Christmas Time!

You would never guess that it's not December here in Puerto Plata. The city has begun decorating all of the government buildings and public Christmas trees are going up everywhere. Our club, too, is becoming very thoroughly decorated. The kids and teachers have put up and decorated out Christmas tree, put stocking all around the club ad written letters to Santa. All of the kids love to sing Feliz Navidad and it is so cute! Dove really gets into the Christmas spirit and it's a wonderful time to come visit! Families will recieve their food bonus early for a Christmas dinner for their whole family. If you would like to contribute a gift for a child you can donate $30 through the instructions on our website at dovemissions.org. Your support really does help make Christmas here memorable and special!

Cholera

Hurricane Tomas, Cholera, these aren't very great headlines for our blog. Still, you should take heart these are posts to tell you that everyone is safe and all is well here. There has been just one reported case of Cholera in the DR and that was in Punta Cana, hours away from here. Haiti, on the other hand, is experiencing a very hard time. Our orphanage is fine and Father Andre has assured us that all of the kids are safe and in good health there. Keep Haiti in your hearts and prayers.

Hurricane Tomas

Hey everybody just wanted to check in and let you know that everyone is ok. Hurricane Tomas hit Puerto Plata in the form of tropical storms i.e. a ton of rain. This means while it isn't as bad as it could be there are still problems. Water is high in Agua Negra and Playa Oeste chest high in many areas.Our families are working hard to keep their homes in tact and their children dry. Everything will be ok, the rain just has a way of making life that much harder here. Keep everyone in your thoughts and hearts and we will let you know how things go as the days move on!

Love,

Dove

Girls Night In!

One of the many great memories I have of my childhood is slumber parties – and mostly for the event of someone’s birthday. Everyone who was invited got a little paper invitation (this has changed to “Facebook Events” now however), and was asked to respond by a certain date. The invitation said to bring your own pillow and sleeping bag and told you what time to have your parents pick you up. At the actual sleepover, everyone would eat pizza, cake and ice cream, and then cram together on the living room floor with to watch movies, talk about the new boy at school, and eat an obscene amount of junk food. Eventually, close to midnight, someone would have already called their Mom to come and get them because their tummy hurt, and at least three people would be arguing about something extremely significant. Oh, the good ol’ days.
Despite the girl drama and sore tummy’s, these slumber parties were something that I remember…a fond memory that almost every girl has etched in their memories somewhere.
Last night, we decided to have a sleepover at our kids centre with 12 of the oldest girls (ages 10-13). We prepared with nail polish, movies, a ton of junk food, music, and of course a pillow to attempt to sleep with. We started out with a dance party, nails, and chocolate fruit. The girls were SOOOO pumped for this party, they were almost, quite literally, bouncing off the walls. They had all set up their beds on the floor, but this is where we ended up having our dance party, so they didn’t last long. I asked the girls if they had ever had a slumber party, and every girl responded with no.

Next we attempted to watch a movie, and eat popcorn, chips, cookies and pop. The girls all kept running back and forth to the other room because they had very important things to talk about of course. This lasted for about two movies, until finally around 2AM the girls crashed.
The night was one to remember. The girls had a blast, and I am sure they all went back home to sleep this morning – as I did!

-Melissa Bazely
DOVE Missions Field Director

HALLOWEEN!!!!

Well everybody Halloween was a great success here! Halloween is not widely celebrated, but the kids love it. We did a Halloween party with everyone and it was a blast. They got their faces painted, ate tons of snacks and candy and got to go through a haunted house. In the haunted house they had to touch fake eyeballs and worms in a bowl of water, one of the teachers popped out of the bathroom and at the end they got a treat bag. It was very fun for most of them, some were very scared and didn't do the whole thing! Later that night we had a sleep over with the girls. They had never done anything like that before. It is hard to describe the excitement. We started the night with a dance party while the girls traded who got their nails done. After that it was movie time! Mostly, the girls talked and played, but some of the movie got watched. It was just great to be there together and to get to know them better and for them to all get to spend time with each other and just be girls and have fun. The kids here have so many worries that kids should never have. It was great to provide a day of stress free fun!

