This presentation describes and show pictures of some of our humanitarian activities in Puerto Plata Dominican Republic on our Jan-March 2017 trip. THANKS TO ALL WHO MADE IT AN OUTSTANDING SUCCESS

1. January-March 2017 Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
By Louise ZoBell
Executive Director
Dominican Starfish
Foundation

2. Before giving a history of our trip, I want to share some
significant and touching things that happened just before we
left for the Dominican Republic in early January.
I received a call from Mindy Oler of
Lethbridge, Alberta, to come to her home
and pick up school shoes that her sons had
collected for children in the Dominican
Republic.
David (13) Ammon (11) and Bryan Oler (8)
had collected 47 pairs of shoes so that
children could go to school in Puerto Plata.
My next call was from Nicole Hodgkinson,
also from Lethbridge, Alberta. Her
daughter, Anna had just celebrated her 8th
birthday. For her party she asked her
friends to bring money for the Dominican
instead of gifts. She collected $230 to help
build Morena’s home in the Dominican
Republic.

3. Gemma Palmer (11) was in the Dominican in November
for the severe flooding. She wrote this poem for her
class at school. Her assignment was to describe
something without saying what it was.
I love it when anyone gets involved to help, but especially love when it is children.
And a touching Christmas gift from Sadie, Kate and
Ruby Baker.
We also had a group of children
from Raymond, Alberta, The
Busy Bee Society, raise $235 to
help a family who lost
everything in the flooding.

5. FOODPaula Lythoge and friends from
Petawawa, Ontario brought hundreds
of pounds of dehydrated food
enough for thousands of meals. They
also brought home baked goodies.
Over 300 food packs were
delivered to hungry
families. Many of these
were donated by the more
than 100 people we met
at the resort who wanted
to see the community and
help in some way.
Contents of a
$10 food pack

6. Passing out food packs in the community of Javillar

7. Passing out food
packs and 400 hot
meals to the
Dominican/Haitian
community of La
Jugua Maggiolo.

8. CLOTHINGEvery trip we bring thousands of pounds of shoes and clothing and other items for
distribution. This trip was no exception. With the many people who came, there was in
excess of 6000 pounds of donations.

10. Building homes for Dominicans in great need has become our major focus in the foundation.
David and More are a couple living in the Dominican whose home was sponsored
by Vesta Viney and Robin McCullough, two of our board members. They raised money all
throughout 2016. Thanks to many, many people who donated. David and More lived in a
tiny shack with only one bedroom with their 5 children.
SHELTER
This is how the new home looked
when we arrived in January.

11. On February 3rd, Robin and family, Vesta and others were able to present More with her new
partially finished home.

12. On February 7th Robin and others were able to participate in painting the bedrooms in the home.
On February 21st the
family moved into
their new home. They
are so very grateful for
this life-changing
event for their family.

13. Gloria lives with her daughter and grandson in Javillar. We took her home down
on October 31st during our last trip. It was in deplorable condition. Pearl Giles and
Pal Humanitarian from Utah raised the first half of the money for this home. Mary
Cahoon from Calgary Alberta, with other kind donors raised the second half.

14. Gloria’s home was nearing completion
when we came January 10th.
She moved into the home on January 29th .
What a blessing it is to her life and the lives of
her family. She is so grateful. Thanks to all
the donors who made this possible.

15. Finishing touches on the home happened on
March 6. A group from Pal Humanitarian, joined
by some of the neighbors made the home look
so beautiful. Thanks to all.

16. Morena is a generous, caring lady living in Javillar in the Dominican
Republic. She volunteers at the hospital, caring for people who have no
families. She also brings people to her home to help them recover from their
illnesses. A group of volunteers with Dominican Starfish Foundation took her
home down on January 24, 2017.

17. Thanks to our hard workers, the
home was down in about 1 ½
hours.

18. It was great to be able to visit regularly and see the progress.
Work continues on Morena’s home. Thanks for donations from True Hope from Raymond, Alberta, Bruce and
Mary Cahoon and family from Calgary, Alberta, Paula Lythgoe and her group from Ontario and Alberta and
many people who donated as a gift for Louise and Jack ZoBell’s 45th wedding anniversary.

