with us and an adjusted rate for those volunteers serving for extended time periods, for large groups and for families. This fee includes your transportation, lunch and a full guided day in the field. You can make this payment via paypal, Visa, or by check and it is a fully tax deductable donation for those volunteers living in the States.

The field director will pick up volunteers and will be your guide for the day ensuring that you are able to visit and see everything you are interested in seeing. We guarantee that your experience with DOVE’s children and families will be a very rewarding one complete with lots of activities and love to give and receive.

There are many choices of programs and activities volunteers can participate in as they spend time with DOVE in the field. These include teaching our English class, working in the Boys’ and Girls’ Club at the Youth Development Center, feeding the street children, visiting the sick in the hospital, playing with and assisting handicapped children, helping in an orphanage, and organizing sports activities for the kids. You can discuss with Melissa (volunteer@dovemissions.org) what you are interested in doing and come up with a schedule for your visit.

Contact Melissa Bazely at volunteer@dovemissions.org to start planning your trip! There is a short application and agreement form all volunteers must fill out and then Melissa will arrange all the details for your stay at the DOVE Mission House.

Thank you for taking interest in our organization, you are definitely a vital part to our every day success and we are extremely grateful for you. We’re looking forward to helping you plan your volunteer endeavor with us – we can’t wait to get started planning your time here in Puerto Plata!

     (Our Youth Development Center in the heart of Puerto Plata)

October In Pictures

The kids were excited to see Liz back after her 2 weeks in the States!


Adorable Camili


Alani making a puppet craft


Boys Club making music


Titi and Yoandi


Girls Club having fun


Andy and Yoandi with their mom, Sonia


Cathy working hard!


Vanessa and Marcos

Art Contest

We finally announced the winners of the Art Bench contest! The older boys painted the wooden art benches that they had previously made in wood shop. And the winners were; Alberto 1st place, Eddie 2nd place, and Andy 3rd place. The girls club picked the winners. 1st prize was 500 pesos, 2nd was 250 pesos, 3rd was 150 pesos all coming off the balance of their bike loans. Each child that participated and painted a bench all received 50 pesos off the balance of their bike loans for trying.

Alberto, first place


Eddie, second place


Andy, third place

iGive

For those of you who do online shopping (especially with the holidays fast approaching) this is a really great way to do your shopping AND support Dove at the same time! Shopping or searching at IGIVE means a donation for your favorite cause... Dove Missions! You can earn a penny or more just for searching, a $5 bonus for your first purchase, and up to 26% of your purchases at over 730 stores like Amazon, eBay, Travelocity, Home Depot, among many other stores. So when you are doing your shopping this holiday season, think of Dove and shop through iGive!

Click HERE and sign up!

Aurelia

Three kids in the club, Dauri, Tania, and Victor Manuel, live with their grandmother, Aurelia. She is a very tough lady, and a unique person; anyone who meets her gets that impression immediately. This week she lost her balance and both her legs touched the muffler of the motorconcho. Now she needs money for medicine, and there is a risk of infection. She walked all the way to the club to tell Cathy that she wouldn't be able to help clean the club with the other mothers. This happens all the time, and shows just one of the many hardships for the people of Puerto Plata. If you don't like photos of cuts/blood, underneath the photo of Aurelia is a photo of her legs, so scroll down past that! But I do recommend taking a look, as this knowledge really helps one understand the lives of the kids and their families.

Corking

The Girls Club is working on learning a new craft; corking (in England called knitting Nancy's or knitting dolly's). This is something that Isamay and Yamali's mother, Jaritza, came to the Club with a few weeks ago (see that post HERE). They are using rollers and bobby pins to make these hair pom-pom's. Pictured with teacher Teresa are (top row) Andrieli, Yaneli, and Cristina, and (bottom row) Heidy, Camili, and Meriledi.

Promotional Video

New Faces

As you know, every child in the Boys and Girls Club has a sponsor. The $30/month pays for their family to receive food vouchers every month. We have a long wait list of kids wanting to join the club, but we can only add kids as we gain sponsors, and additional funds to pay for their crafts, snacks, and the programs we provide in the Club. We have had some new sponsors come forward, so here are photos of some recent additions to the DOVE Vocational and Recreation Center! You can click on their names on the sidebar to learn more about them.

