Go MAD (Go Make a Difference) in the Dominican Republic
Renn Loren
While there are undoubtedly many various help and charity organizations in the Dominican Republic, there are far more people in need of them. So if you ever wanted to truly make a difference in someone’s life in a way that would greatly help and impact them in their time of need, you are invited to Go Mad, as in an abbreviation for “Go Make a Difference.”
Go Mad is a non-profit organization, a small team of three volunteers: Bonnie Smith, Claire Hodgson, and Megan Ratnam (director). The group works in 5 communities on the North Coast: Caraballo & Village Ascension (campo above Montellano), Sevevet (campo above Montellano), Village Redemption (los Catillos), Village Esperanza (Gran Parada), and Canta la Rana (Islabon/VerAgua).
Before the pandemic crisis, the Go Mad team has been working on the island for around 10 years helping to provide hope and opportunity to some of the most vulnerable communities in the north coast area. They do this by providing free medical care in their four clinics, 3 pre-schools, 5 English schools, kids mentoring, and disciple programs. They also offer infotep courses, help with the documentation process for the undocumented, a feeding program, high school transport, and many other small programs.
Go Mad works directly with the community leadership teams to carry out their efforts so that they can create sustainable programs that will help these communities have a better future as well as empowering the talent that already exists in those communities. Aside from the three ex-pat volunteers, all Go Mad staff (teachers, doctors, nurses, translators, program directors, etc) are Dominican or Haitian.
Since the Covid-19 crisis became a concern on the island, their ministry shifted gears completely! All of their programs are currently shut down and awaiting the passage of this time of emergency. In the meantime, they’re trying diligently to provide food for every family in their communities on a weekly basis. This amounts to around 1100 families. Go Mad’s current efforts involve giving every family a grocery bag filled with about $10 USD each week that includes basic staples such as rice, beans, oil, pasta, soup, milk, oatmeal, etc.
We’re all feeling the effects of the current COVID-19 crisis, some more than others. If you’re one of the very fortunate who still has an income, enough to eat, a place to sleep with a roof over your head, good health, and hope, and you’d like to offer a helping hand to those who don’t, please check out Go Mad and contribute whatever you can. It will be appreciated more than you could imagine and will make a profoundly positive difference in someone’s life—especially the children.
You can find out more about Go Mad at http://www.gomadtoday.org/
email: superbonnie@gmail.com
Phone number/WhatsApp: 829.702.7111