The Vice President of the Republic, Raquel Peña, headed the inauguration of the Center for Integral Attention to Children and the Family (CAFI) installed at the Regional University Center of Central Cibao (CURCE), Bonao-UASD Campus, which will integrate 170 infants, sons and daughters of the students and collaborators of the house of higher studies.
The Vice President was accompanied by Franklin García Fermín, Minister of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (Mescyt); Besaida Manola Santana, Executive Director of the National Institute of Integral Attention to Early Childhood (Inaipi) and Rosalía Sosa, Vice Rector of Extension of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD).
The center, set up thanks to an agreement signed between the UASD, Mescyt and Inaipi, is the first of seven that will be installed in an equal number of campuses, centers and sub-centers of the state academy, located in different parts of the country.
As a result of this agreement, the UASD cedes its spaces in the centers of Bonao, Santo Domingo, Barahona, San Juan de la Maguana, María Trinidad Sánchez, San Francisco de Macorís and Mao, in the province of Valverde, for the installation of the CAFIs; meanwhile, Mescyt contributed DR 20 million for the habilitation and equipment of these; while Inaipi will implement its model of integral quality attention.
Vice President Peña said that the opening of this CAFI is part of the national plan to expand coverage developed by the Government of President Luis Abinader, with the interest of including a significant number of infants and families who are waiting for the services offered under the Inaipi model of care.
He added that the opening of this “CAFI Center on the campus of the Autonomous University, will allow many struggling mothers of the municipality of Bonao to continue their university studies, with the peace of mind of leaving their children in the best hands to receive quality comprehensive care”.
Meanwhile, Manola Santana said that this new center will operate under the CAFI direct management modality, which offers attention and care services to children from 45 days to 5 years of age and is characterized by providing personalized and quality attention, in a warm and safe environment that focuses on the integral development of the children with the accompaniment of the families.
The official added that the center will also receive the children of the administrative staff of the UASD, to guarantee them the services offered by Inaipi.
Rosalía Sosa, a teacher, emphasized that the CAFI and the UASD’s childcare centers are a testimony to the commitment of the university to the welfare of its students, who are given the opportunity to receive quality care for their children while they are being educated.
Likewise, Franklin García Fermín expressed that Mescyt will continue to support this initiative because societies that pay greater attention to early childhood are those that are more likely to enjoy better organization and more compliance with moral standards and ethical principles.
“This means that when there are properly guided and educated children in a nation, there is greater hope and certainty that there will be more conscientious, responsible and dignified adults acting in the spirit of citizenship,” concluded the Mescyt minister.
Personalities
The opening ceremony was also attended by Adela Tejada, governor of the Monseñor Nouel province; Eberto Núñez, mayor of Bonao; the deputies, Norberto Ortiz and Orlando Antonio Martínez; Ana Graciela Peña, director of the UASD Bonao Center and president of the Board of Directors of the Regional Center of Central Cibao (CURCE) and José Cancel, deputy minister of Administration and Finance of Mescyt.
Also present were Beatriz Terrero, director of the children’s daycare center of the UASD; Raquel Jiménez, deputy director of the Supérate program and sculptor Juan Trinidad, representing the Minister of Culture, Milagros Germán.
Representing Inaipi were Harolin Almonte, deputy director of Inter-Institutional Relations; Yanett Rodríguez, deputy director of Institutional Management; Johanna Elías, director of Service Network Management; Juan Tomás Méndez, director of Operations; Rafaela Mateo, in charge of Inter-Institutional Relations; and César Mercedes, legal director, among other officials.
About CAFI
The new CAFI UASD Bonao has four classrooms where services focused on Early Stimulation and Initial Education strategies will be offered during the morning shift, from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and in the afternoon shift, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The center will benefit mothers in the municipality of Bonao and surrounding communities who wish to continue their university studies, as they will have a place where they can take their children to receive quality comprehensive care.
The initiative, in addition to bringing peace of mind to young mothers, contributes to the formation and protection of the rights of children who will be the men and women of tomorrow.
Source: presidencia.gov.do
