Unlocking the Door for Elijah
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A Reflection from an AJWS Global Justice Fellow
Please enjoy this reflection from Rabbi Miriam Terlinchamp, who visited with grantee partners in the Dominican Republic last month as part of AJWS’s Global Justice Fellowship. In a community room nestled in a batey (a former sugar plantation) in Santo Domingo, three women from Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico Haitianas (MUDHA) tell stories of radical change. …
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AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE ANNOUNCES 2025 GLOBAL JUSTICE FELLOWS
The fellows include seven rabbis and one cantor who will travel to the Dominican Republic to meet grassroots activists and later to Washington, D.C. to advocate for U.S. foreign policies that champion human rights in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. American Jewish World Service (AJWS), the leading Jewish organization committed to promoting global human …
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AJWS Statement on the Dominican Republic’s Mass Deportations to Haiti
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) strongly opposes the Dominican Republic’s recent wave of inhumane mass deportations to Haiti. Even before Dominican President Luis Abinader announced on October 2 plans to expel up to 10,000 people per week, his administration was carrying out deportations in ways that violated the country’s own protocols and laws. There …
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“Nothing more human than art”: Revealing untold history in the Dominican Republic
“You won’t see our history in schoolbooks,” says Michelle Ricardo, standing in the shade of an Higüero tree in a village in the heart of the Dominican Republic. “So we’re adding our story to the conversation.” Michelle is the co-founder of Anticanon RD, a feminist artist and writer collective creating dialogues about Dominican identity, culture, …
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Stitching together a strong sense of identity
The Muñecas Negras initiative brings together women and girls, largely from communities of Haitian descent, in rural areas across the Dominican Republic — giving them a safe space to connect, take pride in their identity and learn about their history, all while creating dolls that share their skin color. Below, step into Batey Carmona to …
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Across two generations — a family transformed
It was Yanilda Juan, 23, who brought her family to Muñecas Negras. Today, her sisters and their daughters joined: seven Juan women in all. “This project doesn’t just teach us to stitch dolls. It teaches us to love ourselves, our roots, our ancestors, our hair, our skin. To understand that everything we have is gold, …
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Kika’s journey from early marriage to college student
Juanita ‘Kika’ Antelis Juan is the oldest Juan sister, at 26. For Kika, Muñecas Negras inspired an extraordinary change in her life. She grew up in a family of 10 and was married when she turned 15 (In the Dominican Republic, marriage is often forced upon adolescent girls by families struggling financially, to lessen her …
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Marisol Baez
Aiding Haitian earthquake survivors
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Dominican-Haitian communities help earthquake survivors
Dominican-Haitian communities help earthquake survivors. In the wake of the 2010 earthquake, AJWS grantee Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico Haitiana (MUDHA) organized Haitian communities in the Dominican Republic to rapidly respond to the immediate needs of disaster victims across the border. Just 48 hours after the disaster, MUDHA mobilized Dominican-Haitian communities to assist people in some …
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