Help Feed The Kids

Everything you wanted to know about

Cruce De Arroyo Hondo, Dominican Republic

But were afraid to ask - or couldn't ask because no one knows!

It is a place so remote and unimportant it does not even merit a designation on any map found on the internet.  It is a rural, impoverished village in the Dominican Republic near the southern coast.  It is a poor town in a poor country.  There is little industry.   The people are relegated to working in agriculture (growing mangos, onions, tomato, tropical fruits and vegetable), fishing, or the production of salt as well as the factories in the Free Zone.  Many families work outside the formal sector doing whatever they can to maintain themselves.

There is no phone or internet service.  Cell Phones work only sometimes and in some places.  Electricity only runs in the town from 10AM thru &7 PM and is spotty at best.  Most homes do not have electricity.

Running water is unavailable.  People are relegated to drawing water from cisterns.  The water does have its bacterial problems - just ask any peace corp volunteer that worked there what kind of havoc the water did to their digestive systems.

Food in the homes of the residents are relegated to high fat, high starch, high salt foods with limited nutritional value.  In many cases the best meals the children of the town get come from the food fed to them by the school itself.  This is why your contribution will help feed the kids.

Profile of Community:  Cruce de Arroyo Hondo is a community of about 1,200 families living in the rural south of the Dominican Republic.  The majority of these families have relocated from the mountain areas of Ocoa.   Many were displaced from their lands by government projects, others came after suffering economic loss from citrus blight or fluctuating coffee prices and others wanting to be closer to health and educational services.  The rate of adult illiteracy is very high since there were few school in the isolated mountain communities from where they came.

Here are some photos of the area, homes and people.

The village of El Cruce De Arroyo Hondo (Translation -The Crossroads of the deep stream)