Published by christal March 17th, 2010
in Featured.
If you have joined us on a Dominican Republic Hero Holiday, chances are you know who Pastor Garcia is and you are familiar with the Arroyo Seco school project. Many of us have memories of laughter and camaraderie as we worked together, brick by brick, cement shovel by cement shovel to help make a community’s dream come true: the dream of a school for their children and for their future. That dream has become a reality through the help of hundreds of Hero Holiday participants since 2006, and we are excited to announce that our school is now recognized by the Dominican government as a certified private school! As well, their entire community project is now a recognized Dominican foundation, another part of the success of working together.
There are over 100 students at the Arroyo Seco school, many of them able to go to school for the first time because of your hard work! The school is now running from junior kindergarten to grade 5, with students aged 3 to 15. Many of the older students have never had a chance to go to school before, so they are just as excited as the younger ones to have a chance to learn. Thanks to the generosity of some Canadian friends, our school now also has a computer lab, something that these students are completely new to but eager to learn on.
The best part about certification for the school is that they are now part of a standardized curriculum that requires consistent reporting and accountability - something that is lacking in many schools across this tiny nation. These students have many hopes and dreams and many of them are a result of education.
For those of you who were a part of the love, sweat and tears that went into the Arroyo Seco Community School project, this is your success.
Thank you!
Published by absolute March 15th, 2010
in FB, Participant Blogs and Mexico.
Over the past couple days life has changed from docile, boring, everyday experiences to the extraordinary. We have been introduced to life in Mexico. From the building of family’s home, to playing with the young children, who happen to be very friendly and open with us. It has been an eye-opening few days we’ve had, and […]
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Published by charles March 10th, 2010
in FB, Mexico and Other Sites.
“Viva la Mexico!! We have arrived - made it through a few army check stops and the border crossing - “red light green light” experience. We had to get off the bus collect our luggage then one at a time push a traffic light button - if it turned green […]
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Between yesterday and today, the houses have been pieced together rapidly. Lots of hard work, painting and sawing have brought the group two standing houses. Everyone is experimenting with different ways to help out; whether it be playing with the kids, roofing or […]
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Hola! We have arrived safe and sound, with a few minor speed bumps.
Friday started out with an all too familiar ferry ride to Vancouver followed by an unfamiliar ride down to the border crossing and then on to Seattle. From SeaTac we endured a three hour long flight, no movies mind you, to San Diego. […]
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Published by absolute March 1st, 2010
in FB, Participant Blogs and Mexico.
Dear Blog,
The build at Adoffo Lopez Mateos is now completed! The last couple days were very busy for our team. Thursday we put the roof panels on, and then the asphalt roofing. This took awhile because of the sizing on the panels needed to be adjusted but together under Randy, Brett, and Andrew’s […]
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Published by admin March 1st, 2010
in Other Sites, Mainpage and Featured.
Your kindness made a difference! Our Haitian friends needed to know that they are not forgotten, and thanks to the kindness and sacrifice of so many of you, we were not only able to help them out right now, but we are able to help them begin to rebuild for a stronger future. Thank you for responding to those who need it most. We are honored to be able to deliver aid and compassion that was made possible by the friends of Absolute.
Timeline:
- January 15 - We arrived in Port-au-Prince to assist the orphanages which we support. We spent five days helping and assessing the best ways we could be a support to both them and the families which they are now helping to survive.
January 21 - We reached out to our Absolute network to assist in helping those we are connected with in Port-au-Prince and you responded with compassion and love.- February 3 - We left for Port-au-prince with the first $10,000 raised for Haiti through Absolute. In The Dominican Republic we filled a commercial truck with approx. $8,000 worth of aid.
- February 5th - We were delivering the aid to the orphanages and tent cities.
Aid supplies (approximately)
- 200 cases of water
- 400 packs of rice
- 400 bottles of oil
- 400 bags of ban
- 600 bars of soap
- 1000 pack of soup mix
- 900 roles of toilet paper
- 1000 packs of cookies and crackers
- 6 cases of milk
- 600 packs of pasta
- 400 small bags of detergent
- 300 cans of sardines
- 900 bags if corn mix
- 5 Large tarps
- 2 tents
- 6 Large boxes of medical supplies. (donated by servant heart min.)
- 4 boxes of clothes (donated by Servant’s Heart Ministries)
- 500 candles
- 2200 Honda generator
Other Giving and Expenses
- $1600 went to support the orphanage (orphanage staff, orphanage vehicle maintenance, baby supplies and orphanage bills)
- $400 went to pay translators, travel expenses, border fees, and other misc. items needed for this project
The Aid was divided into 4 different places: two different tent towns, the orphanage and a displacement camp.
Most of the tent towns we delivered aid to hadn’t seen any aid yet. Absolute is now preparing for our Hero Holiday in Haiti for May. We will also be working with participants on the boys orphanage, installing doors, building a kitchen and replacing a roof on the children’s school.
Published by absolute February 25th, 2010
in FB.
Monday, Feb 22nd. First day on our Hero Holiday.
With excitement, our team left our San Diego hotel and boarded the Hero Holiday coach bus for Vicente Guerrero, Mexico. The border going into Mexico went quite smooth – get off the bus, pick up your suitcase, and walk across the border. But push the button first […]
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Published by absolute February 23rd, 2010
in Uncategorized.
Dominican Republic is an amazing country and it is full of many kind and gentle people. Primarily there are two cultures that live there: Dominicans and Haitians. It is estimated that there are over 500,000 Haitians that live in Dominican Republic and of those, many are stateless, without proper identification papers or birth registry. They […]
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Published by absolute February 17th, 2010
in FB, Participant Blogs, Mexico and Other Sites.
Three days ago we arrived at this beautiful area called Vicente Guerrero. As you can see in the picture, we have made great progress since we’ve arrived here. We finished assembling the walls, raising the roof and painting the bathrooms.
Our first impression of being here is that of humbleness. This experience really puts our […]
...continue reading
If you have joined us on a Dominican Republic Hero Holiday, chances are you know who Pastor Garcia is and you are familiar with the Arroyo Seco school project. Many of us have memories of laughter and camaraderie as we worked together, brick by brick, cement shovel by cement shovel to help make a community’s dream come true: the dream of a school for their children and for their future. That dream has become a reality through the help of hundreds of Hero Holiday participants since 2006, and we are excited to announce that our school is now recognized by the Dominican government as a certified private school! As well, their entire community project is now a recognized Dominican foundation, another part of the success of working together.
There are over 100 students at the Arroyo Seco school, many of them able to go to school for the first time because of your hard work! The school is now running from junior kindergarten to grade 5, with students aged 3 to 15. Many of the older students have never had a chance to go to school before, so they are just as excited as the younger ones to have a chance to learn. Thanks to the generosity of some Canadian friends, our school now also has a computer lab, something that these students are completely new to but eager to learn on.
The best part about certification for the school is that they are now part of a standardized curriculum that requires consistent reporting and accountability - something that is lacking in many schools across this tiny nation. These students have many hopes and dreams and many of them are a result of education.
For those of you who were a part of the love, sweat and tears that went into the Arroyo Seco Community School project, this is your success.