Patricia


Yani


Natanael


Luis Daniel


Rosi


Tania

Teresa

The boys have been busy with DOVE's teacher, Teresa, who they love! Here they are working hard and having fun at Boys Club this week. She is pictured with the group, and then with Marcos and little Yeffrey.

Items Needed

Whether you are coming to volunteer your time in the Dominican Republic with Dove Missions, or if you are vacationing and want to drop off some supplies, we would appreciate anything you can donate! Below is a list of items that are needed.
We are focusing on the very essential needs at this time. Everything is categorized, and everything in BOLD is on our top list of priorities. Thank you!

To our sponsors who are coming to visit. We do not want to sound ungrateful for the gifts that you are all so eager to bring for our kids. It is very difficult for our mothers to accept materialistic gifts for their children when they are battling holes in their roofs, and their children don't have beds to sleep in. Very extravagant gifts also cause many hard feelings between neighbors of children who are not members of our club. For this reason we ask you to please stick to the list below of necessities for the family. Remember also that your monthly donation is already paying for the most important gift, food, each month for your sponsor child. If you feel you need to bring a small gift for your sponsor child please speak with our volunteer coordinator for suggestions. Thank you!

Our top 5 most needed items are:
1.Children's Multi-Vitamins
2.Gently used or new black,close toed school shoes
3.Mosquito nets
4.Bed Sheets
5.Towels of all kinds


Food/Housewear:
Peanut butter
Jam
Juice Packets
Protein Bars
Blankets
Batteries (especially AA and AAA)

Hygiene/Health:
Shampoo
Sanitary pads
Soap
Deodorant
Toothbrushes/Toothpaste
Yeast Infection Medicine
Advil
Skin cream (polysporin)
Rash medicine
Hand Sanitizer

Clothes/Shoes:
Underwear
Socks

School/Art Supplies:
Backpacks
Notebooks
Pencil sharpeners
Colored Pens / Crayons
Rulers
Erasers
Pens / Pencils
Spanish-English dictionaries
Children's books in Spanish
Laptops
Cameras


*Updated May, 2013*

Sonoran Living: DOVE Video

Liz is currently in the States for 2 weeks promoting Dove. Here she is with treasurer, Caroline Santora, during a TV interview. Click HERE to see the page on the station's website, or watch the video below.

How To Donate

Lots of people who visit DOVE Missions are interested in how they can help more. Donations are what keep our programs running. Below is all the info you could want about how to donate...

To make a donation by check:

Make your check out to "DOVE Missions"
Send your check to:
DOVE Missions
c/o Deb Srbich
PO Box 32074, Minneapolis, MN 55432


You can also donate by paypal. Go to the Support Page on Dove's website and click on the paypal button. The paypal button is also to the right, at the top of the sidebar on this blog.


You also have the option of sending supplies to the DR, and instructions to do this are below. You are welcome and encouraged to send letters to your sponsor children. They love seeing photos of Canada and the USA, and photos of the people who are sponsoring them.

Pack your items in a sturdy box.
Weigh your box.
For every pound your package weighs, we ask that you make a donation of $1.50 to Dove Missions to cover the Agape service fee. So, for a 10 pound package, we ask for a $15 donation (this is what Agape charges Liz when she picks up your package at their office in Santiago). You can use PayPal or send a check to:
DOVE Missions
c/o Deb Srbich
PO Box 32074, Minneapolis, MN 55432

Send your package to: Liz McKie, c/o Agape Flights STI #20504, 100 Airport Avenue , Venice , FL , 34285 - or if you live in Florida you can drop your package off at Agape if you like.


A post will be coming with a list of specific items that we have a need for.

Prayer For Tonight

The following was written by Cathy Flynn, Dove's Vocational and Recreation Center Program Director.

Hey dad,

I know you were with me today…

You remember when I asked you the other day to send some baseball strength, my way from up above, for the kids from our Center. Well today I passed by the local baseball diamond to inquire, and boy did I think of you. There were a few gentlemen sitting around in a circle chatting about ball just like you used to, I had to interrupt their stories to inquire about some coaching.

I told them how important I know the game of baseball is for kids, and how I hoped some of them could help me arrange some coaching, and a game or two for our boys. I mentioned you and your love for baseball; and told them the story of how your boys won the 1967 Pee Wee Tournament at the Canadian National Exhibition. They would never really understand the story of that championship I heard, with pleasure, over and over again throughout my childhood. The joy it brought you, or how proud we were of you.

