Based in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, the mission of the Mariposa DR Foundation is to educate and empower girls to create sustainable solutions to end generational poverty. The Mariposa Foundation will use the literacy grant funds to develop a comprehensive English as a Foreign Language Program. The English program will be modeled after professional language institutes: each student will learn from a standardized curriculum and be required to pass a set of evaluations before moving to the next level.

This standardized methodology will support our students in developing a foundational knowledge of English that will grow from one year to the next. Additionally, the grant will support Mariposa in hiring an English as a Foreign Language teacher to implement materials, conduct evaluations, and provide standardized instruction. The direct beneficiaries of this project will be the over 100 local girls (ages 8 to 18). The majority of these girls come from the La Cienaga and Callejon neighborhoods of Cabarete: two neighborhoods that are entrenched in generational poverty. However, the fundamental tenet of Mariposa’s mission statement is that educating and empowering girls has a profound impact on not just the girl and her family, but her community at large.

Although there are a number of language institutes in the area, they are prohibitively expensive for our students, so the incorporation of an English Institute model would represent an accessible pathway to English mastery for Mariposa students. The English Institute, like all Mariposa programming, will be free to all Mariposa students. Upon implementation of the English Institute, more students will be employed and achieving a level of financial independence that supports the health and well-being of both themselves and their families.