They thought I was wasting food.

Hello Beautiful Souls,

This summer I brought a box of pasta into the orphanage in La Romana. We painted it and glued it onto clay and foam to make little oceans. The littles loved it.

The older kids were horrified.

"This is food. You're wasting food."

They weren't wrong. At FONICRIS, every meal is rice, beans, and chicken or pork, mostly whatever Goya drops off. Every single day. When food is that predictable and that precious, you don't play with it. You don't play with much of anything.

I have been thinking about that moment for three months.

All of my friends IRL are teachers, so you already know what I'm about to say. A kid who doesn't feel safe can't learn. A kid who has never been allowed to play doesn't know where to start. As a teacher, I spent years learning how to reach the kid in the back of the room. At FONICRIS in La Romana, every kid is that kid.

Here's who they are. Some of the 96 children at FONICRIS came from the bateyes, the sugarcane camps where families work without papers or a living wage. Many are stateless. No birth certificate. No birthday anyone knows for sure. Some were rescued from trafficking. Some have developmental delays that have never been evaluated, because evaluation is expensive and requires travel. Some are living with sickle cell, with almost no access to care.

The staff there are devoted. They are also stretched thin, trying to keep everyone fed and the lights on. So play and learning go to the bottom of the list. 

At the Yinsa Foundation, we want to give them access to joy.

Here's what's next.

A kitchen garden. They lost their gardener, they have more green space than they know what to do with, and Dr. Rami Bader, our newest board member, is helping us lead the build this month. The kids will plant it, water it and cook from it.

Early intervention for the littles, birth to five, on both campuses.

A 2027 summer cohort that serves both campuses. The girls have a beautiful library. The boys don't have one at all.

A learning center in La Romana where these kids learn next to kids from the community, so they are not only ever "the orphanage kids."

If you have ever watched a kid come alive in your classroom, this is your chance to make that happen for 96 of them.

Give Here 

Check us out first. I would. We hold a Candid Seal of Transparency: 

Read more about the Foundation

Teachers, if you've ever wanted to spend a summer teaching somewhere that will change you, hit reply. We are building the 2027 cohort now.

With Gratitude,

Daniele

P.S. If you can't support us right now, forward this to one teacher friend. You know exactly who.