Project Launch:

In the community of Los Jengibres in the Dominican Republic, there were extremely limited educational resources in the school or in the community in 2010 when a Peace Corps Volunteer reached out to World Connect for grant funding support. Teachers and students lacked resources and the reading levels of students and community members were well below average. Many students and community members were not learning how to read due to a lack of resources and motivation. With a $500 grant from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program, a library was established in collaboration with the Parents Association at the primary school in Los Jengibres. The grant supported purchasing materials to make shelves and buy library books covering many different subjects such as math, science, history, literature, geography, dictionaries, and leisure reading books. The library now serves as an education center where students and community members, especially youth, have the opportunity to expand their knowledge. There are educational games (math and reading), educational posters, reading learning books, two large round study tables, and art supplies for fun educational activities and the center is utilized by adults and children.