La Romana, Dominican Republic.- With the support of countless private citizens and major companies around the world, the Fundación Misión Internacional Rescate (MIR) in La Romana, Dominican Republic has assisted tens of thousands of children and their families to escape poverty by identifying and addressing their needs with targeted services.  Now, for its efforts and creating programs to meet these urgent needs, the Fundacion MIR will receive international recognition, Monday evening, May 19 during a meeting of The Third World Summit on Millennium Development Goals to be held at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

At the 4th Annual Women Together Awards, sponsored by the Virtue Foundation and Women Together, Fundacion MIR will be recognized for its commitment and social responsibility, re-integrating women into the labor force, its educational programs, meeting dietary needs of children, and its consciousness raising efforts to reduce the spread of HIV-AIDS viruses in the region. Founder and President, Lian Fanjul de Azqueta and Executive Director Lyanne Azqueta will be recognized and receive this honor.

Fanjul de Azqueta is quick to point out, that since its inception 17 years ago, “Fundación MIR has been blessed with support of individuals such as Dr. Stephen Nicholas of Columbia University and corporations from around the world who wholeheartedly endorse our efforts with their generous donations,” she said.  In addition to support from Fanjul family companies, including Central Romana Corporation, organizations & individuals such as American Airlines, Tiffany & Co., Columbia, Harvard and Baylor Universities, The Clinton Foundation, ESCADA, Bacardi, Gloria & Emilio Estefan, Elizabeth Taylor, Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Bagley Mishka, Francesca Miranda, Shakira, Julio Iglesias, and so many more, are strong supporters of the charity.

The Women Together Awards grants awards to individuals and organizations that strive to reach designated Millennium Development Goals in their respective spheres of action.   Past recipients have included Kerry Kennedy and Hillary Clinton; Nobel Peace Prize winners: Muhammad Yunus, Wangari Maathai and Shirin Ebadi; actor Angelina Jolie, Latin singing sensation, Shakira and international fashion model Karolina Kurkova.  Along with Fundación MIR, other 2008 recipients will include: the former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, Naturalist Joan Goodall and Oceanographer Syliva Earle, recognized by the Library of Congress of the United States as a living legend.  Joana Caparros, president of the Women Together Association, said the acknowledgement of the Fundacion MIR was “a unanimous decision by the executive board and the United Nations.” 

Fundacion MIR in the Dominican Republic

Receives International Recognition

Fundacion MIR was established to support educational, social and health services for indigent children and their families in the southeast Dominican Republic.  The organization aims to:

•           Assist children and families to escape poverty by identifying and addressing their needs through collaborative programs and targeted services;

•           Support programmatic partners to build operational infrastructure and evaluate interventional outcomes;

•           Develop church, non-government and government partnerships that will leverage and augment the power of private donations.

Currently, Fundación MIR supports six major programs: 

Clínica de Familia MIR is the first free family AIDS clinic in the DR and the second-largest provider of AIDS treatment for children and adults in the country.  A collaborative effort of Fundación MIR and the Columbia University International Family AIDS Program, the clinic provides laboratory services to all AIDS patients in the five provinces of the Eastern Region, giving direct care to over 1500 HIV-infected children and adults. Rate of transmission from HIV infected women to their newborns has decreased from 40% to 2% and 0% in the last 3 years.

•           MAMI a newly established prenatal counseling and support center affiliated with the universities of Columbia, Baylor and Harvard whose objective is to lower maternal and infant mortality. 

•           The Vocational / Technical School MIR, founded in 1998, provides education for girls from 5th - 12th grades.   In the last two years at the school, they receive vocational training in computers, bookkeeping, tourism, nursing, hairstyling and culinary arts.   580 girls are enrolled in the school, with a graduation rate of 95%.

•           MIR Esperanza, a technical vocational middle school and high school for boys, provides vocational training with a specialized curriculum to meet the needs of the 200 boys currently enrolled. Along with a high school degree the boys graduate with technical proficiency in electrical, refrigeration, air conditioning or informatics.

•           Casa Internacional, a guest house sponsored by Fundación MIR and Columbia University that provides housing for U.S. and international medical and public health students, resident physicians, seminarians, and others who work with any of Fundación MIR programs. 

•           Complejo Micaeliano provides health care, educational training, spiritual values, mental counseling, social services - instilling a sense of self-worth, to females who choose to abandon a life of prostitution, for new ways to not only make a living – but make a life, keep their children out of poverty, and give them hope for a brighter future.   

For more information, please visit www.mircharities.org