According to a recent survey by Church World Service local partner Proyecto Caminante, at least 150 Haitian children and adolescents have escaped the devastation to Boca Chica, a resort town just a half hour from Santo Domingo, where commercial sexual exploitation of youth is rampant. Over the last 15 years, Caminante has made impressive headway in preventing this exploitation, and today is plans to carry out an emergency program to rescue vulnerable Haitian youth, provide them health care and schooling, and when possible, reunite them with their families.

These Haitian youth are often experiencing post-traumatic stress. They do not know the language or culture of the Dominican Republic. They often live with a distant relative or family friend, who themselves are struggling to get by. The youth often experience hunger, and are not in school, and as they spend most of their time on the streets, are at great risk of sexual exploitation, drug use, and other situations of violence.

CWS partner Caminante intends to conduct a short-term, integral rescue program that focuses on removing these young people from the streets and from situations of risk, reconnects them to schools, and when possible, will reunite the youth with their families in Haiti in those cases in which the families are now stable with housing, food, etc. Caminante will:

• Conduct a general medical evaluation of each child, and provide basic medical care as needed.
• Conduct a psycho-social evaluation of each child’s situation, including whether they need safe housing or might be reunited with their family of origin, and provide individualized services from a psychologist and/or social worker as needed.
• Meet and work with the appropriate government authorities for coordinated action, especially in cases of return to Haiti
• Provide transportation and follow through for children reuniting with their families.
• When necessary, re-establish children in safe housing (families or institutions).
• For those who will stay in Boca Chica, enroll them in school and provide accompaniment to ensure their permanence.
• Provide workshops in a UNICEF-designed methodology called Retorno a la Alegría (Return to Happiness) for young people affected by emergencies and natural disasters, and in avoiding drug use, and reconnection with their feelings and Haitian culture.