The Results Are In!

The final results of our Faces of Hope end-of-year giving campaign are in! Drum roll, please…. Because of the amazing generosity of our 2nd Mile faithful, we raised a total of $34,306! Thank you for helping us disrupt the cycle of poverty in the Dominican Republic. We couldn’t do it without you!

Earlier this year, the Dominican Republic Ministry of Education announced a staggering statistic: over 100,000 students were turned away from public education in the DR this fall because the schools were full. This is the saddening reality for many students in the DR and it’s simply unacceptable to us at 2nd Mile Missions. We’ve been fighting for education since 2006, helping students and families overcome the barriers to education in the DR.

We Value the Ability to Impact the Lives of Children. We will never compromise our ability to impact the cycle of poverty by enhancing the lives of children. By providing life change for children we are impacting the cycle of poverty where it starts. The heart of every service and program we offer is tied to providing children with the freedom to live a fulfilling life so that they can grow up to create a culture in which poverty is not a factor. Thanks to the amazing contributions of our Faces of Hope campaign, this can become a reality for the students in the 2nd Mile Education Center and Hope Academy.

In the Caribbean nation of nearly 10 million people, the education system ranks among the worst in the world. The Dominican Republic struggles with low test scores, grade repetition, and large dropout rates due to a number of factors:

• overcrowded classrooms accommodating up to 70 children
• poor facilities with poor sanitation
• outdated curriculum
• poorly trained teachers

Teachers are paid so little that instructors cannot earn a living to support themselves or their families. This makes teaching an unpopular vocation in the Dominican Republic, resulting in very high student-to-teacher ratios in classrooms. Students don’t get the individual attention they need, and a large number of teachers have not fully mastered the material they teach.

Thankfully, this isn’t the reality at the 2nd Mile Education Center or Hope Academy. In fact, class sizes are generally between 20-30 students. The facilities compare to many schools here in the United States. Our faith-based curriculum provides an excellent, Christ-centered education. And our teachers are all paid a fair living wage. We believe that teachers are difference makers, and we provide a living wage for nearly 70 teachers between the 2nd Mile Education Center and Hope Academy. These teachers are the Faces of Hope for the nearly 800 students who sit in their classrooms day after day.

At 2nd Mile Missions, we fight to prevent these barriers in providing students with a quality, Christ-centered education. This year alone, we have 230 students who are receiving a scholarship to attend the 2nd Mile Education Center, and there are another roughly 500 students who are receiving a quality education at a reduced and affordable rate. There are 110 students at Hope Academy who are receiving a scholarship and another 190 students who are attending our top-ranked school.

Our team is excited to celebrate this win, but our work isn’t done. We are looking expectantly toward the future, and won’t stop fighting for education in the DR. We hope that you’ll continue to walk alongside us as we continue to go to the margins so that one day the margins will be erased and no child will be left without an opportunity to receive the gift of an education.