Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola. Originally colonized by the Spanish, the country has a long and fascinating history dating back to the first voyage of Columbus and to the native peoples who lived there for generations before.

As a developing country, the Dominican Republic has made a great deal of progress in the last few decades, but in many areas, poverty remains a major issue. People do not always have access to basic health care for their families. In addition, six out of every 100 Dominicans have some form of physical or mental disability, many of them children. There is often no affordable help available for these unfortunate children who have not only lost levels of function, but also any sense of dignity, hope or self-respect.

When International Child Care, a health agency with a 40-year record of compassionate care for the poor on the island of Hispaniola, learned that over 420,000 Dominicans were disabled without care, they developed grassroots Community Health and Community Based Rehabilitation programs in the Santiago province. The Community Based Rehabilitation program teaches parents and community members how to become physical therapists themselves. International Child Care works to provide a bottom-up, community-driven program of basic rehabilitative and therapeutic care for children with disabilities and to restore a level of respect within families and their communities for the disabled child.

By making a tax-deductible gift to International Child Care you can not only help transform bodies, but minds and spirits as well.