The Dominican Republic faces multiple challenges. One of the major problems is the poor educational system which pushes many people into unemployment. Kolping provides different projects in the Dominican Republic to improve the living conditions of people there.
Kolping in the field
The National Association in the Dominican Republic was founded on 29 February 2004 and has 1.422 members in 61 Kolping Families. The activities focus on:
Employment possibilities through microcredits
Also in the Dominican Republic Kolping wants to render a contribution to reducing income poverty through the promotion of small enterprises, especially those of young people. For this purpose, the future small entrepreneurs must acquire technical skills and capabilities to develop an independent existence or to improve their current working conditions. Raquel Suárez from the Kolping Family Gesemaní was one of these aspirants and since 2009 she has been running an empanada kiosk. Here she sells empanadas and other hand-made snacks with the help of her family. In the morning she prepares the dough and in the afternoon she sells her merchandise. Though the empanadas currently do not sell as well as before, the snacks sell even better. Through the income of her small enterprise she could support her family financially and improve their living standard substantially.
