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There
is the belief that tourism in the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC provides for
everyone.
This is not true. Each
day more families with many children move from their
small villages to the outskirts of the cities with the hope of getting
work, but because of the lack of education, most are unable to find
employment.
Although
schooling is compulsory, many children /
youth do not attend because they must help in the home, cooking, looking
after smaller children, or working the streets for a few pesos to buy food
for the family.
Our
concern has always been that if we wait too
long to encourage and educate the illiterate, their lives will never
improve and poverty will engulf them forever.
After
about 4 visits to Puerto Plata in the mid 1980’s, my wife Rita and I opened
a small gift shop (now closed).
Working
with the Dominican people
was a wonderful learning experience and knowing them and their families
made it very clear to us that there was more we could do than just enjoy
their country.
Having
experienced the tragedy of the human conditions in the Dominican Republic
during the late 1980’s we informally started GRAÇIAS.
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. . . . . . . . . .
Donations
for
INTEGRACIÓN
JUVENIL
were gathered in our community in 1995 and 1997 of
various unwanted, used hand and power tools, materials, sewing machines,
typewriters, and furnishings. With
the assistance of the US Agency
for International Development, Denton Program, our humanitarian cargo was
transported out of Chicago to the Dominican Republic, and delivered onsite
to
INTEGRACIÓN JUVENIL,
Puerto Plata in 1996 and 1998. Fair Market
Value (FMV) was $ 22,000.
During
1999 through 2007
with funds raised in the amount of approximately $45,000, we purchased personally in the Dominican Republic, and
delivered directly on site – educational equipment, tools and materials to
accommodate 7 workshops and programs at INTEGRACIÓN JUVENIL’s
Technical/Vocational Educational Centre. THE breakdown for each
year, including direct project expenditures is as follows:
1999 - $ 3,070, 2000 - $ 2,725, 2001
- $9,900, 2002 - $ 0
*, 2003 - $ 9,900
2004 - $ 7,325
2005 - $ 4,793, 2006 - $6,300, 2007 - $822.
Funds were also used for an
interim
project,
LA CASA ROSADA,
an orphanage in Santo Domingo, with purchases made in the Dominican
Republic of surgical equipment, instruments and medical supplies, which
were delivered directly on site. This project was in the year
2000 in the amount of $ 6,500.
WE take this approach to be able to assure
our donors that their funds are used for the purpose for which they are
intended. Detailed summary and financial statements
are available
upon request.
After many months of negotiations between GRAÇIAS and
WORLD EMERGENCY RELIEF of the U.S. and U.K. in 2001, we were
successful in getting a commitment from them to corroborate with
INTEGRACIÓN JUVENIL directly, in all aspects, for a period of at least
4 years. Now
there is new direction and the dreams and wishes for
a better future for so many will be fulfilled.
. . . . . . . . . .
For
over
20
years we have actively supported, worked together and represented
INTEGRACIÓN JUVENIL, Puerto Plata, and their struggle as a small
institution has been overwhelming at times during the past
30 years….but
the heart of this humble non-profit
organization, with a handful of volunteers, has provided
assistance and love to hundreds of families of a swelling
population of urban poor, who live in marginalized barrios and squatter
settlements on the outskirts of the city.
We
also extend our thanks and appreciation
to our major contributors, the George Cedric Metcalf Charitable
Foundation, The Motz Foundation, as well as Richard and Lynne Metcalfe,
Ontario Power Generation, and friends and family.
IF
you would like more information, please contact us by phone at 905
793-1374,
or e-mail at
gracias@rogers.com
WE
thank you for giving us your time & thoughtful attention.
GRAÇIAS Registered Charity #: BN88830 5596 RR0001
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Students' trip
south is no holiday
"A group of Brampton students are visiting the Dominican Republic
this week, but nor for rest and recreation. The students, from
Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School, left for Puerto Plata
yesterday to help people less fortunate than themselves through
Integración Juvenil. ....
read more
(from The Brampton Guardian
Weekend, Sunday, January 29, 1995) |
Volunteers
pitch in for island youth
"There are young hands in the Dominican Republic eager to learn and
work, and a group of Canadian volunteers determined to help them.
That's the mission of folks like Rita and Hans Gautschi of Brampton,
who organized local support for a trades and technical centre known
as Integración Juvenil that is aimed at street children in Puerto
Plata.
.... read more
(from The Toronto Star, Thursday, October 19, 1995) |
Group aids Dominican street kids
"Rita Gautschi may be visually impaired, but she sees very well with
her heart. As the driving force behind a group called Graçias,
Gautschi has witnessed the often desperate existence of children on
the streets of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
...
read more
(from The Toronto Star, Thursday,
June 5, 1997) |
Integración
Juvenil implementa nuevos programas de ayuda y asistencia a niños
desamparados
"Puerto Plata. - Con el objetivo de buscar solución a los problemas
que afectan a la niñez puertoplateña, la Junta Directiva de
Integración Juvenil se encuentra reformulando sus programas de
servicios y asistencia.
... read more
(from El Faro, Nov 18 - Nov 21, 2005) |
Translated newspaper article
Integración Juvenil Implements New Aid and
Assistance Programs for Unprotected Children
"Puerto Plata. - With the objective of seeking solutions to the
problems that affect Puerto Plata's children, the Board of Directors
of Integración Juvenil is reformulating their services and
assistance programs.
... read more
(translated from El Faro, Nov 18
- Nov 21, 2005) |
Integración Juvenil
Accreditation of Graçias as representative in Canada
.. read more
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Integración Bulletin -
November 2005
Our Future ... The Children & Young
People of Puerto Plata
Our Hope ... A Better Future for Them
"We often say that children are a
country's future, but we must be saying that sentence unconsciously
because the implications of those words, without a doubt, should
motivate us towards action. One look at the real situation of the
children in our popular neighborhoods tells us that they have no
future or that their future is full of limitations for the following
reasons:
• Numerous families living in conditions
of poverty & extreme poverty.
• Undernourished children with a future
plagued by insufficiency due to malnutrition.
• Children without birth certificates,
without schooling or with poor schooling.
... read more |
Integración Juvenil
New Roads, New Hopes
Integración Juvenil, working for the
past 28 years in favor of at-risk youth, was born out of the spirit
of service. Doña Ana Viuda Leroux and its founders were very
clear that the future of a country is its children and over time
they have spared no efforts to extend a hand to help children in
their development.
... read more |
Integración Juvenil •
Graçias
Various Documents
(1987 - 2001)
• Integración Juvenil summary letter
(1987)
• autographed photo to Rita Gautschi
from CARE CANADA
• Nov 1993 fax from UNICEF
• Oct 1995 letter from U.S. Agency for
International Development re shipment of humanitarian goods from
Rita Gautschi to Dominican Republic
• Nov 1995 fax re release of goods to
Dominican Republic
• Aug 1997 letter from PEACE CORPS to
Rita Gautschi
• June 2001 email from WER (World
Emergency Relief) to Rita Gautschi.
... read more
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