We have been committed to our mission in the Dominican Republic for the last five years. It is incredible to see what’s been accomplished. From makeshift clinics in old abandoned buildings for weeks at a time, helping were we could, to an established, functioning clinic and school that serve the people of Bayaguana daily. It’s nothing short of a miracle for us. A miracle that could have never occurred without the painstaking sacrifices of countless volunteers who have donated their time, resources and skills to make this dream a reality.
Our clinic is currently seeing many patients daily and growing. With two full time dentists and doctors, a dental assistant, a full-time lab technician, pharmacist, and nurse, our clinic is constantly busy with patients receiving the care that they need. Each month we hold specialty pop-up clinics in the town square to further promote our services and extend our aid to more individuals in the community.
We’ve had local professionals teach various technical skill classes in our school and are currently expanding the classes we will offer. Recently we held a very successful Personal Communication class, where individuals practiced how to effectively communicate with co-workers, family members and those around them. We have just purchased 11 sewing machines to begin teaching sewing classes to local residents to enable able them to gain a marketable skill for employers and provide for themselves. We have built a solid foundation to make the next big steps. Looking back, we can see it’s taken a lot to get to where we are now, but more importantly, what lies ahead in the future?
Community Well
We’ve built a well. Water sanitation has always been a major challenge in the Dominican Republic. Access to water is generally free in most areas, but it is often contaminated and dangerous, especially for children. Diarrhea contracted from unsanitary water causes half the deaths of children under the age of one in the Dominican Republic. As a result, many Dominicans spend almost a third of their daily income just to buy clean water for the day. The community of Bayaguana is no exception to this issue. As an organization, our objective is to improve the lives of those we serve in every facet possible. Our well is currently supplying all the water we use within our clinic and we are working to implement a larger filtration device to begin supplying water to the members of the community at minimum costs.
“We are so excited to get our well ready to serve the community,” Community of Hope Int. President Jose Manuel Ubiera said. “To be able to affordably provide this resource to our friends in the community will bring them such a great financial relief. We’re so grateful to those donors whose contributions have made this possible.”
The larger filtration system will be implemented in the coming weeks and will soon be ready to serve the community at large.
Insurance Authorization
The government in the Dominican Republic offers Government subsidized health insurance for low income, disabled or unemployed individuals. Most of the community that we serve in Bayaguana qualify for this help, but are unaware of the benefits offered to them. Our clinic recently received state licenses and credentials to accept the state subsidized and private insurances submitted by our patients. We are only awaiting our official property license to begin receiving insurance. We are striving to ensure that patrons who qualify for the program and are receiving treatment at our clinic, get signed up to begin receiving support the moment they begin attending our facility.
“To accept and receive the government subsidized insurance is monumental for us,” Community of Hope International Vice President Dr. Tom Dickinson said. “This is huge help financially to those we serve and allows us to help more and more people at a lower cost for us and them.”
There is a lot more that lies ahead for us to accomplish, but with the help of our incredible volunteers and benefactors we will keep moving forward to bless the lives of the Dominican people we love so dearly.
Donate or contact us to learn how you can help us make our next big leap forward.