What they surely did understand was my explanation of your love of baseball, and how important you always knew it was for kids to ‘play ball’!

As a result they agreed to start a baseball camp with our kids this coming week, and I have you to thank for that……yep you were definitely with me today……thanks dad!

Cathy

Cameras and Computers

One of the easiest ways to 'break the ice' with the kids, being a volunteer not knowing Spanish, is to pull out your camera. They will go crazy! The kids LOVE cameras; they love taking pictures of themselves, of their friends, of their families, and they love seeing photos of themselves. It is the same with computers. Although they don't have many (if any) opportunities to use a computer, when we do pull out our computers to show them videos of themselves or to play music, they all crowd around.

This said, we want to start a photography class and a computer class at Dove. Knowledge of using a computer would be a huge asset in their futures, and would help them to get good jobs. The photography class could open up a huge new world for them in terms of the arts. It would not only give them a way to record and spread the word about the conditions they are living in, it would also give them something to be proud of and something to work hard for. It would be a great learning experience, and it would also be fun.

I know that a lot of people upgrade their cameras often and have their old ones just lying around the house, unused. It is the same with laptops. Items we would need in order to start these 2 classes are: digital cameras, laptops, a printer, photo paper, and camera memory cards. If you have any of these items that you would be willing to donate, please let us know and we will arrange the best way to get it from you. You can comment on the blog or send Liz an email at dovemissions@msn.com Thank you!

Jaritza

This week Isamay and Yamali's mother, Jaritza, came to the club with a craft. She will hold a class for the all the other mothers that want to learn. She makes hair pom poms out of yarn. What is most impressive is what she makes them with. There is a name for this craft, usually done with a wooden spool, if anyone knows the name please let us know. Jaritza doesn't have a proper wooden spool, she makes her hair pom poms from a hair roller with 4 bobby pins stuck to it. She runs the yarn around, and lifts up each corner over the bobby pins with a little crochet hook. The yarn makes a round tube like line of yarn. She then makes the pom poms from wool with cardboard, and ends up with big colorful pom poms that are used for hair ties for the girls. You can see little Estefania as our model.





Written by Cathy

A Life Changing Two Weeks

Jenny is a student at the University of Toronto in her last year of pharmacy. She spent two weeks in July 2009 volunteering with Dove Missions with her brother Jencen.

My two weeks in Puerto Plata working with Dove Missions, with my brother Jencen, were without question two of the most memorable and life changing weeks of my life. I have lots of friends who’ve done humanitarian work like this, and have always come back with a similar “change of heart and attitude” that I always admired, but never really understood. I knew that doing something like this would make you feel good and more aware, but I honestly never believed how deeply it could touch your heart. And that’s exactly what the kids and families there did – imprinted my heart.

I still remember the first day when Liz took us around Playa Oeste and Aguas Negras. I don’t really know how to put into words what I felt… but the word “humbled” comes to mind. I sometimes complain about how my apartment’s A.C./heater is too loud or how once in a while a find a few ants on the kitchen counter. I’ve never really stopped to think, at least I have electricity and a roof over my head. A few minutes walking in these places where thousands of people live really put things into perspective. I’m also quite the germ-a-phobe and I’ll be honest, I sometimes cringe when I walk through slightly dirty Downtown Toronto streets. Seeing the little kids running around areas with flowing sewage, often with no shoes… again… humbling. I don’t know what I was expecting that first day, but I definitely wasn’t expecting the welcoming and absolutely warm atmosphere I was faced with. Kids came running fighting to hold your hand; parents were waving from their homes; smiles were beaming in your direction. Literally the moment I stepped out of the car, I felt so…full.

We did house visits to some of the students in the program. I remember we visited Marcos, Meriledi, and Andy, probably a few others. I learned very quickly that when you visit someone’s home, you MUST have a seat. Again, smiles and warmth. I only speak some Spanish, so not many words were shared – but wow, even within those first few visits, I already felt so connected to them. That afternoon, when my brother and I got back to our resort, we took some time to reflect and absorb. The theme in our discussions I would say was a new sense of gratefulness with an urge to… I don’t know… help? But where to start. Thinking of the millions of things the kids and families needed (clothes, food, play time, water, a sewage system, education, toiletries, health care access, money) we decided, breathe… let’s just see what happens tomorrow with Liz.

