Archive news items 2017
HAPPY NEW YEAR FELIZ ANO NUEVO
November 2017
welcome to our new website
welcome
October 2017
Trip-report September/October 2017 see "Trip-reports"
August 2017
Vouchers
The annual vouchers for school uniforms, backpacks and learning resources have again been distributed by the Sosúa Kids Assocation at various locations to disadvantaged children. Michelle Bennett, from the beginning involved with the Sosúa Kids, has come over from Canada each year to help. Since 2006, our Dutch foundation supports this Association.
July 2017
Colegio Asher 1 of the 25 best schools.
Judith has heard from the Ministry of Education that Colegio Asher belongs to the top 25 schools of the Dominican Republic after the results of recent exams. In total there are approximately 3,500 schools.
Our donors can be proud of the fact that they have contributed to it. Meanwhile, the library of the Colegio grows slowly but steadily with our help.
libraryColegioAsher2017
June 2017
Mural paintings
For a while, the Dutch foundation Color4kids (C4K) and our foundation have worked the same projects in the Dominican Republic, each within their own goal. It concerns a primary school in the suburbs Miramar in Puerto Plata and the Colegio Asher in El Batey de la Union. The C4K brings color to the lives of disadvantaged children and does this by means of murals. Under the guidance of and in collaboration with Carin Steen, specializing in mural paintings, beautiful murals been painted by C4K on the school in Puerto Plata and at Colegio Asher.
Both school leaders chose the theme "Rights of the child" and the students have also contributed by painting a part. Our projects are therefore beautiful colorful in appearance.
wallpaintingsColegioAsher2017 wallpaintingsColegioAsher2017-2
wallpaintingPuertoPlata2017
April 2017
Rain
It has always been raining extremely hard in recent months. Many roads (including those to Camu) are still unmanageable and it will not be easy to get our things there for the children. Due to lost harvests, food prices have risen sharply, which have most often hit the poorest people.
Judith and Roberto of Colegio Asher are very happy with their third daughter, who was born in March. Judith will soon be able to resume her work so that she can guide students to the exams in June.
February 2017
Webmaster
After 10 years, our webmaster Eelco Roos has said he no longer wishes to maintain our website. Of course, we are very sorry, but we are very grateful to him for his many years of commitment to and support for our foundation. Finding a new webmaster is a tough job and we are therefore very pleased to have found Robert (www.robidoe.com) who wants to take over Eelco's work. Under his leadership, a renewed website will be launched.
Archive news items 2016
December 2016
Trip-report November/December 2016 available.
"School uniform party" for 25 children from flooded houses of Sosúa Abajo en Maranatha.
October 2016
So Haiti has been hit again, now by the Hurricane Matthew. In the Dominican Republic (DR) it was not so bad compared to Haiti. The south coast was the hardest hit, but the damage in Sosúa and Puerto Plata, on the north coast, was relatively small.
Just like six years ago, after the big earthquake, many Haitians will again flee to the DR in search of food, medical care, a roof over their head, in short everything what is missing in their country after the disaster. As in Europe, people in the DR do not know how to cope with a large influx of refugees. Poor Dominicans see them arriving with envious eyes. Haitians work for the lowest wages and have to endure everything as it comes. Dominicans, who already have hardly any work, again feel threatened in their existence. Police regularly turn large groups of illegal Haitians back across the border, after which they equally quickly return here. The Haitian prostitutes jostle the Dominicans, because of the low rates, and accept all the risks.
Desperate mothers send their children to a distant relative, who lives in the DR. But often they already have six children and have barely enough food and care. If then another four distant nephews and nieces arrive, this is impracticable and these children will also quickly become tramps.
The Colegio Asher, which is located in a poor neighbourhood in the DR with a lot of Haitians, will again feel the consequences, just as before. Our foundation does everything within our power to supporting this school.
September 2016
In 2006, 10 years ago already, we began to help underprivileged children in the area of Sosua and Puerto Plata to go to school. In 2007, the foundation Stichting Help Sosuakids naar School was established for this purpose.
During these years, we have donated a total of some 3,500 school uniforms, shoes and thousands of school supplies, such as pens, pencils, coloured chalk, notebooks etc. etc. We also paid the salaries of some teachers of the Colegio Asher for 10 years. More than 1,700 new beautifully-printed t-shirts have found their way via us to the poorest children, and some 400 kilos of pieces of cloth for sewing lessons have been transported to Puerto Plata from the Netherlands.
We can certainly look back on the result achieved with satisfaction, but we continue looking and thinking forward.
Thanks to significant assistance from Canada, the Colegio Asher has been able to have new school buildings available. Partly as a result of this, the number of pupils in the school in the future can grow from 230 to some 500. In consultation with the Colegio Asher, our foundation has decided to set up a library in one of the buildings. Not only will the students of the Colegio be able to make use of this, but also many students from other schools, and the approximately 3,000 inhabitants of the impoverished district of El Batey la Union. Besides Dominicans living in that area there are particulay many Haitian refugees.The books can then, under supervision, be read in the library, but cannot be borrowed.
