Project Nigua International
A Non for Profit Organization
"Projet
Nigua
International
Enr." - NEQ: 2245294279
A Project of Compassion and Hope
© - Copyright projectnigua.org 2001-2009; - all rights reserved
Our Sponsors
100% of their
profits go to our Project
Buy "Tiny Eden" & make the project reality
Alpenhaus
The best & oldest Swiss Restaurant in Montreal
Host of our Monthly Benefit Dinner
La Saigonaise
Cuisine Sante - Thai & Vietamese restaurant. 5711 Cote des Neiges, Montreal.
A strong supporter of PNI.
PNI Technical Services
Montreal
Philippe Rochette
Opticien d'ordonnances
ou 514-303-4315
*voir les détails de l'offre
Francois Pilon
Corde à linge Montréal
& Déneigement Côte-des-Neiges
Tel: 514-731-7261
Pager: 514-599-7008
We also exist as a group on
Facebook & Yahoo-Groups & with the discussion page Tiny Eden - Vision of peace
Advertise with us!
Buy "Tiny Eden" & make the project reality
Alpenhaus
The best & oldest Swiss Restaurant in Montreal
Host of our Monthly Benefit Dinner
La Saigonaise
Cuisine Sante - Thai & Vietamese restaurant. 5711 Cote des Neiges, Montreal.
A strong supporter of PNI.
PNI Technical Services
Montreal
Philippe Rochette
Opticien d'ordonnances
ou 514-303-4315
*voir les détails de l'offre
Francois Pilon
Corde à linge Montréal
& Déneigement Côte-des-Neiges
Tel: 514-731-7261
Pager: 514-599-7008
We also exist as a group on
Facebook & Yahoo-Groups & with the discussion page Tiny Eden - Vision of peace
Advertise with us!
Project
Nigua
- "Little
Heroes" - The Book!
The ideal Gift for Anytime and Anyone
"This
is
the true story of 6 street kids who have no voice since most
of them are illiterate.Heroes in their own
way with us, only giving them a voice..." Serge
Bellemare
"Little
Heroes"
tells
the
stories of six street kids in the barrio of Nigua in the
Dominican
Republic. Their stories were written in
September 2002, after I had the privilege of living among them and
their
families over two months. Because of
some personal setbacks, the final chapter was not completed until
August 2007.
I first arrived in the Dominican Republic in November of 1999 to scout for possible business opportunities for a Canadian client and that scouting trip brought me to Nigua. The town of Nigua is a sort of “company town” for the employees of the Free Trade Zones, which are the main attraction for foreign companies doing business in the Dominican Republic. A few days into that trip, a chance encounter I had with a 10-year-old shoeshine boy planted the seeds for Project Nigua. The picture on the cover of the book is a "stolen shot" of this encounter.
As you will read in the story of this boy, I had inadvertently left my wallet on the table in a cantina while I went to the restroom. Despite the poverty that surrounded this boy and was so pervasive in his life and experience, he didn’t even try to run away with my wallet, which held some USD$5,000 in cash, all of my credit cards, and many other important and valuable documents. This encounter stirred in me a keen interest to find out what the people there are really like, how they survive the deplorable conditions in which they live and what I could do to help them. I quickly became a very good friend with the boy and his family.
I returned to the Dominican Republic in 2001 on another scouting trip, this time to look into the possibility of setting up a plastics recycling facility for a Canadian company. I knew that we could not simply transplant what worked in Canada to a less developed country without adapting things to that country’s unique economic, political, social and cultural conditions. Because of my continuing friendship with the boy and his family, I was able to approach the neighbours and friends of the family to discuss how they might be able to help with certain aspects, like the collection of discarded plastic. These meetings were most definitely eye-opening, and halfway through my stay on that trip, the boy’s family insisted that I should stay with them rather than pay for a hotel. I had been “adopted” into their small community and became friend with many of the families and their children.
A year later, I returned again for an extensive fact-finding mission and stayed with the boy and his family in Nigua the entire time I was there. During those two months, I “walked in their shoes” and I began to understand the depths of the plight of the poor in undeveloped and developing countries. The poverty and level of despair of the poor in the Dominican Republic are a far cry from those in places like Iraq, Afghanistan or Darfour, but the conditions in the Dominican Republic are certainly a lot worse than what most relatively affluent Canadians can ever imagine, even those of our citizens who have to depend on welfare.
I wrote the stories of these children because my skills in observation and writing allow me to give them a voice that they have never had. Now, we have decided to use this book as a fundraising tool in support of the goals of Project Nigua outlined on this site. The price is $12.95US (including shipping for on-line sales or mail order requests) and $20CAD if purchased in person.
