100 Dominican special needs kids more independent

The COVID19 situation in the DR does still not allow us to assume our regular home visiting regime.

Therefore I am going to take this opportunity to give you a bit of insight about the impact of our organization in the life of one of our supervisors and also mother of the program who have worked with the Fundación Cuidado Infantil Dominicano since 1994.

 My name is Delfina and this is my story

It all started in the year 1993 with the visit to my home in Cienfuegos in Santiago of two persons from the Fundación Cuidado Infantil Dominicano (FCID) asking me if I had a child with a developmental delay. In reality one of my 6 children Aneudy, did not talk very well, did not do well in school and was very unruly compared with my other children. So I was happy to have outside help with helping him to improve. At the time we were living a small wooden structure with one living room and only one room for us all to sleep in, with an outside kitchen and bathroom.

Aneudy was 8 years old when he enrolled in the program and I was trained by the FCIDin the Portage method in how to work with other families with children with developmental delays, being visual, auditory, mental of physical or a combination.

I first only started to work with 3 children, but after a year or so I visited 15 families. This provided me with income and helped improved the life of my family, because the humble income of my husband could not provide for all necessities. After 4 years I became an assistant supervisor, because I had decided to go back to school after having finished only 6 years of primary school. To become a supervisor I had to have a high school degree, and FCID helped me pay for my studies. I was somewhat scared because it had been 27 years since I had been in school and I was already 39 years old. But I looked to the future and thanks to God and the FCID I finished my high school. Because the program had helped Aneudy do better in school it just so happened we both graduated the same year in high school. Thus I became a supervisor with 8 community rehabilitation workers under me and supervising their visits to 65 children.

Because our income was now better, I started to take out loans to improve our living circumstances, I was able to build a house with blocks and pay for the studies of my children of whom two have now graduated from university and all six of them are working.

Thanks to the Lord and the FCID, I started to grow both spiritually, as a person and economically with the goal to improve our home, and today I know that faith can move mountains if we ask and trust our God with faith, humility and love.

I was a person who never went anywhere, I spent my days cleaning, washing and cooking for my family. I had no aspiration to improve myself. But God brought the FCID in my life to lift us out of the misery. After 18 years of working with the FCID I was let go, because of lack of funding, but with the severance pay I was able to finish the construction of my house, with an indoor kitchen and bathroom and three bedrooms.

I than lasted about two and a half year without working, and when I needed it most, FCID came to ask me to come back and I went back like a daughter going home with new goals.

The present goal I have is to help the FCID to continue to positively impact more lives of families with children with developmental delays and grow to break new records, God willing.

=====================

 Delfina is a great supervisor and an inspiration for her community rehabilitation workers and the families they visit. We are glad she was willing to come back in 2015, reinforcing our program team and help us train new community rehabilitation workers.

An update on her son Aneudy: He has left the watchman service we reported on in one of our earlier reports, but has since started work as a cook in a restaurant and seems to have found the work he likes and he is also being appreciated as he has been working there now for a couple of years!

 Thank you so much for all the support you have given us through this platform and I would like to invite you to join Delfina in her goal to help grow our work and impact many more families in wonderful and empowering ways.

 This coming Wednesday July 15 there will be a Bonus Day with matching funds for donations above USD 100. all you need to do to give is to go to our GlobalGiving page and donate!

 The families of the children and adolescents with disabilities will be very grateful!