Day two was our first day at the Boy’s Club (Boys Club was Tuesdays and Saturdays, Girls Club was Thursday and Saturdays). Again, the boys came with smiles and helping hands – greeting us as soon as we got out of the car and carrying supplies into the class. We helped with bracelet making and teaching English… and within that first day, Jencen and I knew what we wanted to do for the next two weeks: spend as much time with the kids as possible. This is what was amazing about Liz/Dove; she really wanted us to do what we felt passionate about. She told us about the other options, many of which we also visited for a day (e.g. orphanages, pharmacy, hospitals, house building, etc.) So we decided teaching would be our main commitment.

And because I don’t want to write a whole novel, I’ll just give the highlights of the next 12 days. Although the classes were only a couple of days of the week, we were lucky enough to spend most of the days in between working on a special “Bench Making Project” with some of the older boys in the club. We were kindly hosted by Joe and Loase, where we had Samuel (a carpenter/wood worker) teach the kids how to make these art benches for the new classroom! It was so exciting! Mostly because I myself have never held a power tool and watching 9 year olds learn how to sand down a bench and drill holes into wood pieces was so impressive and to be honest, hilarious! They were so brave and so eager to learn. I was partnered with Luis Manuel and Jose Antonio (and fell completely in love with both of them). I was very impressed with how well they listened and picked up the skills – not because I didn’t think they could, but because kids that age (especially where I grew up) just seem so distracted and uninterested in anything other than video games or computers. If you could have seen their eyes and how concentrated they were... Anyways, that’s how I fell in love with the boys.

The girls were an absolute joy as well. We had a little less time with them because the bench-making was for boys only. But, after our Pool Party with the girls, how deeply I fell in love with them too. The pool in the place we took them was not even that big – a pool that size in Canada probably would have comfortably fit 4-8 people. That day, we brought about 25 girls, in TWO cars, for a day in the sun with music and pizza. So much fun! I remember thinking how sometimes when I have parties with my younger cousins, they get bored so easily! We are so over stimulated and I think it just leads to boredom and ungratefulness – not at anyone’s overt fault, but goodness, if we didn’t have EVERYTHING, I think we’d feel more satisfied in life because we could find the joy in the smaller things. Like a clean pool or a couple of slices of pizza – a normal night in Toronto, but a full out amazing day trip for the girls. We danced, laughed, and played – the only three things I’ve come to realize I’ll need in my life to be happy.

We were also lucky enough to spend one day in a home for special-needs children, Casa Nazaret. Again, a soul lifting day. It was a pretty relaxed day just playing with the kids, helping feed them, and then helping the ladies their with some laundry folding. If I was there for more than two weeks, I definitely would have wanted to spend more days there.

The giving nature of the people in Puerto Plata is just shining wherever you go. You can tell that people really give their hand and hearts to the less fortunate… even when they themselves may not have much. I think this is a big thing I learned – it’s not how many suitcases of clothes, how many cheques you can sign, how much canned goods you can bring… it’s how much of your heart you can leave behind. By the end of our trip, I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude from the students, parents, and teachers (not necessarily through words, but through smiles and hugs)… underserved gratitude at that. I mean, what did I do really? I sang some Spanish songs, played a few games, and taught a dance. If anything, near the end of my trip, part of me felt kind of like, “wait did I really do anything here?” I felt almost, um, selfish – as if this trip gave me SO MUCH, and what did I really do? I talked to Liz about this, and she filled my heart. She explained, beautifully, that it’s not the dances, the English words, or the games that they’ll remember. It’s the feeling that someone out there, for however long or short a time, was here with them; to play; to talk; to be with them. Liz told me this was her dream for Dove Missions – to connect people. To make people on other parts of the world not just see, but to FEEL that there is a big and different world out there. And whether or not you decide to come back ever, doesn’t matter – what matters is that these people living below the poverty line aren’t just another commercial on t.v. They are real families, real kids… that in all likelihood, you’ve come to love.

If you want a life changing trip, connect with Dove Missions… for a day, a week, a month, for life. I’m grateful God sent me there to meet all of you wonderful people. I’m currently planning a December visit (who needs savings when you graduate, right?). Can’t wait to be back.