Project Description
Haitian migrants and Haitian Dominicans are among the most vulnerable populations in the Dominican Republic. To address this challenge, Acción Callejera – Fundación Educativa (Acción Callejera) provides supplemental academic classes and skills training for children and adolescents from poor neighborhoods in Santiago, Dominican Republic, most at risk of dropping out of school, or who may not be attending school through community-based salas de tarea (academic support classes), including Haitian-born or Haitian Dominican street children and adolescents. At the IAF, we support community-led solutions to enhance peace and security in the Dominican Republic. Acción Callejera’s activities assist communities’ efforts to propel their own development and advocate for their rights.
| Project: | Location: | Years active: | IAF grant funding: | Counterpart commitment: | Direct beneficiaries: | Indirect beneficiaries: | Program areas: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Educational plan and prevention of social exclusion of children and adolescents from high-risk communities in Santiago de los Caballeros | Dominican Republic | 2018 – 2020 | $174,989 | $552,041 | 1,500 individuals | 4,500 individuals | leadership and education job skills and enterprise development |
Talk about community-led development!
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With funds from the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), grantees Ñepi Behña and Ya Montsi Behña have developed Corazon Verde, a jointly-owned enterprise that markets products both domestically and internationally, such as bath sponges, jams, jellies and soaps, all derived from the maguey cactus, which is native to the Valle de Mezquital region of Hidalgo state in Mexico. While she waits to deliver her finished bath sponges, a coop member winds amorphous treated fibers of the maguey cactus into a single thread using a hand spindle. The thread will later be used to knit products for the cooperative Ya Montsi Behña.
Grassroots Businesses: A Virtual Artisan Fair
Over the past 50 years, the IAF has supported an incredible number of innovative and entrepreneurial groups with a common dream: transforming their lives and communities. Join us as we travel north to south through the region to see how agricultural producers and artisan groups have conquered the world with small IAF investments to grow their businesses.
Grassroots Development: 40th Anniversary
The 2009 issue of the IAF's Grassroots Development journal.
¡NOSOTROS GENTE! Afro-Descendants Telling Our Stories, Empowering Our People
On June 30, 2019, we joined the National Museum of African American History and Culture for an event with storytellers and scholars from the United States and Latin America.