8.13.06: Pujols Family Foundation Visits the Dominican Republic

On August 10, 2006, the Pujols Family Foundation took an evaluation mission trip to the Dominican Republic. The purpose of this trip was to scout other orphanages and needs in the DR and to evaluate the conditions for our upcoming dentist mission trip in January.

"This trip took us to the poorest parts of La Romana and Santa Domingo," said Todd Perry, Executive Director of the PFF. "The average household income for many of these areas is $1,500.00 (US) per year. It is amazing to see people living their entire lives without running water or electricity. It really puts things in prospective."

The first day of the trip, Thursday, found the team in La Romana at the orphanage we assist through the Foundation "It is amazing the changes in this orphanage from the last time we visited." said Ms. Pujols.

Friday, the next day of the trip, was spent on the road. The team was transported by two leaders from Compassion International to some of the most depressed villages in the La Romana area. "The second day was very wet and humid as we went from village to village seeing undesirable poverty and need," said Perry. "There were some things that we saw that day that simply were unbelievable, things like active parasites working within open sores and infections that are too graphic to describe. There are images in my mind from that day that I will never forget."

Saturday took the team to Santa Domingo to visit two more orphanages in the city and one extremely poor area housing over 20,000 families. "We met with Andy Patterson at the first orphanage that hosts 28 children who are either HIV positive or have AIDS," said Pujols. "That was perhaps the hardest emotional stop on our trip." From there we drove to an area that was filled with squatters homes and shelters with no water, no bathrooms - just home after home of people living anyway they can. The need is overwhelming when you see areas like this. It's really hard to get your mind around everything this is happening in front of you."

The team had time to visit one more orphanage in Santa Domingo before retiring for the night. "We had a good dinner that night and discussed everything that we had seen," remembers Perry. "It was very hard to enjoy a hot shower and a good meal after what we had seen that day." The departure flight left at 8:20am on Sunday.

"We will show some of our video and share more about this trip at our Christmas event in December," commented Deidre. "It's hard not to be changed when you see the things we have seen. There is a great need and hopefully we can help those who need help as we grow."