Meet the Directors: Juan and Margaret
Juan and Margaret are passionate directors of Santo Domingo North School with a long legacy of serving vulnerable children in the Dominican Republic.
Margaret, a licensed educator and psychologist, first joined Kids Alive as a summer intern more than 20 years ago while pursuing her university degree in Jarabacoa. Soon after marrying, she and her husband Juan—an engineer—began to serve as site directors at Casa Monte Plata, one of Kids Alive’s three residential campuses in the DR. There, they provided loving, trauma-informed care to children for several years under the mentorship of long-time leaders Juana and Ramón Prenza.
Juan and Margaret — 2015
When they started their own family, Juan and Margaret relocated to the capital—but their call to serve vulnerable children never wavered. Burdened by the lack of educational opportunities in Santo Domingo’s isolated barrio of Guayacanos, they began serving children in their own home for tutoring and academic support. Most of these children had little or no access to public school or consistent learning opportunities. What began as informal help soon became a grassroots effort to offer holistic care and hope in one of the city’s most underserved neighborhoods.
“We literally watched them turn their small, family home into a school for vulnerable children,” comments Vic Trautwein, co-country director for Kids Alive in the Dominican Republic. “At one point, the school was so crowded that they rented a nearby apartment in which to live so they could use the entire house for daily education. As Kids Alive, we started helping a little in 2010 and by 2012 their community school became a Kids Alive supported project.”
Today the school has grown to serve over 250 youth each day and is truly a center of hope. “More than anything, Margaret and Juan are evangelists,” continues Trautwein. “They work to make sure every child—and their family members —has the opportunity and desire to know God.”
We praise God for His work in and through Juan & Margaret.
Join us in praying as they continue to faithfully lead and serve the students and staff at Santo Domingo North School.