Project Launch:

Somos Promotoritos is an art class that educates kids in the Dominican Republic about health through art. Each class teaches a health lesson with an art project, such as finger painting and the importance of washing your hands or making vegetables out of play-doh when discussing eating healthy foods. The class teaches kids healthy habits in a fun way so that they can start making healthy decisions at an early age. In the community of Los Derramaderos, adults are extremely active in the children’s lives and they help them with almost everything. Somos Promotoitos wanted to teach the children independence, so with a $207 grant from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program, participating kids were given an hour and a half each day to work on individual art project and were able to see how capable they are of working independently. After the individual work time, they were given time to work and play with everyone else in the group and the groups played games, sang songs, and learned about the importance of hygiene. Previously, there were no health classes in the community. The Somos Promotoritos project not only focused on physical health, but mental health as well, in particular increasing self-esteem, and planning for the future. Now the kids understand the importance of washing hands before every meal and they eat healthy foods without being asked. When the kids complete the course, they graduate as Promotoritos and become responsible for teaching friends and family what they have learned.