Eighty Young Leaders Visit Altagracia Girls Home in Bani

Eighty Young Leaders Visit Altagracia Girls Home in Bani
Baní, Dominican Republic 3/20/2012

Young Leaders for Progress and Peace (JLPP in Spanish) donated food, books, school supplies, toys, clothing and hygienic and bathing products to the Altagracia Girls Home in Bani.

“When the community in general gets involved in activities in society, it is a commitment to the country and development of the world. Seeking peace and progress is one of the fundamental interests that we have as young leaders,”…

The 80 new members of the Training Project of the Young Leaders for Progress and Peace in Bani visited 25 little girls at the Altagracia Girls Home to whom they took joy, music, toys, food, clothing and books.

Upon their arrival at the Home, the young people from the project, developed by the Office of the First Lady (DPD in Spanish) through the Progresando Project, set up a face painting booth for the little girls who were overcome with happiness to see all the decorations and colorful balloons.

One of the members of the project, Emmanuel Díaz Santiago, said that, due to the fact that the girls don’t have all the comforts of other children and have many needs, they were motivated to knock on the doors of public institutions and of members of civil society to collect these articles to bring to the girls.

Díaz Santiago thanked the DPD for the opportunity to visit this group of girls, to learn about leadership, to explore their aptitudes and to help get to know and understand what they have and should offer to society.

“When the community in general gets involved in activities in society, it is a commitment to the country and development of the world. Seeking peace and progress is one of the fundamental interests that we have as young leaders,” emphasized Díaz Santiago.

The Director of the Altagracia Girls Home, Sister Margarita Méndez explained that this home takes in girls who are in a vulnerable and unprotected family situations. Their goal is to help the girls become emotionally stable and healthy and to be able to join society as liberated and educated females.

She stressed the importance of the activities they do at the Home and how it is beneficial for the girls to share their stories with different groups of people, especially other young people. “The doors of this Home are always open because it is good for the girls to share with other people and, above all, young people because they receive a lot of motivation from these visits.”

Songs such as “Amantes de la Paz”, “Creeré” and “El baile de la taza y la tetera,” were sung and danced to by the girls and their visitors, the young leaders. They also made drawings and creations with Foami paper as part of the fun day the girls had with their visitors.

The Girls Home, the Daughters of Altagracia accepts girls between the ages of three to seventeen year of age who have undergone their investigation process. Once accepted into the Home, the girls receive food, heath care, recreation and education. Currently there are 25 girls living at the Home. After completing their education and training cycle at the Home, they will work part time in Santo Domingo so they can continue with their studies and find jobs.