About
Children of Peace Foundation is founded by Juan Luis in 2018.
Due to Juan’s personal experience living in poverty as a child, he has a heart for serving the people of the Dominican Republic and restoring children’s lives.
He is passionate about keeping starving kids fed and helping them through life. At one point Juan quit his job to cook for a friend’s foundation to feed kids.
Now, Juan strives to help kids stay off the streets and guide them on a path to success.
OUR COUNTRY
The Dominican Republic is a country located in the Caribbean. It is part of the second largest island in the Caribbean.
The Dominican Republic’s main source of income is coffee, sugar, and tobacco. However, the main industry of the Dominican Republic is tourism which causes government investments to overlook rural areas.
With tourism being the main source of government funds, this leaves half of the country without access to clean water and 20% of the country living in extreme poverty. The rural poverty rate is three times as high as the urban poverty rate. There is extreme poverty in rural areas leaving more than one-third of the Dominican Republic living on less than $1.25 a day.
The people of this country are desperate for their needs to be met each day.
Juan is a strong advocate for starting a community-based outreach program focusing his work in San Pedro De Macoris, Dominican Republic. He aims to be a light in the darkness of poverty in his community by sharing God’s love and compassion.
OUR CITY
Children of Peace Foundation works within the city of San Pedro de Marcorís. San Pedro de Macorís is a southeastern city in the Dominican Republic. It is located at the mouth of the wide estuary of the Macorís River. San Pedro is home to many Major League Baseball players.
This city is surrounded by sugar cane fields making sugar their main industry. Besides sugar, corn milling, clothing, soap and alcohol distilling are also part of the industry.
In San Pedro you will find a very alive and colorful small town. The city consists of colonial buildings and an authentic Caribbean flair.
Families living in the southeastern region of the Dominican Republic live in extreme poverty. In southeastern communities it is difficult to find a steady job which requires families to move out of the community or work small jobs making around $8 a day. They work hard to get two meals a day while the situation gets even harder when droughts occur.
Many children abandon school to help contribute to their family’s income. Children get involved in dangerous activities to make money, such as scavenging in the dump, drug trafficking, and child prostitution.
Juan aims to steer children away from these dangerous activities.
OUR COMMUNITY
The community where we work is called Villa Faro (Lighthouse Village). Several people from this neighborhood work in factories where the average wage is about $100 USD a month. This requires people to look elsewhere for work. Some families fish, some start their own small businesses such as car washes or selling food. Many men are motor taxi drivers or mechanics. Unfortunately, young people begin to get involved in prostitution or selling drugs to earn money.
Teen pregnancy is very prevalent and many of these young mothers and fathers do not take on the responsibility of being parents. They leave their children with the grandparents and the grandparents must take on the responsibility as the main caregiver. Sometimes the grandparents don’t have the resources to be raising their grandchildren. Young parents don’t make their children a priority; they more so focus on “enjoying” their own life with alcohol, drugs, parties, and prostitution.
Villa Faro is a growing community with lots of potential. Good examples and positive role models are needed so that both young and old can change their outlook and have the desire to be different and have a healthier community. It’s important for them to keep their focus away from poverty, but focus on values such as respect, honesty, and to be conscious of their actions. If adults become positive role models, then children will begin to have positive influences from when they are young.
We strive to be good examples to remind young people that, even though they are poor, they can be better for tomorrow. They can be professionals, be respectful, but they also need to have dedication and a good attitude. We want to see the children in Villa Faro to grow and to have hope for a better future.
