Girls from Orphanage

Children in my school class

Child in my class looking at books

All the children in the Orphanage

New house for the Orphanage

Kids at the Orphanage

Donations

Large Donations of beautiful clothing from friends in Florida

Over the years we have been focused on these projects:

Early Childhood Education – We plan to continue offering early childhood education to the young children and disabled children in Jackie’s House Orphanage four times per week.  There are approximately 12 children in the class. We are hoping to raise $200 per month to go towards the education expenses of continuing to run this project.  An education is one of the most important things that we can offer to these children along with all of our love that we give them.  Without an education these children don’t have a very good chance at succeeding in life.

Infant Food and Formula – In Canada we are lucky, infant formula and food is always number 1 on our grocery list when we have an infant in our home.  However in the Dominican infant formula and food is very expensive and generally gets bumped off the list because there are more important things like milk and food for the other children that need to be bought.  Sometimes the babies miss out on the daily necessities.  However for a good start in life and to combat the effects of malnutrition, these little mouths need the vitamins and nutrients in infant formula and cereal. It is my hope to raise enough money every month to be able to help supply the orphanage with baby cereals and a sufficient amount of milk. It is my goal to raise $100 Canadian per month to help buy the needed infant supplies here in Santo Domingo for Jackie’s House. However the best way to help out with this is to bring infant formula and cereals to the Dominican from Canada when traveling.  If you would like to raise money or do a drive for infant food and formula please contact me and I can give you all the information needed for bringing it with you to the Dominican when you go on a vacation or sending it with someone you know.

Street Kits for Street Kids – In the Dominican there are many street children that beg for money in the streets.  This is for many their only way of survival. A few years ago this project was started by Sunyata and has deemed to be a very satisfying and simple project that can put a big smile on a child’s face.  Instead of giving a child 5 pesos which is about 10 cents Canadian we give the child a pencil case full of little useful gifts that the child can use.  Most of these children have never received a gift, so you can imagine how it might make them feel receiving something like this from a complete stranger.

EXCITING NEW NEWS

Things always seem to work out eventually.  Our dreams are finally starting to come true.  Thank you to a wonderful family in the United States who bought and donated a house that is on a big sector of land to Jackie´s Home, in the last 2 months we have been able to slowly move from the small cramped house that we were in, to the new HOME.  This new house is on a large piece of land and far enough out of the main part of Santo Domingo that it is like being in the country when you are there.  This piece of land/house could not have been more excellent for our children.  They are now able to run around freely inside the compound that has a 15 foot wall all around the property to protect everything and everyone inside.  The children now have room to play and exercise and enjoy the fresh air on a daily basis.  Since the move in the last month we have seen remarkable changes in the children.  They are happier than every and LOVE the new house and the best part of all is that the fresh air and sun has done wonders for the childrens skin and health.  The children are looking great and if you ask them if they like their new house better than their old house, you will see the biggest smile ever and get a big YES.
Although the house on the property is big, it is a regular sized house for a regular family, it is definitely not big enough to accomodate sleeping arrangements for 20 children but because we have been blessed with this house that is on a huge piece of land, we are now in the process of constructing 2 large dormitories which will be 2 separate houses next to the main house that will have bathrooms and bedrooms.  Once the construction is finished this will be the main sleeping quarters for the children and will be able to hold close to 50 or 60 children plus the construction of these two houses is being done in a way that eventually if one day we need more room we can build a second level as well to accomodate for more children. We are also in the process of building a mess hall which will be a warm welcoming room where we can cook meals and the children can all sit together comfortable and eat their meals together inside this special room.  As well we have been blessed by a Missionary Group from the United States that is going to be building a large playground outside on the property this summer for the children and even possible a water park (the kind you see in Canada and United States) that are like big sprinklers that the kids can run through.
In closing, with all these blessings, we are still in need of lots of help from the the wonderful people out there that have done so much to help support our children with their donations in the past.  In this moment, we have approximately 20 children living in the Home, and a waiting list of approximately 20 children that are at high risk and living on the streets that are waiting to enter the Orphanage, but without the completion of the dormitories we cannot accept these children at this time.  As much as we would love to take them in, it would just not be responsible on our part to take children that we do not have room for or funds to take care of them at this time. But with some help from the outside world, as little as it may be, anything will help us buy building supplies so that we can finish the dormitories as quickly as possible and get these children to a safe haven.  We pray that God will send us Angels as he always does.

If you would like to sponsor one of our projects above and become a donor for COLORS Dominican you can mail cheques to:

Charlene Marcinkoski, 102 Springs Cres. Airdrie AB  T4A 2C9

Or you can donate online if you have internet banking , your donation can be sent to me, using an online money transfer using my email address cmarcinkoski@hotmail.com

Please specify if you would like to donate to one project in particular.  Know that your money will be put to good use and after donating you will receive a personal update from me with pictures so that you can see how we have put your donation to great use.
I will personally be over seeing all of the projects and working hands on with the children in Jackie’s House Orphanage and making sure that all donations are put to the best of use possible.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding anything that we are doing in the Dominican Republic or any of the projects that we are running please contact Sunyata Choyce or myself through Project Colors International.

Charlene Marcinkoski, Director COLORS Dominicana
dominicana@projectcolors.com

Home # (809) 687-5510 Cell# (829) 885 1520

If you are interested in volunteering in the Dominican Republic through COLORS Dominicana, please contact me via email or phone.