There is very little use of internet in schools on the north coast.Extensive use of computers, instead of books, is not included in the curricula. The many long power cuts and problems with the wifi reception also prevent reliable everyday use of computers. Although you can see a lot of Dominicans with a smartphone, permanent use of the internet is far too expensive for many of them. There is also little knowledge of programs apart from Facebook and WhatsApp. Many poor Dominicans and Haitians, however, have absolutely no knowledge of the internet.The setting up of a library with reference books and a lot of school books and textbooks is therefore still not obsolete and superfluous in the coming years.It will take many years before the use of computers and internet has been introduced structurally and made accessible to everyone there.
However, in recent years we have donated a number of new 7 inch tablets to the Colegio Asher. We hope these will build a bridge to a broader future use of them.
Will people help us to continue setting up the library and donate money to purchase some books, which will be very welcome on account number NL30ABNA0572739818 of our Stichting Help Sosuakids naar School.
Perhaps an idea for visitors to the Dominican Republic, who have seen the poverty there and want to do something to about it.
August 2016
vouchers for new school uniforms
June 2016
Trip-report May 2016 available
"School uniform party for 29 children from the country on 28 May 2016"
April 2016
We are going to adjust our approach for school uniforms to the changing attitude of the Dominican government. During the past year, significantly more school uniforms have been given to underprivileged children by the Ministry of Education in the DR. Only children who already go to school can sometimes get such a free uniform, but the first school uniforms and accessories must always be paid for by themselves. This is the reason that there are many underprivileged children who do not go to school as a result of lack of money.
In May 2016, elections are being held in the DR and in such a year there is always a lot of money given out in order to win votes. It is therefore the question whether the government will continue to make school uniforms available on the same scale after the 
elections.
For the time being, our foundation has decided to focus on the influx of a greater number of children who do not yet go to school and less on providing uniforms for six years to the same children. After the first year, the children will themselves have to try to obtain a uniform or parts of it from the government. Nevertheless, we will continue to monitor the children. Should it turn out that they subsequently do not receive the necessary things from the government, we will then take care of this.
Our foundation has limited resources. The method above means we try avoid providing unnecessary uniforms and we also encourage the children to take action themselves during their school-going period. Where necessary, we will of course continue to assist.
March 2016
During my visit to Sosúa in November 2015, I met a fellow countrywoman, Janny Koldenhof, in hotel Casa Marina. She is an enthusiastic, energetic lady who regularly visits Sosúa and immediately offered that she wanted to help our foundation in the area of fundraising. She has many more contacts in the East of our country. Our foundation is very grateful for her help.
February 2016
The Colegio Asher has taken the second new building into use.
January 2016
Colegio Asher
News 2015
Merry Christmas and a Happy 2016
December 2015
Trip-report November 2015 available.
November 2015
We hope to have our new website online within a few months.
October 2015
The management and teachers of the Colegio Asher currently have additional difficulties at the start of this new school year. Many big changes in the education process have been suddenly imposed by the Ministry of Education, such as the manner of giving lessons and the method of evaluation. At the same time, a lot of new pupils with serious behavioural and learning problems have come to the Colegio from other schools. Everyone is now working extremely hard so that these new children will be able to be integrated with the other children in the classes.
August 2015
vouchers for school uniforms, Camu, La Cienaga, Sabaneta, Sosúa
June 2015
trip-report May 2015 available
April 2015
The Dominican Ministry of Education is now gradually introducing the system in which the schoolchildren have lessons for the whole day instead of a half-day. More money is also being made available for meals now the children no longer go home.
March 2015
In a high (Canadian) tempo, the Samaritans are constructing the new school building for the Colegio Asher. This is making a dream come true for the Colegio Asher, the school that started in September 2006. Up until now, the school was always only housed in poor accommodation, but that is now going to change.
Nevertheless our help is still very necessary. The Colegio Asher needs a lot of money every month in order to continue to pay teacher salaries. Also, books, notebooks, blackboard chalk, etc., must always be purchased and food must also be purchased for meals to be provided to the children in school.
February 2015
Public schools, which had become very dilapidated, are now being restored. The Dominican Government has made money available for this and at various places one can see construction work. The school in Puerto Plata that I visited in November was also addressed extensively, but the work has now been stopped for two months. The reason for this is unknown. The students are placed in another school and now must until they will be able to return to their original school.
Archive news items 2014
NEWS 2014.
Merry Christmas and Happy 2015
December 2014
Trip- report November 2014.
Tablets for Colegio Asher
Archive news items 2013
December 2013
Trip- report November 2013.
November 2013
In addition to exchanging ideas with the people involved and checking on the projects and information, the trips to Sosúa also bring other positive things with them. During her stay, Sylvia gets in touch with Dutch people as well as, for example, Canadians who are on holiday there. Some of these tourists are looking for a good destination for school supplies or clothing they have brought with them. When requested, Sylvia then visits the Colegio Asher with them. Visitors are always deeply impressed by what they see there and want to contribute something.
An elderly Canadian lady, Nelly, who frequently visits Sosúa and has great social empathy, visited the Colegio Asher with Sylvia in May 2013. She recently telephoned Sylvia, because she is now going to fill a couple of boxes with aid supplies for the DR, which will be transported by container ship from Toronto to Puerto Plata. Some of these supplies are for the children of the Colegio Asher.
Although this is outside our Dutch foundation, through these contacts in Sosúa our aim is also achieved, which is to provide assistance to underprivileged children in the DR.