Raise the Roof

See Matt run. See Matt and Emma run. See Matt and Emma raise money to build new roofs for our families by running. When Matt and Emma came here to visit they were deeply moved at the state of our families homes. Most of the roofs are made of tin boards that are layered on top of one another. When it rains there is nothing to prevent the leaking or assortment of criters that make their way in.So Emma and Matt decided to do something about it. As Emma put it, "no child should have to go to school tired or unable to concentrate becuase their roof leaked." After trying to raise money through a blog, emhills1.blogspot.com, and not being very successful Emma and Matt came up with other ideas. Matt ran and was sponsored in a 10k and a half marathon and Emma did a 10k half marathon. People sponsored their run to raise money for new roofs; and it worked. They are now talking with Dove on how to best make this happen and looking into other marathon sponsorship to provide more funds. Emma and Matt are a great example of how to use your individual talents and interests to good. Our families will be so thankful for a new roof and dry place to rest their heads!

Be A Sponsor

There are 80+ children that attend the DOVE Missions Youth Development Center. Many of these children need a sponsor. A donation of $30 per month sponsors a child. Your donation helps pay for monthly food staples for the family, medicine, school supplies, and the overall costs of running the Youth development center.

Haiti sponsorship is $40 per month and covers nutritional , medical and operational needs of the orphanage.

Dominican Day

Welcome to Sunday! Here in the Dominican Republic people really do take the day off. Some things are open, but not a lot and most things that are open close early. Families go to the beach in Sosua or the beach on the Melachon. The Melachon gets ready for Sunday on Saturday night. People park their cars all along the street and play music, dance, eat and hang out with their families and neighbors. Everyone has a blast and enjoys their day off from work. There are literaly thousands of people. The weekend doesn't stop Sunday night just because the week starts on Monday morning. Melachon hang out goes all night long for everyone. It is great to see neighbors visiting with neighbors and families spending time together. It may only be one day , but Dominican Day is the best of the week!

New Website!

Dove is pleased to anounce a brand spankin new website! This site provides more up to date information , is easier to navigate and sports our beautiful new logo! There you will be able to find sponsor updates and news on upcoming opportunites to visit and support Dove. We are so appreciative of our team for putting it together and really excited for it to go live! Check it out dovemissions.org

Marco

Poptarts are a delicious breakfast food. Yesterday, I was finishing one on the play ground with the kids. Marco was sitting next to me and asked for a bite. I broke him off a piece and I gave it to him. I only gave him a little because there were other kids around and I didn't want them to get upset. Marco emmediatley called over Antonio and Clariebelle is brother and sister. He first gave them a piece and then ate the rest. He keeps such a watchful eye on his younger siblings. Clariebelle's shirt was falling off her shoulder and Marco pointed it out to her. Later on of the other boys hit one of the other girls and he stood up for the girl telling the boy that you dont hit girls. I was so proud of him. He is such a great kid, really a mature young man. It is times like these when you know something is going right.

Back to Haiti!

This past week we were able to go and check on our orphanage in Haiti and meet the new kids. Haiti is a very overwhelming place to be and yet the orphanage is a calm oasis. A typical day for this kids begins with morning prayers. After that it's breakfast and time for preschool. A private teacher comes to the orphanage and teaches them the average preschool stuff; letters, numbers, learning songs. At 10 they snack then school some more until 12. After that it's lunch and play time until dinner and bed. The older kids, four of them, get to go to first grade. Every morning one of the house mothers walks them to school. The smaller kids only have school every other day. It is very exciting for them to leave the loving protection of the orphanage walls because Haiti doesn't have any public parks or real reason for them to leave. Father Andre said they all think it's fun when he isn't there to perform mass because then they get to go to mass across the street! There are house mother's that take care of the kids and rotate who cooks and does laundry. At night one mother sleeps in each room so if one of the kids needs something at night there is always someone there. I could write a novella about how wonderful this orphanage and about how it is the definition of hope for Haiti, but who wants to read a 100 page post?!

