Building a Bridge & Medical Clinic

“Some give by going; Some go by giving”
- St. Therese of Lisieux, Patroness of Missions

Friends, Family, and Supporters!

Thank you for taking the time to support the Belen Youth Mission trip. Since 1981, high school students from Miami, FL have been participating in missionary activities to assist greatly impoverished areas of the Dominican Republic through the Belen Youth Mission and the support from ILAC.

Every summer, BYM sends about 100 participants for 10 days, to help build a concrete bridge ranging from 80 to 150 feet long, provide support to a medical clinic and doctors, and to create new experiences with the community being served.


Each bridge that is built is vital for the community. Without it, locals are isolated during the rainy season, creating dangerous conditions for those needing to cross the river. Additionally, those that need to sell crops or goods face accessibility issues that ultimately lead to a stalling of economic development. Through the use of basic tools and hard work, we are able to alleviate these challenges.



As you can imagine, hard work is only half the equation. We need your help first before we can go help the community.  A trip of this size requires us to charter a plane to take 100 participants, buy food every day from the markets and materials for building the bridge. While our goal is $5,000, any and all support is needed to make sure this trip and our work is a success. No donation is too small; if you are in the South Florida area, we will also be collecting vitamins and over the counter drugs, so that they may be distributed at the clinic. If you are a doctor or know of a doctor who would like to go, please contact me!!

In addition, there are a list of tools  that we will need to purchase this year by clicking on the link . Again if you are local to South Florida, we can take physical  donations as well.  

 
Here is a video from last year's trip:

The BYM 2014 bridge in action during the rainy season:


One of many different articles published every year for our mission trip:
http://www.communitynewspapers.com/kendall-gazette/students-return-from-mission-trip-built-a-bridge-in-a-remote-village-in-the-dominican-republic/

Miami Herald article: 
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article1966701.html



Thank you so much for your support and in the words of St. Ignatious of Loyola, "Go forth and set the world on fire"