Over 40 percent of the Dominican Republic lives below the poverty line. Poverty is especially crippling in the country since access to money is required to participate in schools and to access healthcare services. Thus the poorest people become trapped in a generational cycle of poverty.

Although the Dominican Republic is known to have higher levels of participation in the school system than some of its neighboring Latin American countries, 75 percent of students complete up to 4th grade and only 52 percent complete a full 8 years of elementary school. Students who complete high school in the DR enter university at a 6th-grade reading level.

This Summer, HXP will be building a brand new school for Amigos de Syndrome Downs (Downs Syndrome Friends), an organization that provides education tailored to children/young adults with Downs Syndrome. The new school will allow for 150 children with Downs Syndrome to receive free care.

Sources: UNICEF, CIA Factbook, borgenproject.org