Girls Rise to Greatness in the Dominican Republic

The mariposa (butterfly) is a universal symbol representing transformation, freedom, and peace. In the Dominican Republic, it was the code name given the Mirabal sisters, local heroines who fought social injustice and gave their lives for freedom.Cabaret, a small beach town in the Dominican Republic, is a picturesque tourist destination for water sports and adventure travel. But behind sandy beaches and five-star resorts, hundreds of families live in extreme poverty, often eating only one meal a day and lacking access to clean water, electricity, education and health services. Girls in Cabaret are particularly vulnerable. Sex tourism is on the rise for women and girls looking for income to maintain their families. Teenage pregnancy is the norm, and violence against women across the country remains an epidemic.

But girls are seen as powerful agents of change at the Mariposa DR Foundation. In fact, Mariposa believes that girls are the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. Each week, dozens of activities take place at the MaryPassa Center for Girls, where Haitian and Dominican girls play sports, seek help with their school work, and have access to a computer. a library. In this safe and supportive environment, staff and volunteers work with each Mariposa girl to ensure that she is enrolled in school and is staying on track academically. Mariposa also offers job skills training, leadership development activities and service projects to empower girls to take charge of their futures and become leaders in the community. A host of enrichment activities, including field trips, gardening, dance, visual arts, and concerts - help develop girls' confidence, imaginativeness and critical thinking skills.

And that's not all - when a Mariposa girl needs extra support, the organization steps in. This includes helping girls build or relocate new homes when their homes are damaged by flooding or are otherwise unsafe. The transformative power of the organization's work is evident in the life of each dominican republic girls. Alba Roja is very passionate about education, she set up her own school in front of her house and declared herself a teacher at the age of 11. He invited young children in his neighborhood to participate in basic mathematics and reading lessons.

Taking her volunteer job very seriously, Alba Roja monitors attendance at the beginning of every session by mentioning the names of the children. His neighborhood school was very popular, he sometimes had more than 20 students! It is a kind of leadership and creativity that Mariposa encourages in all his girls — the staff has no doubt that Alba Roja will become a teacher someday. With the help of GFC supporters, many Mariposa alumnae are graduating from high school, going to college, getting jobs, and confident, healthy young women


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