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11789 Ellice Street
Malibu, CA
90265
www.dovemissions.com
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Greetings from
the Island of Hispaniola!
Dear Friends,
Another school year is underway.
It is a challenge to equip our 80 children in the club with everything
they need for school. We bought uniforms
and school supplies for all of the children.
It amazes me how clean and well cared for our children are despite how
difficult everyday life can be for them.
It is difficult for me to live and work in this country but people I
serve face much greater challenges.
 Last week our first hurricane hit. It was nothing for me living inland, but a disaster for those living on
the beach. A majority of our families
live on the beach in tin shacks they have built themselves. It is always so shocking bringing guests to
the beach to visit some of our families. I forget sometimes how horrific it really is. The beaches are littered with so much
garbage. The community bathrooms have a
trough that leads to the beach so excrement is all around you. Children are swimming in the putrid ocean to
cool off or perhaps fish for dinner. They end up with so many different skin diseases I can't keep up. And if they have a cut it is sure to be
infected beyond belief. That is when I
start to buy the penicillin injections. Can you even imagine taking a sponge bath in your home with rainwater
you have collected in rusted drums just to end up with a horrible infection in
a scrape you never knew you had? 
Our children are well kept and clean when they come to the club. They have learned this from our example and
requirements. I forget how difficult it
is just to get to this point of clean clothes and being well groomed. Can you even imagine not having water to
bathe or even drink? What about going to
the bathroom at 2 am in a community bathroom 4 houses down in the middle of a
storm? I am so proud of our
children. They are working so hard to
get to school, come to the club and make a change in their lives so they have a
future that leads them out of this misery.
I pray that you will be grateful for the simple things you have and not
take them for granted. Like a working
bathroom. A dry bed. Clean water to drink. A safe place to play. Shouldn't this be basic human right
issues? Why can't everyone breathe
clean air, drink decent water and have a bathroom? We are doing our part and making a
difference in the lives of the families we serve. Won't you help us?
Liz McKie
Executive Director and Founder
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Saving
the DR, One Sponsorship at a Time
 This summer I was given the opportunity to serve as DOVE's
public relations and media intern. In that position, I was able to
simultaneously experience the business aspect of the organization while serving
alongside the children in the field. Over the course of ten weeks I spent time in
the club, in the children's homes, throughout Puerto Plata and other areas in
the city.
Part of my job description this summer was working with
DOVE's sponsorship program, ensuring the need for sponsorship was clearly
communicated to our supporters. One sponsor giving $30 a month provides
nutritionally balanced food, medical needs and supplies, school uniforms and
other necessities. More than 85% of kids in the club are currently sponsored
and I was working to get the remaining few accounted for.
It's the sponsorship program that keeps the kids fed and
clothed, provides the necessary school supplies, and the club up and running.
Without that money, we wouldn't be able to do the things that we do.
 I was able to witness firsthand this summer the effects of
the sponsorship on the kids themselves. When a child is newly sponsored, they
are individually "introduced" to their new "madrina y padrina" (meaning
"godmother and godfather") and immediately they know what that means. They know it means money and commitment,
clothes on their back and food in their belly. Never before have I witnessed
such complete and sincere gratitude. My family chose to sponsor "Yaneli, " who
I had the opportunity to meet personally. When I introduced myself as her
"madrina" her eyes flooded with tears and she responded with, "gracias mi amor,
yo quiero mucho," meaning "thank you my love, I love you a lot."
It's one at a time. It's all about saving one child from the
barrios at a time and with DOVE, we all have the opportunity to influence a people.
Mother Teresa once said, "I never
look at the masses as my responsibility. I look at the individual. I can love
only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time. Just One.
One. One."
Let's
focus on one, just one, and together we can save a country.
Contributed by Hope Cooper
If you are interested in sponsoring a child, please contact our Sponsorship Coordinator, Melissa Bazely at mbazely@sympatico.ca to find out
more information and check out the blog at
http://dovemissions.blogspot.com/!
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We've Got the Beat!
Our music program was a huge success! We started in January with constructing instruments from recycled
materials and formed "Banda Club POP". It was comprised of 16 singers and 10 percussionists. The program progressed and we were able to
hire Jochy Guerrero, a famous musician in the Dominican Republic. Jochy is incredibly talented and is a natural
teacher and mentor for our children. We
were able to get in-studio to finally record some of our songs. They are fantastic!
 This program is a favorite of our Youth Development Center and we will
be seeking sponsorship for it to continue. I will be in Nashville at the end of October to hopefully find a record
label or musician to partner with us to produce the final copy of the CD. If you are interested in this program or
perhaps know of someone who might be interested, please email Liz McKie at dovemissions@msn.com for more
information on how you can get involved.
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DOVE Mission Trip - November
19-26, 2010
Mark your calendars. The next DOVE Mission Trip is scheduled for November 19-26,
2010 (during the week of the
American Thanksgiving). The trip will begin and finish in the Dominican and includes the
following:
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4 nights in the Dominican
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3 nights in Haiti
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1 one day workshop in our youth centre in Puerto Plata
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All on ground transportation in Dominican and Haiti
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All transportation to and from Haiti
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A project in Haiti
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Activities and time with the children
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An excursion vacation day in the Dominican
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All accommodations and food
Participants are responsible for their own flights and
spending money.
Trip Cost: $1,200 (US
dollars)
We need a minimum of 10 people to participate in order to
move forward with the trip.
registered! If you are interested in participating, please contact Melissa Bazely at mbazely@sympatico.ca.
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Donate to DOVE
Lots of people who visit DOVE
Missions are interested in how they can help more. Donations are what
keep our programs running.
To donate via PayPal, please click on the donate button below,
or send your donation to:
Dove Missions
c/o Caroline Santora, Dove Missions Treasurer
11789 Ellice Street
Malibu, CA
90265
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We strive to bring hope to the widowed and orphans, joy to the handicapped and the homeless children, nourishment to the hungry, education to the uneducated, medical assistance to the ill, refuge to the abandoned and abused, and love to the lost and lonely.
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