Pushing Back Against the Darkness

By Bonnie Wellensiek, Child Champion U.S.A., with Aldyn Miranda, Child Champion, Dominican Republic   |  Photos courtesy of Hope Center

Refusing to give in to the darkness of poverty and crime, Child Champions in the Dominican Republic are holding out the light of hope to children and their families. And little by little the darkness is giving way.

People in dump

This dump has been a source of contamination and fires in Los Lopez for nearly 50 years.

Take a stroll through the community of Los Lopez, in Moca, Dominican Republic, and it will be easy to see and hear that it’s a hard place.

Even easier to smell.

Just blocks from the Hope Center where children play, a massive dump fills the air with noxious smells.

In the hot, dry months smoke rises from the dump making its way into lungs and causing skin ailments. The dump has been a source of contamination and fires in Los Lopez for nearly 50 years.

The government recently closed the dump and took steps to prevent fire and water contamination, but the sprawling acres of charred trash are still there, creating health problems for everyone who lives in the area.

Danger on the Streets

As you walk, trying not to breathe too deeply, you might hear gunfire nearby, or the pounding of feet running from trouble — or running to it. The worsening drug trade is taking a toll on the community.

See that basketball court over there?

Dangerous streets of Moca Dominican Republic

The streets of Los Lopez can be dangerous for kids to play on.

It’s one of only two recreational areas in the neighborhood, but it’s no longer safe for kids to play there because the drug dealers have taken it over.

If you feel a prickle on the back of your neck — a sense that you’re being watched — it’s not your imagination. Drug traffickers control much of the area, and some work as vaqueadores, monitoring who comes and goes, wary of anyone who might infringe on their lucrative business.

Even adolescents are getting hooked on drugs along with their parents, and it’s shattering families. Residents in the community feel the loss of freedom as they can no longer be at ease strolling through their neighborhood on a warm evening.


Read about how a young man from Moca found his way out of a seemingly hopeless situation.


The Sound of Hope

But walk on, and you’ll hear another sound.

There, do you hear it?

Hope Center

Niños Felices Hope Center is a beacon of hope and light in the community.

The shouts and laughter of children playing.

Less than 10 blocks from the noxious dump, amid the brightly painted cinderblock houses topped with rust-red roofs, you’ll find the source of that joyful noise. Niños Felices (Happy Children) Hope Center.

A one-story, pale-yellow building with decorative but necessary wrought-iron bars on the windows, it would have been easy to miss if you hadn’t been looking.

From the outside it seems ordinary. But what’s happening inside is extraordinary.

Children whose world has been overshadowed by poverty, pollution, and danger have found a place where they can breathe easier, watched over by Child Champions who are showing them that a different kind of life is possible.

At the Hope Center the kids learn that God loves them and has the power to transform their lives.

They’re motivated to stay in school, and they receive help with their studies as well as nutritious food. The Hope Center also helps with medication when they need it, like when pollutants from the dump cause cases of pneumonia and other illnesses.

Fighting the Darkness

But the Child Champions at Niños Felices aren’t content to keep their work inside the walls of the Hope Center.

Dump shot

The dump as seen from town.

Faith and courage go hand-in-hand, and these Child Champions are examples of both. They are actively pushing back against the forces of despair in their community.

The church that operates the Hope Center has been involved with community walks and meetings with the mayor focused on dealing with the garbage dump.

Two years ago, the pastor of the church, together with neighbors from the community and the authorities, even succeeded in shutting down a drug market near the Hope Center!

Child Champions are also fighting back by shining the light of truth in their community.

They give awareness talks where local leaders, including the head of the penitentiary, teach children and adolescents about the danger of drugs and the consequences of becoming involved in the drug trade.

Even when the darkness fights back, they press on.

Child Champions had helped the father of a boy at the Hope Center go through drug rehabilitation. He grew closer to God, and for a time it seemed that he had overcome his addiction. But eventually he fell back into his old life. Sadly, his involvement in drug dealing led to his murder.

But his son was not left to deal with the trauma alone. His Child Champions are there for him, and he is also receiving counseling from a OneChild psychologist.

The Courage to Try

Hope is what gives Child Champions the courage to persevere in the face of tragedy. Not wishful thinking, but the kind of hope that comes from a vision for a better future, knowing the way to get there, and most of all, the courage to try.

It’s hope with grit.

For the Child Champions at Niños Felices Hope Center, that vison for a better future includes a day when you and the children can walk the streets of Los Lopez and breathe deeply of air free from noxious fumes. A day when you can stroll together at ease in a neighborhood free of drugs, with no thought of guns or violence.

Today they are planting the seeds of that vision in the hearts of more than 130 children who attend the Hope Center. Seeds that they hope will remain with them and empower them to change the destiny of their entire generation.


Your gift will help open a Hope Center, like Niños Felices, in one of the hardest places on earth. Please help launch a Hope Center today!

 

 

 

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