RHS Interact: Batey 106 School
Donation protected
The Rockford High School's Interact club will need your help raising money to build a school next year in the Dominican Republic! We traveled down there with a group of students February 17-23 to Batey 106 in the Dominican Republic.
Batey 106 is one of the many small villages amongst the vast sugarcane fields throughout the rural areas of the Dominican Republic. These small villages are full of hard working men, women and children just trying to make their lives better than they currently are. Tin shacks make up most of these villages and shoeless, naked children play in the dirt streets. Poverty is part of life in the Dominican and for these families, it’s all they know. Men work everyday, all day in the scorching heat cutting sugarcane in the fields for less than $5 a day. Women stay home, walk long distances to carry drinkable water to their homes, do laundry, cook, clean and raise the children.
The children of these Bateys enjoy simple lives with very little luxuries. A broken basketball court, a soccer ball and other discarded toys are all that pass for entertainment for these kids. They spend their childhoods playing together all the while knowing their future that lies ahead will be the same as their parents.
The only way to escape the vicious cycle of poverty in these bateys is to find a better job somewhere else, which is impossible without education. That is why it is our mission to help the future generations of Batey 106. The government of the Dominican Republic has promised us that they will provide a teacher to teach classrooms, but the bateys have to provide the school. The Batey, under the chains of poverty, can't afford to build a school on their own. We already have two classrooms built in the batey, this allows the children there to go to school through 4th grade currently and to continue learning the children must walk long distances to go up into a higher grade level. This past year we were fortunate enough to raise the $30,000 we needed to add an additional classroom that will allow our kids in Batey 106 to go through 6th grade. This year, our goal is to expand the school by adding one more room. This will allow the kids to get an 8th-grade education, which is the equivalent of a high school diploma in the Dominican Republic. This would allow them to leave the bateys and get better jobs in the community.
The Rockford High School Interact club needs $30,000 to complete the school. Along with our GoFundMe, we will be doing many fundraising activities within our community throughout the year. Every dollar donated is a dollar closer to changing the lives of the children of Batey 106. We will greatly appreciate every donation.
Batey 106 is one of the many small villages amongst the vast sugarcane fields throughout the rural areas of the Dominican Republic. These small villages are full of hard working men, women and children just trying to make their lives better than they currently are. Tin shacks make up most of these villages and shoeless, naked children play in the dirt streets. Poverty is part of life in the Dominican and for these families, it’s all they know. Men work everyday, all day in the scorching heat cutting sugarcane in the fields for less than $5 a day. Women stay home, walk long distances to carry drinkable water to their homes, do laundry, cook, clean and raise the children.
The children of these Bateys enjoy simple lives with very little luxuries. A broken basketball court, a soccer ball and other discarded toys are all that pass for entertainment for these kids. They spend their childhoods playing together all the while knowing their future that lies ahead will be the same as their parents.
The only way to escape the vicious cycle of poverty in these bateys is to find a better job somewhere else, which is impossible without education. That is why it is our mission to help the future generations of Batey 106. The government of the Dominican Republic has promised us that they will provide a teacher to teach classrooms, but the bateys have to provide the school. The Batey, under the chains of poverty, can't afford to build a school on their own. We already have two classrooms built in the batey, this allows the children there to go to school through 4th grade currently and to continue learning the children must walk long distances to go up into a higher grade level. This past year we were fortunate enough to raise the $30,000 we needed to add an additional classroom that will allow our kids in Batey 106 to go through 6th grade. This year, our goal is to expand the school by adding one more room. This will allow the kids to get an 8th-grade education, which is the equivalent of a high school diploma in the Dominican Republic. This would allow them to leave the bateys and get better jobs in the community.
The Rockford High School Interact club needs $30,000 to complete the school. Along with our GoFundMe, we will be doing many fundraising activities within our community throughout the year. Every dollar donated is a dollar closer to changing the lives of the children of Batey 106. We will greatly appreciate every donation.
Organiser
Rhs Interact
Organiser
Rockford, MI
