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The Dominican Republic is a beautiful country with kind residents but it is struggling. With much of the country being rural and poor (the majority of non urban- dwelling Dominicans are living below the poverty line.

With few natural resources and an underdeveloped economy, the country cannot afford to feed itself. 

With this concern, it is not a priority to ensure that citizens have access to health care. If you have, for example, a heart attack in a rural province of the Dominican, there is no ambulance to call and no hospital for hundreds of miles.

The global health community has stepped in to help by establishing medical clinics in the rural Dominican Republic to help meet the most basic medical needs of these communities.



 



In 2007, as a part of her "Act Locally, Heal Internationally" initiative, Jensen joined the cause of a close friend and helped found RADR, Rescue and Aid for the Dominican Republic, to help in this effort.

RADR works with organizations like Children of the Nations (www.COTNI.org) to fund the construction and maintenance of clinics and works within the United States to raise awareness of the issues Dominicans face.




[In the Dominican] we worked with children in a school...the kids were forced to work in the trash dumps, scavenging to make money for their families...there was no hospital near the school so children who were hurt working in the trash were forced to make do with using rags to treat themselves.
               -Leroy Jemison
                RADR treasurer


Facts about the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is the only country in the world that shares a single island with another country. The Dominican Republic and Haiti share the Caribbean island of Hispanolia.

The country's capital city is Santo Domingo and was the first place that the Spanish colonized in the new world.

The country has few natural resources and, as such, has little to export in exchange for goods from the United States, Mexico, and South America.

Per capita household consumption per year is less than $2,000 USD and over a quarter of the total population (urban and rural) live below the poverty line, with highest concentrations in the vast rural regions of the country.

 

What does RADR do?

Dominican Fiesta: Each year RADR teams up with the Vanderbilt Hispanic Students Association (VHAS) to both honor Dominican culture and to raise money to support RADR's efforts in the Dominican Republic.
 
Alternative Summer Break: RADR has teamed up with the Alternative Summer Break (ASuB) program to allow groups of students to spend part of their summer break working with our organizations in the Dominican Republic. Students spend two weeks traveling around the country. They are able to experience the culture as well as give back to our affiliated schools and clinics.
 
Awareness: RADR works with various global health and Hispanic issues groups to bring awareness of global health issues to the attention of individuals in the United States and to inspire them to join in our efforts to help out!