Helping moms & babies at DR0505
You are changing the lives of moms and babies. Here’s how.
The Need
Of the 5.2 million children who die around the world each year, 75 per cent die in the first year of life. Babies are at risk of death due to premature birth complications, complications during childbirth, infections, pneumonia and diarrhea. But this is preventable. With training and support, moms in poverty can be empowered to raise healthy and happy babies.
Our Response
Critical care
Your support helps secure access to pre- and postnatal care, skilled birth attendants and medical intervention when necessary.
Home-based care
Mothers are visited in their homes monthly by a Survival specialist, who offers education in prenatal care and early child-rearing as well as one-on-one biblical mentoring.
Group-based learning
At these church-based activities, moms learn skills to earn an income and gain vital knowledge including basic literacy, the importance of breastfeeding and how to prevent malnutrition and disease. These groups combat isolation through a supportive community of mothers who, together, learn about the God who loves them.
Dominican Republic Stats
Average number of children in household | 4 |
Average age of first-time mothers | 17 |
Births attended by skilled health personnel | 99 |
Stunted growth from malnutrition | 6 |
Activities
Physical health: Monthly health evaluations took place at the Survival stimulation room to ensure the health and well-being of both baby and mother during and after pregnancy. Expectant moms received baskets of supplies to help support them during and after their pregnancies. Moms and babies received regular medical checkups and treatment as needed.
Parenting skills: Moms met with the youth pastor at the church to learn about the importance of effective communication at home. A psychologist provided them with information about positive praise and the importance of speaking to children in a positive and calm manner. Moms were taught how to protect and safeguard their children and that abuse has legal consequences. A talk was given to support moms suffering from abuse and struggles in their homes and moms made supportive connections with their peers.
Early stimulation: A reading workshop was held to encourage parents to regularly read to their children to help develop their skills and intellect. Moms and babies enjoyed gathering at the early stimulation room at the centre to play with age-appropriate toys and learn activities to help their children’s cognitive, physical and social development.
Spiritual nurture: Moms gathered at the church for a session called “Restored to Restore.” This event encouraged moms to and to be a light in their homes and communities and to grow deeper in their understanding of who God is in their lives and the lives of their children. They were inspired to become agents of change that this world needs. Moms regularly worshipped God and prayed together. Many moms decided to dedicate their babies to God during a special service. Program staff gave each mom a Bible so moms could study the Bible together.
Home visits: During home visits, moms learned to recognize the temperament of their children and how to communicate non-verbally when their children have a need. Home visits allowed staff to build trust with families and teach targeted lessons, such as nutrition and the importance of breastfeeding, according to their needs. One family was given a bed since they didn’t have one for their child.
Project Stats
This intervention addressed:
Full-term births | 4 |
Illness: Non-Communicable Diseases | 3 |
Illness: Respiratory-Related Illness | 1 |
Pregnancies | 9 |
Illness subc: Skin | 2 |
Illness subc: Respiratory Tract Infection | 5 |
Breastfeeding Moms | 1 |
Attended births | 4 |
Malnourished Babies - Moderately Underweight | 2 |
Normal birth weights | 4 |
ReportA message from a pastor
Abundant peace in Christ! Beloved supporters of our Survival program, I hope that the favour and grace of the Lord will be with you and upon you always. I am Pastor Ivan of the child development centre DR0505, “Jesus Christ reigns in childhood.”
I am writing to you with an immense heart of gratitude for the incredible impact and added value of your generous donations for program participants, which increased their quality of life and at the same time increased their faith by seeing God’s hand in their lives.
Thanks to your donations, we have able to create a hedge of protection, provision and direction in the lives of those we support, providing medicine, intentional aid in the births of babies, items for the better care of the children as well as covering other expenses.
Our Survival program has marked a “before and after” in our community because there has been a development of hope for participants to overcome, persevere and grow as a family, having a clearer reason to fight and strive to progress as a family.
The families of our community opened more to our offers of help and assistance in their homes. They began to trust and let themselves be helped with their life challenges. Your contributions have also helped us to provide participants with workshops and intensive lectures in order to attack and mitigate scourges and vulnerabilities in the academic formation of parents. Seeing the fruit from these courses, our next planned steps will be to provide more vocational workshops to equip the beneficiaries, increasing their productive and formative skills in their work, as well as family and spiritual development because Christ said that without Him we can do nothing.
In conclusion, we pray and thank the Lord for your lives and your contributions of love and mercy for those who need it most.
ReportA message from those your gift helped
It is with great joy and gratitude that I am writing to you to express my heartfelt thanks. I want to let you know how grateful I am for all that you have given to help. Your generosity and kindness have left a deep impression on me; your support and consideration have made a big difference.
Thank you for the support you gave to my family at the moment I needed it. Thank you for your kind gesture of generosity and for your care for the babies. I cannot express in words how grateful I am for your help and for being there when we need it most. Your kindness and generosity have been a true balm for my spirit and have given me the strength to go on.
What I like most about the program is that they always talk about the Word of God. If He is with us, everything is possible. I also like the activities, games and acts of love and the sharing and demonstration of the Word of God. I am grateful for the healthy lunches they provide, the care for the babies and the health checkups that are done every month.
Thank you for everything. I love you very much for being so good to us—not just to me, but to all of us at the centre and in the program.
ReportA message from a partnership facilitator
May the peace of God fill your life and that of your family. I want to thank you for your great support of the Survival program. Your help has been a great blessing for so many mothers and children who have been reached through our development program. Many mothers’ lives have been impacted in the spiritual, socio-emotional, physical, and cognitive areas.
The centre Jesucristo Reina en la niñez DR0505 is located in the San José neighbourhood, one of the most vulnerable areas of our city. The centre has been working on preparing and developing vulnerable mothers and single mothers with no aspiration for development. The centre started on July 7, 2017, with 15 pregnant mothers and one implementer. The program has benefited more than 150 families in the community who have shown development in their personal lives and experienced economic growth for their families.
We want to mention some points of impact on the families participating in the program. Mothers who had not finished their basic studies resumed their studies and are now high school graduates. Mothers graduated in technical and university levels of study becoming teachers, beauty and nail stylists, pastry makers and creators of handicrafts. Many received permanent positions in the labour market. There has been improvement of health practices for caregivers and their children. Another impact has been confession of faith in Jesus Christ and regular attendance at the church.
Currently, the centre has 21 children in the home-based program, with 15 in the Survival program and two implementers. Finally, we can attest that the church is pleased with the results achieved with the program. The community has shown much gratitude for it. We thank the Lord and you for serving as an instrument. It is my prayer that God pours rich blessings on your lives and that you can continue to be a blessing to so many families in need.