Reading Program May 27 In Mendoza

A new reading program for Dominican children will hold its third installment May 27 in Mendoza. The program, in keeping with a tradition in the cigar industry called el lector de tabaquería, is a collaboration of the Dominican Republic Sports & Education Academy (DRSEA) and Children International that sends people out into Dominican communities to read aloud to children.

The reading program will help to “brand” the DRSEA in the Dominican Republic as it prepares to open its doors as early as 2010, and help create a feeder system for the school.

The program will be held May 27, 2009, at 3 p.m. at Fernando Carrión #7, Mendoza. Children ages 6 to 10 are being invited to participate.

In both Cuba and the Dominican Republic, the cigar industry, even today, has long employed a reader to entertain the cigar rollers while rolling and cutting the leaves.

The lector reads aloud from newspapers and novels to help while away the hours. The readings came to be regarded as a social and cultural right, and spurred many cigar rollers to learn to read, and also to social activism.

The Dominican Republic Sports & Education Academy is a project designed to provide young, gifted student athletes the opportunity to become well-rounded individuals, preparing them for college scholarships in the United States.

The reading program will help to “brand” the DRSEA in the Dominican Republic as it prepares to open its doors as early as 2010, and help create a feeder system for the school.

Established in 1936, Children International is a nonprofit organization with its headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. Children International’s programs benefit over 300,000 poor children and their families in 11 countries around the world, including Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Zambia and the United States.

Previous readings have been done at the Children International community center in Boca Chica, and at the Saint George School in Santo Domingo and Bayaguana. The program is expected to be held once a month at various sites in the Dominican Republic.