Love from the DR!

Musica!

“To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable," Aaron Copeland, American Composer.

This being said, Dove is working towards the revival of its music program. With the help from some of our friends in Nashville we are seeking the support and funding to fully develop our program long term. The kids here love music. They dance and smile and sing along. The joy that fills each of their faces when music is playing is indescribable. This is why it's so important for us to get started again. Jochy Guerrero, the teacher, is ready and willing to start classes again as soon as we are able. As a teacher, he is so loved by all of the kids. He stopped by the club last week for a little visit and the kids went nuts. They hugged him and talked to him and made him come into their classes to see what they were working on. They need this program and we are very excited to be working on getting it back! Check out this video of Jochy talking about the program.

As always love from the DR!

Slide Pics!

A Slide Is Still A Slide!

Our new home is in Bario Haiti right across the street from a park. It may not be the best park in the world, but it has a slide! The park has other great qualities like multiple monkey bars and a swing, but nothing like this slide. I was in the club working on something and happened to peak my head outside to see what the kids were doing. At least 15 of our kids were piled onto the slide! Laughing and giggling as if this was the funnies thing they had ever seen or experienced in their whole life! It doesn't matter what part of the world you are in; a kid is still a kid and a slide is still a slide!

Each Day Keeps Getting Better

Each hour, each day, each week, each month here is always different, but we are always moving forward! Our new home has brought us new opportunities to better serve our kids and our community; something we are unwaveringly committed to. Just this past week five more kids got sponsored, which is a tremendous success for Dove and for the lives of these kids. Thank you for the support and lets see if we can't get all of the kids sponsors by the end of the year! The more we have sponsored the more we can add, and there is a long waiting list! Our teachers have started implementing the new Boys and Girls Club curriculum and the kids are, so far, very receptive. While the use of these lessons plans are a new endeavor, subject to adaptation and change, we are very confident it will be a great addition to what the kids are learning at the club. More updates to come very soon! Thank you, as always, for your support and love!

Peace,

Dove

A Great Week at Dove!

What a week it has been here at Dove Missions! The children got to resume their English classes this week thanks to the arrival of our new volunteer, Amber! They are very excited and greeted her with phrases like. "How are you teacher? and I'm fine thank you." They are great kids eager to learn and have fun! Our new building is fantastic and suites our needs much better than our last home. Three classrooms, a storage room,kitchen and office area and right across from a park; this place is really something special for us.
The teacher's are begining a new curriculum based off of the Boys and Girls Club of America guide following the six pillars of good character; trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Each Saturday the children will do a new activity based on one of the pillars. This will help them develop a sense of community and concern for each others well being; a concept not well developed in the Dominican Republic. Except at snack time! Whenever one child has drink or piece of bread or anything they will always share with those around them! This act of sharing can be seen all over the Dominican, even with adults.The kids will have no problem grasping and applying these new six concepts to thier daily lives!
In other news, Dove is taking a mission trip to Haiti in November! If you're interested contact mbazely@sympatico.ca for information or join our facebook group. This is truly a life changing experience that you would be sad to miss! We are also still looking for more sponsors! Just $30 a month can change the life of a child!

Love from the DR,

Dove Missions

Only 5 More Sponsors Needed!

Wonderful news!
To all of you who have been waiting to sponsor a child, our family sponsorship program has expanded to include individual child sponsorship! This ensures the voucher program, school uniforms and cost of participating in the club to all of the children in our club! If you would like to participate, please email our coordinator, Melissa Bazely at mbazely@sympatico.ca and let her know. We only have 6 children who still need sponsors, once we get that we will have every child in our club accounted for! Here is the list of children waiting for sponsorship; check out their pages for information photos!

Thank you,

Liz McKie
Executive Director and Founder - Dove Missions

Children in need of a sponsor:

Emilio
Carolina
Loraini
Yoheidi

School Uniform Drive!

Hola Amigos!