I understand that many people will not simply hand over their hard-earned cash to the cause of helping those less fortunate without knowing how their donations will be used and exactly who will benefit. Although this website has a lot of information about the details of the Dominican Republic and how the project will work, it is the stories of these children told in the book that will highlight some of the people you will be helping and will explain why they need and deserve a chance.
The stories of the six boys that I have selected have many things in common, but one thing stands out: they are all true heroes who had the courage to do the right thing in spite of the odds against them and all of the temptations around them, even when it might not have seemed to be in their best interests. Once you read this book, you will understand why I am so committed to helping them, and in a small way, these boys will also become “your kids”.
Raimund J. Wild
I first arrived in the Dominican Republic in November of 1999 to scout for possible business opportunities for a Canadian client and that scouting trip brought me to Nigua. The town of Nigua is a sort of “company town” for the employees of the Free Trade Zones, which are the main attraction for foreign companies doing business in the Dominican Republic. A few days into that trip, a chance encounter I had with a 10-year-old shoeshine boy planted the seeds for Project Nigua. The picture on the cover of the book is a "stolen shot" of this encounter.
As you will read in the story of this boy, I had inadvertently left my wallet on the table in a cantina while I went to the restroom. Despite the poverty that surrounded this boy and was so pervasive in his life and experience, he didn’t even try to run away with my wallet, which held some USD$5,000 in cash, all of my credit cards, and many other important and valuable documents. This encounter stirred in me a keen interest to find out what the people there are really like, how they survive the deplorable conditions in which they live and what I could do to help them. I quickly became a very good friend with the boy and his family.
I returned to the Dominican Republic in 2001 on another scouting trip, this time to look into the possibility of setting up a plastics recycling facility for a Canadian company. I knew that we could not simply transplant what worked in Canada to a less developed country without adapting things to that country’s unique economic, political, social and cultural conditions. Because of my continuing friendship with the boy and his family, I was able to approach the neighbours and friends of the family to discuss how they might be able to help with certain aspects, like the collection of discarded plastic. These meetings were most definitely eye-opening, and halfway through my stay on that trip, the boy’s family insisted that I should stay with them rather than pay for a hotel. I had been “adopted” into their small community and became friend with many of the families and their children.
A year later, I returned again for an extensive fact-finding mission and stayed with the boy and his family in Nigua the entire time I was there. During those two months, I “walked in their shoes” and I began to understand the depths of the plight of the poor in undeveloped and developing countries. The poverty and level of despair of the poor in the Dominican Republic are a far cry from those in places like Iraq, Afghanistan or Darfour, but the conditions in the Dominican Republic are certainly a lot worse than what most relatively affluent Canadians can ever imagine, even those of our citizens who have to depend on welfare.
I wrote the stories of these children because my skills in observation and writing allow me to give them a voice that they have never had. Now, we have decided to use this book as a fundraising tool in support of the goals of Project Nigua outlined on this site. The price is $12.95US (including shipping for on-line sales or mail order requests) and $20CAD if purchased in person.
I understand that many people will not simply hand over their hard-earned cash to the cause of helping those less fortunate without knowing how their donations will be used and exactly who will benefit. Although this website has a lot of information about the details of the Dominican Republic and how the project will work, it is the stories of these children told in the book that will highlight some of the people you will be helping and will explain why they need and deserve a chance.
The stories of the six boys that I have selected have many things in common, but one thing stands out: they are all true heroes who had the courage to do the right thing in spite of the odds against them and all of the temptations around them, even when it might not have seemed to be in their best interests. Once you read this book, you will understand why I am so committed to helping them, and in a small way, these boys will also become “your kids”.
Raimund J. Wild
"Little
Heroes" by Raimund J. Wild
We
also
receive now support from the Tiny Eden Books
& Prints.
They as well have excellent books for sale.
They as well have excellent books for sale.
What others have to say ...
Through out our lives we all have our ups and downs, our good and bad. What kind of a person we are or will be is greatly determined by how he handle them. Do you give up or do you pick yourself up and start again.
In
the
book “Little Heroes” you will
meet a simple
10 year
old shoe shine boy. Soon you will learn
that there is nothing simple about him. In just
a few pages you will understand just how special this shoe shine
boy is.
Then meet a Gringo that doesn't “act” like a Gringo. See how their lives become inter-twined and how they give each other hope. Hope for a decent future and decent life. Meet the shoe shine boy's family and friends. Learn how one man and one boy can change the lives of so many by simply giving them a little hope and a dream.
You will laugh and you will cry. Simply because you have bought this book you will know that you have helped their dreams become reality.
Derek Stanly