19. Carolina Corcina and her family live in poverty in the Dominican Republic. Their home
is open to the elements and received much damage during the recent flooding in November.
We were able to raise funds to build a new home for her and her family during our recent
Christmas fundraising campaign. Thank you to Laura Webster, Tekarra Roach, Bruce and
Mary Cahoon family and many other donors. On this trip we were able to announce to
Carolina that the money is raised for her home and it will be starting soon.
Thanks to everyone who has
made this possible.

20. For many years, Tommy Paulino and his wife Fior have only dreamed of owning
a home someday. They have owned a piece of land for several years but have never been
able to get the funds to even start the build. They have 3 children.
During this trip Will and Michele ZoBell from Raymond, Alberta organized vacation with 5
other couples for a week stay in the Dominican Republic. While there they had the
opportunity to see some of the projects of Dominican Starfish Foundation. Together as a
group and with a few others that were there, they chose to sponsor the Paulino Family and
raise funds for them to receive a new home in 2017. They are well on the way to raising the
money already. THANKS TO ALL!!!
There are two active fundraising
sites for this project. For
Canadian donors:
www.youcaring.com/paulino
For USA donors:
www.youcaring.com/paulinoUSA
They are so thrilled that they will
be able to finally have their
home.

21. Rosa Sanchez, her husband, Alberto and their five children live in desperate
conditions in San Marcos, Dominican Republic. Pearl Giles is the director of Pal
Humanitarian, a charity out of Utah that has been working in partnership with
Dominican Starfish Foundation. Last year, Pearl’s 7-year-old granddaughter, Londyn,
said that she wanted to raise money to build a home in the Dominican Republic for a
family with children. This family was the perfect match! Together Pearl and Londyn
made roasted almonds and sold them for Christmas to make money for this home.

22. On March 5, Pearl and her group were able to share the news with the Sanchez family
that the money had been raised for their home. It will be the next one to be built by
Dominican Starfish Foundation workers.

23. Victoria lives in one of the first houses we built in the Dominican Republic in 2013.
Her husband Juanito passed away from a heart attack two years ago. Victoria hasn’t
been able to afford any upkeep on her home. We were blessed to have some university
students from Lethbridge, Alberta plus a high school senior from Nanaimo, BC visit for a
week of service. One of the things they did was to paint Victoria’s home. It made a
beautiful difference and she is so grateful.

24. Original home, 2013

25. Another home got a facelift on this trip. Victor’s home was build in early 2014. It had
never been painted. It was early on in our foundation and we had a very small
budget. This trip, Paula Lythgoe and her group raised the money to paint Victor’s
home and did the work as well. This was done on March 13, 2017. It looks really
great. THANKS SO MUCH!

26. THANKS FOR THE
AMAZING
TRANSFORMATION
How the home
looked when
we met Victor
in 2014. He
had started
but because of
illness could
never finish
his home.

27. One of our first projects as a foundation in 2012 was to rebuild a school in Maggiolo. This
community is a short walk from the resort where we stay. The people in Maggiolo have
become dear to our hearts. During the 9 weeks we were there, we probably went to the
school and the community 20 times. It is a place we can show our guests and others from
the resort how the people really live.
EDUCATION
Maggiolo School

28. Isabelita SchoolIsabelita School is a small private school in Javillar. It is one where the ILP
(International Language Program) volunteer teachers teach English. There is so
much need in the school. We have been able to visit several times with school
supplies, food, toys and crafts for the children.
One cute little girl from the
United States gave away her
favorite Mickey Mouse toy that
she had loved since she was a
baby. It was heart-warming!

29. Kate’s SchoolKate is a young woman
from Montreal, Canada
who has given her whole
adult life to serving and
teaching Haitian children
in a private school in the
Dominican Republic. We
have helped here for
several years with school
supplies and more.

30. Frank’s SchoolFrank and Rosa have given
their lives to helping children
learn more. They have started
a private school where
children come who attend
half days in public school.
Here they learn English, get
help with their homework but
most importantly they are
taught values. Frank is
especially concerned about
children having children. His
students are being taught to
avoid this. We went many
times to his school to deliver
school supplies, food, clothing
and other gifts for the
children. He is also a pastor
and in his church, the women
are learning to sew purses to
help support themselves.