It’s that time of year again! Summer is winding down and it’s time for our kids to head back to school – but they cannot do that without our help.

As you well know we have 80 kids in our club and when school time rolls around again they will all be in need of uniforms. Although schools in the Dominican are public and free, their ticket for enrollment is a uniform. Without the entire package, they are not allowed to enroll in the public education system.

They need shirts, pants, undershirts, underpants, sports pants, sports t-shirts, socks and shoes and the prices here can get pretty expensive. It costs anywhere from $40-$50 per child, depending on their age.

While the full $40 for the package would be incredibly helpful and such a blessing, we are asking that you and your family consider supporting even half of a school uniform or a fourth if that’s all that is possible.

The cost of a new backpack for your child in the United States is around the same cost as school uniforms are here; as you’re shopping this school season we ask that you consider donating some of what you would spend to your Dominican family. Without your support our kids cannot go to school and without going to school, our efforts are worthless.

Thank you in advance for anything you are able to give and even if not in the form of monetary donations, we are constantly in need of your prayers. It’s your donations and dutiful prayers that keep us in operation; we so appreciate your sacrifice.

Enjoy the end of your summer, it’s wrapping up quickly! Come visit us – you deserve a break!

With love from the DR,

DOVE Missions

Another great week!

Hola!

What an amazing summer we've had so far this season with the kids and so many volunteers coming in and out. We couldn't have asked for a better break off of school for the kids. Jenny and Jencen, 2 Canadian volunteers who spent 5 weeks with us, left last week - the kids were so heartbroken to see them go! And Kara, an American volunteer from Ohio, decided to spend another 2 weeks with us, and we've already had such a great time teaching English and getting to spend so much time with the kids!

Here are a few pictures of us hanging out around the club the past week after we had to tell Jenny and Jencen good-bye, we're certainly not looking forward to school rolling around again, that's for sure!






Hope you're having a wonderful summer with your family as you begin to wrap it up! Think of us as you buy school supplies for your little ones! :)

Love from the DR <3

A volunteer's words...

Hola!

This week we had 2 volunteers, Kathy and Kara, here from Ohio to work with the kids. Kathy is a registered nurse as well as a artist so she did check-ups on all the kids and also hosted a special jewelry class with the kids to make metal crosses. They were so excited! On their last night we asked Kathy to write some words on her experience here with us in Puerta Plata. Here is what she had to say! Along with some pictures from their trip here:)

"After physicals at the club – the kids had music class. A well known Spanish artist comes twice a week, to sing with the kids. They are supposed to make a CD as a fundraiser. They are amazing – so much fun. Beautiful singing!
Next we went to the Playa Westa barrio. Amazing poverty. Right on the water with large ships that just dump their crap in the water. The beautiful blue water changes to brown about 1000 feet out. This is where these barrio residents bath, wash their clothes and use the toilet. The first thing that hits you is the stench when you get out of the car. Then the garabage is everywhere. The homes (shacks) are maybe 15X15 with 4 rooms in that (kitchen, 2 bedrooms, and living room) all separated by cardboard or sheets. No cupboards / closets. No extra anything. Terrible roofing also. Basically homes on top/right next to each other. I am told during the raining season much of it floods. Through all of this they are the best dressed people you would see! Very, very hospitable. Sonya (one of the mother's) came home while we were there and made us all orange juice with ice. Probably for the family but gave it all to us. Also they have the biggest smile all the time. There is music playing everywhere. I guess you only know what you are brought up with or don’t know what you don’t have. And they have very little. It was incredible. Very sad.
A great, but somber day."

Thanks, Kathy!

Happy Birthday to all!

Hola! What a great week we've had!

We have so any volunteers here this week from so many places and we're loving being able to share so much of what we do with so many people from all over!

Diane, one of board members, is here this week and did some fundraising in New Jersey to be able to bring a birthday party to the kids for everyone! It was so great! We celebrated everyone's birthday at the same time and the kids were so excited to be able to sing together, dance together, and eat together! That was probably one of their favorite parts:)

We were able to have pizza for everyone with the money Diane had raised and even had a 3 pound chocolate cake!! The kids were so excited!


