Nirelis Puello, 2019 GYAS delegate, continues to work with youth as part of the DREAM Project in the Dominican Republic. At the summit, she presented about initiatives which offer sport-based life skills, health education, and entrepreneurship programs to children and young adults. Both Nirelis and her colleague, Jhan Carlos Toribio Martinez, presented alongside Nancy Charaya who is also working with marginalized youth in India with the Anthill Creations Foundation.

The collaborative style of the summit impacted Nirelis, who writes, “We were able to discover many different initiatives with varied areas of focus, which gave us fresh ideas on how to improve projects in our workplace and community, as well as make connections to people with similar passions to our own.” 

Since attending the summit, Nirelis and her team have expanded to new cities, for example, Puerto Plata, and are making new connections. An upcoming highlight will be participating in a Community Health Fair. At the fair, medical services will be available to multiple communities along with information about health insurance, illness prevention, and promotion of physical activity.

Overcoming challenges while maintaining hope in the Project’s vision, Nirelis’ team is working on finding new venues, identifying at-risk youth, and recruiting community leaders. Nirelis offers this hopeful advice to new entrepreneurs, “In many of our communities there are people who are willing and eager to help vulnerable people and ready to assist in projects. The best way to find these people is by making networks where you can share ideas, talk with others about what you want to change, and create connections to other people and services.”

We look forward to seeing future impact from Nirelis and her team at the DREAM Project!