Frequently Asked Questions
When you first walk through the front gate of the Mariposa Center for Girls in Cabarete, whether you are an international visitor or a little Dominican girl who has never swam in a swimming pool before, you feel as if you are entering a safe haven. Beautiful, empowering, with colorful murals of female activists, heroines, authors, poets, and revolutionaries illuminate pillars around the center. The swimming pool invites you to jump in, especially on hot days. The mango trees over the yoga and meditation platform sway in the gentle warm ocean breeze. Groups of girls laugh, braid each other’s hair, dance, learn and play all day long.
With so much excitement and many visitors over the years, our team has heard a lot of questions about all things Mariposa. So, we wanted to answer some of those questions for you!
If any of these questions, answers, or facts resonate with you, we encourage you to contact us to get involved and/or schedule a visit to the Mariposa Center for Girls in Cabarete.
What is Mariposa?
The Mariposa Center for Girls in Cabarete is the largest safe space for girls in the Caribbean and Latin America. In 2012, we purchased a dilapidated old hotel at the entrance to La Cienega and transformed the property into a beautiful sanctuary where girls ages 7-18 come to learn, grow, and play.
We offer more than 40 programs annually to girls living in poverty, which include academic support, swimming, visual and performing arts, environmental education, community service and advocacy, access to mental and physical health care, provide daily nutritious meals, and so much more.
We also have a second campus, The Mariposa Mountain School at Finca Alta Gracia. Honorary Chairwoman, Dominican-American author Julia Alvarez and her husband, Bill Eichner, recently donated their family property in the mountains above Jarabacoa to the organization. The Mariposa Mountain School provides educational and empowerment programs to girls in the rural community of Los Marranitos. The campus also includes a coffee, fruit and vegetable and macadamia farm that spans almost 200 acres.
How many girls attend Mariposa programs?
We work directly with approximately 200 girls at the Mariposa Center for Girls in Cabarete, the Mariposa Mountain School in Los Marranitos, and in our Mariposa Volando program!
Where do Mariposa girls come from?
The majority of Mariposa girls in Cabarete come from the town’s two largest barrios, La Cienaga and Callejón de la Loma. All siblings are grandfathered into Mariposa programs and given priority. In addition to staff and parental recommendations, many Mariposa girls come from our sister school, 3 Mariposas Montessori.
We do not have a standardized template to apply to each Mariposa girl. Instead, we have a passionate team who are dedicated to meeting the individual and intricate needs of each Mariposa girl.
Where do Mariposa girls go to school?
Mariposa girls enter programs around the age of 7 years old. Prior to the 6th grade, Mariposa girls attend either a public or private school in Cabarete depending on their family’s financial ability.
Does Mariposa provide scholarships?
Mariposa provides close to 100 scholarships each year for middle and high school girls to attend CORAL, a private school in Callejón de la Loma. Upon graduating from high school, Mariposa offers full and partial scholarships to students pursuing education at an institution of higher education and employs several graduates to help them gain professional experience as they enter the workforce.
How much do Mariposa girls pay to participate in programs?
Mariposa girls do not pay to participate in any programs! The burden of the cost of education means that many girls forfeit their education altogether, and Mariposa is not willing to risk that. This means that Mariposa girls and their families are not required to pay for daily programs at Mariposa, multiple daily meals, uniforms for school and sports, feminine hygiene products, books and academic supplies, transportation, and tuition for education at a private middle and high school.
How much time do girls spend at Mariposa each day?
In addition to school, a Mariposa girl spends approximately 1,000+ hours at our center annually and receives a plethora of educational and empowerment opportunities.
Many Dominican schools continue to operate with half-day school schedules. This means that children in elementary school receive 3 hours of school per day and high school students receive 5 hours. So for the other half of the day, when the Mariposa girls are not in school, they are safe at the Mariposa Center for Girls. Throughout the school year, the Mariposa girls participate in a variety of extra activities such as weekend surf workshops, lead community events, and adventure on Mariposa overnight field trips around the country.
Mariposa’s 8-week Summer Camp is the most exciting time of the year and girls participate in programs from 7am until 4pm. The girls participate in multiple activities throughout the Summer Camp, ranging from surfing at Playa Encuentro and boogie boarding at Kite Beach to practicing yoga under mango trees and learning English in music class at the Mariposa Center for Girls.
Do you provide meals at the Mariposa Center?
At Mariposa, we are committed to developing life-long, healthy habits while protecting the environment and respecting the abundant resources the Dominican Republic has to offer. We are proud to be an entirely whole-food, plant-based organization as of the fall of 2021. Shifting to a high fiber diet filled with natural nutrients has helped the entire Mariposa community to feel healthier, both mentally and physically.
Approxmiately 85% of the Mariposa girls rely on daily meals from Mariposa as their primary and/or only source of nourishment. According to IFAD (2022), the Dominican Republic has one of the highest rates of moderate or severe food insecurity in the Americas with 52.3% of the population facing food insecurity.
We know that when girls take ownership of what they eat and their health, it will have a ripple effect throughout the entire community. During the school year, Mariposa provides at least 300 daily meals to girls and staff. During Summer Camp, Mariposa provides more than 600 daily meals. That’s 60,000+ whole-food plant-based meals per year!
What is your success rate?
Over the past few years, 100% of the Mariposa girls have reached the age of 18 without a child pregnancy and with a high school degree.
Of those girls, 90% have gone on to enroll in a university, ranging from programs in the Dominican Republic and the United States to Costa Rica, Singapore, Wales, Thailand, Canada, and more. Those who did not wish to continue their education are employed and receive guidance and support from Mariposa as needed.