We all sat around to pray over our food before we started eating and Ernestina blessed the food, the kids, our families and the work we do. Then we ate! The kids were so excited and were even happier when we turned the music on! We danced and had a great time celebrating our birthdays and the great summer we've had so far.



We've been incredibly blessed this season and pray those same blessings on you and yours. Happy summering!

Only 6 More Sponsors Needed!

Wonderful news!
To all of you who have been waiting to sponsor a child, our family sponsorship program has expanded to include individual child sponsorship! This ensures the voucher program, school uniforms and cost of participating in the club to all of the children in our club! If you would like to participate, please email our coordinator, Melissa Bazely at mbazely@sympatico.ca and let her know. We only have 6 children who still need sponsors, once we get that we will have every child in our club accounted for! Here is the list of children waiting for sponsorship; check out their pages for information photos!

Thank you,

Liz McKie
Executive Director and Founder - Dove Missions

Children in need of a sponsor:

Antonio
Emilio
Kathiana
Loraini
Coco
Merieleidi

A Big Week!

Hola!

Wow! It's July 4th and we can't believe how fast the summer is flying by! We're spending so much time in the club with the kids that we are shocked by how days are dropping all around us! Before we look up again we know it'll be time for the kids to be back in school so we're trying to enjoy the time we have left before summer is done for the season!

We have a BIG week headed our way and we've spent the weekend preparing for everything we have coming! This week one of our board members, Diane Wolff, is in town to hang out with the kids and spend some time at the club. We love having her here! It's also Jenny and Jencen's last few days at the club this week before they head out early Friday morning. They've been here a month and we're so sad to see them go.

Tuesday we will welcome Kara and her mother Kathy, Ohio natives, who will be spending a little over a week with us. Kara is actually wanting to spend some extended time here next semester and her and her mother wanted a trip together this summer so they decided to come and volunteer with us! They've never been here before, and we are so excited to get them introduced to our programs and kids.

It's going to be a big, long week - but an amazing one!

We can't wait to see what God has in store for us.

Wishing you a Happy 4th of July all the way from the Dominican Republic! Have a good one!

Happy Birthday!

Hola!

It's been such an exciting weekend! On Saturday one of our kids from the Ventura family, the biggest family supported by the club, had a birthday! The Ventura household is home to Lola, the grandmother, and her 16 grandchildren. It's quite the fun place to be around! Lola loves having us come and visit so Jenny and Jencen bought ice cream for the children and came back to celebrate Leuri's birthday. They were so excited!

All the kids gathered around to get some of the "goods" and were so excited when we pulled out spoons and told them we had enough to go around! Lola went into the kitchen to get bowls and plates and the kids waited so patiently for Lueri to get his cup full of ice cream first, and then they started digging in right along with him! They loved the treat!



Everyone was so excited to be able to celebrate together and make that day so special for Leuri. Happy birthday, buddy!

An exciting week!

This week at the club has been so exciting and full of all sorts of activities! Jenny and Jencen are still hitting the English classes hard daily and the kids are learning so much! Yesterday it was learning about the titles of family members and then going around the class asking each other if they "had a mother? a brother? a husband? a girlfriend?" It was great!

We've also been working really hard on both the jewelry and the sewing classes so the girls can learn the trade (of both!), learn to produce whatever it is they are working on, learn to market and mass produce the product, and then turn to sell it in their neighborhoods, downtown, around the barrios, all over town. We're hoping to provide them with the tools and the know-how through vocational training to be successful in the future. And it's really taking off!

Here the girls are working on their sewing and jewelry projects. They love doing them!






While the girls are hard at work learning their new skills, the boys are working so hard on their health and fitness class! Jencen has been doing such a great job working with them and on Saturday he worked with the younger boys, teaching them to do push-ups and sit-ups. They were having such a great time! It was so great to see them loving working with Jencen so much, they were sad when he told them class was over!





