Project Launch:

Eighteen kilometers of steep, mountain roads separate Blanco from Bonao, in a shared region of the Dominican Republic. Both communities lack access to many basic services. The population of the zone hovers around 2,000 people. Many families depend on the coffee harvest, which lasts about four months, to make a living. The culture is characterized by a tight sense of community and family. Gender roles are rigidly defined even from an early age, leaving girls and women out of income producing activities. A $499 grant from World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program in 2011 helped build a playground, a children's garden, and a small library and game space for the children. Though the recreation area is now used primarily by local kids it also provides a recreation space for the children of visitors to the nearby ecotourism complex. This new resource also welcomes children from different backgrounds to play together and learn from each other and their inter-cultural exchange. Finally, the recreation center allows parents to bring their children to the complex while they attend workshops and classes or work with the ecotourism and agriculture project.