Covid-19 Update
It’s a strange time to be living in at the moment. Here in Manitoba, people are urged to stay home, schools and businesses, including Shine Dental, have closed their doors, and on Friday, one of the longest land borders in the world, between us and our neighbours to the south, has closed to all non-essential travel. In our home, our thoughts are daily turning to our friends in the Dominican Republic whose lives are also being turned upside down in this new global reality.
In response to Covid 19, the DR government has instituted a daily curfew of 8p.m. People are only allowed to be out during the day to get groceries, gas, or medication. All schools and non-essential businesses are closed. Additionally, resorts are closed until June1st, 2020 at the earliest, and cruise ships are no longer coming into port. While this is a promising start to curb the spread of the disease, this is financially devastating for a huge percentage of the population. 60% of the economy is based on the service industry. However, that number is even higher in coastal areas, such as Puerto Plata.
Under normal circumstances, there is little in the way of financial assistance for the citizens of the DR. During this global upheaval, it is not expected that there will be any economic and fiscal mechanisms implemented to keep their citizens in their homes and fed. The vast majority of people in Javillar now have no source of income whatsoever. Added to that is unregulated price gauging of essential groceries and propane. Many essentials now cost 2-3x as much as they did a few weeks ago. For the first time in our years of working in the DR, the possibility of starvation is an unfortunate reality for many of the families in Javillar.
Shine the Light initiative has closed our community centre in Javillar in keeping with government recommendations. As a local hub for people to gather and advance their education and training, it was a very difficult decision to make. Another difficult decision was to postpone the May trip indefinitely.
We are committed to standing with the community of Javillar. We want to continue to pay the wages of William and Miguel, as well as our part time community centre staff. They are our boots on the ground and our colleagues. Especially now, their eyes and ears into the ongoing needs of the community are essential. In our discussions with William and Miguel, they have identified food staples such as beans, rice, eggs, and cooking oil as essential in helping families keep themselves and their neighbours fed. We have identified the families in most urgent need and will begin mobilizing hampers to them as soon as possible. In keeping with the government mandate to stay in doors, William and Miguel will be delivering these food hampers to the front doors of recipients.
I know many of you reading this are facing your own set of challenges in this unprecedented time. However, if you are in any way able to, we’d love to partner with you to help out the residents of Javillar. We’ve calculated $10 will cover the basic cost of a food hamper for a family for 3 days. While we have no idea how long this will last, we are praying that we can help sustain them as long as the epidemic cripples all our lives.
Please know that alongside our ongoing prayers for Javillar, we are also praying for you. We are in this together; let’s help each other along. You are not alone.
If you are able to help, donations can be made via etransfer to info@shinethelight.ca. Donations of $20 or more are eligible for a tax receipt.
Blessings,
Brent & Wendy, Jonah & Isaiah