We've had a great day this week at the club! We're so excited for the rest of the summer!

English Class!

Hola!

Today was a great day in the club! Jenny and Jencen taught English Class to the kids and they were so excited to continue on with what they've been learning this week. 14 kids were there for class and they were all so eager to keep learning!

They started the class with going over basic pronouns in Spanish and then translating them to English for the kids. Then they taught them "ser" (to be) and "tener" (to have) and then adjectives to accompany them. This way the kids could form basic phrases in English like "I am hungry or I am tired, even I am thirsty." After learning all of their terms the kids were able to describe themselves, the students around them and even Jenny and Jencen. They were so concentrated on learning the new terms! They were even taking notes throughout class so that they could take them home and work on their skills outside of club time!



After learning the new concepts, Jencen would go around the group and ask individual kids to answer questions about how he was "feeling" based on the actions he was making. It was hilarious! And the kids were so excited to participate. They were eagerly raising their hands, almost fighting even over who got to answer the question. It was so exciting to see them so pumped up!



The kids enjoyed the class so much that they weren't ready for it to end when class was over. They requested that Jenny, Jencen and the rest of the volunteers stay later than normal just to play. Of course we obliged! We went over to the sports field a few streets over and played every form of ball possible. Such a great afternoon!

We're gearing up for a big Saturday and getting ready for the rest of the summer!

Only 8 More Sponsors Needed!

Wonderful news!
To all of you who have been waiting to sponsor a child, our family sponsorship program has expanded to include individual child sponsorship! This ensures the voucher program, school uniforms and cost of participating in the club to all of the children in our club! If you would like to participate, please email our coordinator, Melissa Bazely at mbazely@sympatico.ca and let her know. We only have 8 children who still need sponsors, once we get that we will have every child in our club accounted for! Here is the list of children waiting for sponsorship; check out their pages for information photos!

Thank you,

Liz McKie
Executive Director and Founder - Dove Missions

Children in need of a sponsor:

Antonio
Emilio
Kathiana
Loraini

A New Class!

Hello Friends!

We are so excited to have started the summer and our new schedule off with a bang!

We've already had so many great things going on around the club this summer and we're only 3 weeks into the summer! We've had volunteers from all over, all sorts of new classes introduced, great opportunities for the kids to get involved in, and lots of fun!

This past week we welcomed two volunteers back from Canada, Jenny and Jencen, who will be with us for a month and the kids couldn't have been happier to see them. Jencen is going to be working with James on the health and nutrition class and the 2 of them together will be running the English class for the kids 4 days a week. Everyone was so happy to see them!

Yesterday Jencen introduced the kids to one of our newest classes, yoga and dancing split throughout the week. Yesterday we started the class with the introduction to yoga! They were very curious at first, but took to it very quickly!

He started by getting them to stretch and showed them different ways their bodies need to be warmed up before being able to go into the positions safely. They asked questions and were so curious about what he was doing as he moved from one stretch into another.

He taught them different yoga positions and what they were stretching and working out in each individual position. They thought it was so funny to see Jencen contorting his body into the more complicated positions - they were having so much fun with him!

Overall, yesterday was a great day at the club and the kids can't wait for the yoga/dancing course to continue!

Mother's Day Preparation

Today was a long and wonderful day. Saturday’s are always days everyone looks forward to because at some point during the day all of the kids come to the center. They rotate in throughout the day, group by group, all just as happy to be there. Next weekend is Dominican Mother’s Day, so today was centered around that. The kids started making beautiful gifts for their Mother’s. They are so imaginative and creative! The kids were also practicing for the Mother’s Day play they are going to put on next Saturday. During the lunch period, two of the teachers stayed at the center to sort out some donations and put together Mother’s Day packages.

Each Mother is getting some sheets or towels and toiletries. Sheets and towels are a huge necessity; often times each household has only one towel to use for everything. By the time lunchtime was over, the teachers had everything sorted out; all that was left to do was wrap and decorate the gifts. So along with some of the girls and teachers, our volunteers spent the afternoon doing so.