31. Maggiolo Haitian School
Just a short walk from the resort where we stay, we have
discovered another small private school. We have been
able to donate school supplies, crafts, toys and food to this
school during this trip.

32. La Jugua Maggiolo School
Another ½ mile walk beyond the Maggiolo
school and down a big hill we discovered
another private Haitian school. This
community is extremely poor. The school is
in need of help and supplies and we have
been able to give assistance to them as
well. In July a group that we took to the
community are coming to put on a new
roof and bring school supplies. We visited
four different times on this trip.

33. Javillar Primary School
This school has 600 students.
Though it is government
funded there are still so many
needs that aren’t being met.
Many of the ILP teachers
teach in this school. The
children who have the
opportunity to be in this
program to learn English are
truly blessed. We spent an
afternoon there, playing with
the children. It was a
wonderful time and the
teachers loved it as well. We
did this with the permission
and blessing of the principal
of the school.

34. University assistance
Dominican Starfish Foundation continues to support university students. Some have
completed their courses and graduated. We have 3 more students currently enrolled in
university. One is in Medicine, one in Engineering and one in Business. We were able to
meet with each of these students on our trip.
Our graduates

35. HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Our foundation has helped
several times with medical
emergency assistance.
During this trip we were able
to help pay for emergency
surgery for Carlito Gardner.
Carlito was born with
Hydrocephalies. Now he is
13 and has grown out of the
shunt put in his head a birth.
He was in critical condition in
hospital. He has had two
surgeries. He is not well yet,
but improving.
Helping Carlito

36. Baby Orphaned TwinsWe were able to raise money for diapers and formula to help the care-
giver of some baby orphaned twins. The mother was a Haitian
squatter living in the unfinished home of Jodi Menard. Shortly after
giving birth the mother died. Jodi is now the care-giver. We visited
many times to offer help and support and bring donations. Jennifer
from Utah was able to donate a twin stroller to her which is definitely
a blessing.

37. Donating to the Hospital
The public hospital provides very basic needs for their patients. Individuals must supply
their own bedding, food and care-givers. Our foundation has donated hundreds of baby
packs, lots of medication and other supplies to give assistance to those in great need. Many
people from our group visited and provided donations. Pal Humanitarian, one of our US
partners donated over 200 baby packs and 1100 intravenous splints which are so needed.

38. Medical Clinic in Javillar
Volunteers from our group including 4 pre-med students from the University of Lethbridge
took donations to the clinic in Javillar. When asked what they needed most they showed us a
glucose monitor. They only had one for the clinic and only 4 test strips. Wow! It was great
to share some time there. They were very grateful for the donations.

39. Volunteer Ambulance Service
Four University of Lethbridge Pre-Med students were able to spend a day with the
Volunteer Ambulance Service in Puerto Plata. Their equipment and vehicles are very
basic. They were celebrating 16 years of service that day.

40. Promoting Exercise and Sports
Baseball is a huge passion in the Dominican Republic. Our foundation has helped
several times by bringing equipment and uniforms. This trip we were able to play
along with two different teams and donate supplies to them.

41. Basketball
On two different occasions we took groups to the basketball court in Javillar and
donated balls and played with the locals.

42. EMPLOYMENT
We continue to employ 10 full-time workers and 5 part time workers building our
homes in the Dominican Republic. Our goal is to help people become self-sufficient.
We are always looking for ways to help people to help themselves. We are happy that
we have Dominicans and Haitians doing our construction work.

43. Summary
Again, we had a very successful trip to the Dominican. During the nine weeks there:
• We hosted 70 guests that helped with humanitarian work.
• We had the pleasure of taking an additional 100 plus people staying at the resort to
see our projects.
• We presented a new home to 2 families, started another home which is almost
complete and announced to another 4 families that their homes will be built.
• We visited the hospital several times and brought donations there.
• We delivered hundreds of food packs in several communities, plus with funds from
generous donors we provided 400 hots meals to an impoverished community.
• We raised money to help care for orphaned twin babies and money to help pay for a
surgery for a young man in serious condition.
• We brought thousands of pounds of clothing, shoes, hygiene kits, school supplies
and more.
• We helped with 7 different schools during our stay.
• We are now nearing completion of our 45th home that has been built since April
2013. We were able to visit with 40 of those home owners on this trip.
THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED AND CONTINUE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE