History

The SNSI program was founded in 2013, and during this pilot phase of our camp we targeted 100 girls aged 10 to 15. We soon realized that 15% of our registered campers were already married, divorced, had been pregnant, or were mothers. It became evident that we had to start with a younger age group for our programs to have more impact. In 2014 we adjusted the camper age range to 9-12 year old girls and also increased the number of participants to 250. With this increase came additional funding, as we introduced a company-wide fundraiser and matching-gift program in the United States, working with fiscal sponsors Friends of Educa and Dominican Foundation.

In 2015 we launched our SNSI website and partnered with The Ocean Foundation as our fiscal sponsor which allowed us to fundraise via digital means. By 2016 we launched SNSI’s social media accounts and attracted new funding partners, raising international profile.

Our volunteer program has also seen an evolution. During the first year of camp we worked with local volunteers and schoolteachers. As the camp grew, and to widen the girls’ interaction with outside resources, we began recruiting volunteers from Santo Domingo--mostly professional Dominican women who take personal vacation time to be with us and the girls from Miches. Their participation adds unexpected and tremendous value to SNSI.

In 2017, we reached a record of more than 300 girls in three camp sessions. In addition, we launched our Ambassador’s Network to support fundraising and awareness efforts. In November of the same year, and in commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we organized the conference, Gender Equality in Dominican Republic: Rights and Opportunities, which received support from UN Women and the Dominican Ministry of Women.

In 2019, we included for the first time a thematic and conceptual axis for the camp, “My identity, wealth of my people”. With this, we focused on girls recognizing the value of their identity and learning to work on their strengths to become agents of change who could contribute to the development of their community in the future.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we restructured camp in 2020  in order to accommodate the realities of social distancing and launched SNSI in a Box, delivering the magic of camp directly to our girls’ doorsteps and helping them overcome the challenges presented by extended periods of confinement and isolation. Each box explores a specific topic that’s especially relevant to our girls’ lives during these times, like how to improve their biosafety,  define their long term goals, and understand their rights and options for reporting abuse or violence. Click here to learn more about SNSI in a BOX.