As well, at the end of the day Ernestina gave away some clothing donations. She gave them to the older boys, and they really loved them; a lot of the clothing was jersey material, and that is VERY popular down here.


Overall, today was a busy and amazing day at the center.

What's New with DOVE?

It had been a while since we have last posted anything, but DOVE Missions has been extremely busy with changes and activities at the center.
As the kids have been wrapping up the music program, due to end in June, we have decided that since it has had such an amazing impact on them that we should extend it. We have hired a new music teacher to take over the classes and he is amazing! The puppet program has come to an end, and the kids are so proud of their work. The puppets are in the club, and they look amazing.
DOVE has hired a new director for the club, and her name is Ernestina. She is an amazing Dominican woman with a lot of drive and passion for the work DOVE Missions is doing. She has taken over smoothly, and working on new programming. We are hoping to have the center open every day during the summer for a fun place for the kids to stay out of trouble.
We are running a new program for the older boys, and have even added a few new members to the older boys group. The new program is a nutrition/fitness/weight class right now and will eventually progress into a careers type class. The boys will begin to learn how to apply for jobs, how to get jobs, connections to help with an apprenticeship program, and teach the boys discipline. It will teach them to discipline themselves; their minds, their bodies, their lifestyle. They will learn how important it is to have a job and keep it. It will be an esteem building program and it will give the boys the opportunity for more in their lives. This is a program that will allow the younger kids to graduate into, and we are currently working on developing a program for our older girls. The program is currently run by James, a man from Haiti whom the boys really respect. It is important for them to have a consistent male figure in their life, and James is the perfect fit for this program.
This summer is going to be amazing, with many volunteers coming to visit. The kids love when volunteers come; they love the attention and fun activities that our volunteers are so amazing at planning. We have volunteers coming from all over the States, as well as from Canada.
A goal for DOVE this summer is to figure out exactly what our calling is in Haiti. There are so many opportunities in Haiti and DOVE plans to be there in some way. Right now we are working with and supporting two orphanages while continuing our efforts to find where we are supposed to be in Haiti.
Stay tuned for some more frequent updates!

Puppet update!

Here are a few more pictures on the progress of the kids puppets; they look AMAZING!

Carnival Parade

Well the kids finally got their chance to perform their musical talents in the Carnival Parade in Puerto Plata! They did AWESOME, and looked fantastic! The day was a huge success and the kids had a ball.


We had two of the Mother's leading the kids holding our DOVE Missions sign.


Their costumes looked amazing, the kids felt great about their performance; they could not have been happier!

Reading and Writing Class Begins!

This was written by our Center's Direcotr, Cathy Flynn:

Our moms and grandmothers started their reading and writing class with Damaris this past Saturday.

11 mom's showed up, more than I expected. They were each given their own notebook, pencil and eraser, and it was like they were given gold.

They all spoke about how for whatever reason or another they were robbed of the chance to learn as children. Most because they lived in the country side and were up by 5 am to help with the chores all day.

Damaris spoke to them about not being embarrassed, as there was a bit of hesitation when they were signing up for this class. She reminded them that everyone learns at a different pace, and if it takes them a bit longer than the mom sitting beside them to catch on, remember to just ask questions and persevere.

One of the mom's said her dream by the end of the classes would be, to be able to sit on a bed and read a story to her daughter.

At the end of the class one of the grandmother's stood up and started praying with her hands in the air, the other mother's all chimed in. She thanked God after all these years, for giving her the opportunity to learn how to read and write. She thanked God for sending Liz and I into her lives and asked him to bless us always.

They were SOOO happy to be there it was really heartwarming.

And Kids - Just wanna have fun!

DOVE has certainely been keeping our kids busy! On top of the music program and the puppet program, they have been doing a lot of other activities. They made crafts for Valentines Day, they have been playing sports, and the younger kids have been working with our teachers on various activities. We have also had some volunteers down visiting! Here are some pictures from the past few weeks of different things the kids have been doing.