Founded on 7 February 1976
by Xiomara Dájer de Menéndez, Jackeline Gómez de Kelly, Matty Bisonó de Herrera, Clara Negrón de Morales and Margarita Llanso, among other women of the La Romana community.
At the outset, the work of the PBO was conceived as a group supporting the social work that Father Abreu was carrying out among the vulnerable community of La Romana. Following his unexpected death in 1977, the PBO took on the responsibility of continuing his work. Through that experience of social support, the great needs of the underprivileged children of La Romana became evident. It was then that the PBO began raising funds to create the Hogar del Niño.
The Hogar del Niño began operating in 1982 with 13 children at nursery level, in its current location, where it also sheltered a number of orphans. Over the years the Hogar del Niño kept growing: by 1995 the school was equipped to teach up to 4th grade; by 2000 it reached 8th grade; and finally in 2005 the secondary programme began, with the first graduating class in August 2009.
From the founding in 1976 to the ECO School opening this year. Fifty-three moments, grouped by decade.
On 7 February the Patronato Benéfico Oriental (PBO) is born, founded by Mrs Xiomara Dájer de Menéndez together with Mrs Jaqueline Gómez de Kelly, Matty Herrera, Clara Morales de Negrón and Margarita Llanso. It was originally conceived as a group supporting the social work carried out by Father Juan Antonio Abreu.
Thanks to the donation of a plot of land by Gulf & Western, today Central Romana Corporation Ltd., the Hogar del Niño is born with the aim of giving children the opportunity to receive education and nutrition.
After the death of Father Abreu, Mrs Xiomara Dájer de Menéndez and a group of friends take on the responsibility of continuing his work, providing assistance and support to the San Martín de Porres nursery.
First Lady Renée Klang de Guzmán breaks ground to begin construction of the Hogar del Niño on a site in the Preconca Nueva district of La Romana. On 9 March the Patronato Benéfico Oriental Inc. (PBO) is formally incorporated.
This year the designer Oscar de la Renta † joins the Patronato’s work, raising funds for the Hogar del Niño through fashion shows and concerts with the singer Julio Iglesias at the Altos de Chavón Amphitheatre.
The Ministry of Education formally accredits the Hogar del Niño School, which then went up to sixth grade; a year later seventh and eighth grades are added.
The Hogar del Niño opens its doors as a nursery. Two years later the first extension is completed and the school is formally inaugurated. Capacity rises from 13 to 160 children a day, growing steadily to the point where today it welcomes more than 2,000 children and young people aged 0 to 18.
The Hogar del Niño School for the Deaf is established with 40 students, the only one in the east of the country. In its early days it is supported by the Japanese volunteer Takanori Sasaki, of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The collaboration with Direct Relief, an international humanitarian aid organisation, begins with small donations of medicines for the children of the Hogar.
In February the first Hogar del Niño Weekend takes place, a fundraising event with family activities and a golf tournament created at the initiative of Mr Jack Scott, including a dinner dance and prize-giving. It has been held every year since.
The Phyllis Berney Adopt-A-Crib programme is formalised, a fundraising scheme in which members commit to an annual donation, securing the continuous growth and development of the Hogar del Niño. The Special Contribution Fund (Endowment) is also established, a fund in perpetuity intended to contribute to the sustainability of every programme.
Juan Luis Guerra and Julio Iglesias perform a concert at the Altos de Chavón Amphitheatre in aid of the Hogar del Niño.
The PBO Vocational Workshop is inaugurated, delivered by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and coordinated by the volunteer Hiroaki Mikuni, to foster and develop technical and vocational career prospects for young adults from the age of sixteen. In 1997 a partnership with the National Institute of Technical and Vocational Training (INFOTEP) accredits the Workshop as a COS centre (System Operating Centre).
A concert is held at Altos de Chavón in aid of the Hogar del Niño, with a performance by Julio Iglesias and the participation of Oscar de la Renta †, Henry and Nancy Kissinger and Barbara Walters.
The Hogar del Niño receives a visit from Hillary Clinton, accompanied by Oscar de la Renta †.
The first thank-you dinner for members of the Adopt-A-Crib fundraising programme is held at the home of Mr and Mrs Ramón (Papo) and Xiomara Menéndez, hosted by Oscar de la Renta † and Julio Iglesias.
In September the first Café de la Leche takes place, a drive collecting milk and formula which, through the Café de la Leche Club, has come to cover roughly 80% of the milk needed for the more than 230 babies currently cared for in the Hogar del Niño’s Infant Room.
Mrs Xiomara Menéndez Dájer, daughter of the founder Xiomara Dájer de Menéndez, becomes president of the Patronato Benéfico Oriental.
Diagnóstica Social is founded, a centre specialising in advanced medical diagnostic imaging, conceived as a sustainability project intended to generate income to sustain the running of the Hogar del Niño. Thanks to its social work department, people without financial means can access these specialist medical services free of charge.
The first of several Christmas in September events, a luncheon held at the White House with US President George W. Bush and Oscar de la Renta †, in aid of the Hogar del Niño.
Dr Bobby McBride donates a mobile dental unit to the Hogar del Niño, and a year later the fully equipped permanent dental clinic opens.
The Hogar del Niño celebrates its first secondary school graduation and the PBO Scholarship Programme begins. Since then the Hogar has graduated 746 students and awarded 168 scholarships.
The new Diagnóstica Social facilities open, next to the Central Romana Medical Centre.
The Inclusion Programme is formalised at the Hogar del Niño School, integrating children with hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, autism spectrum conditions, Down’s syndrome and low vision. Today the programme covers 9% of the Hogar del Niño’s student body.
The first Casa de Campo Marathon runs for the Hogar del Niño, raising funds to roof the school’s sports court and strengthen its sports programmes. Six editions were held, up to 2019.
The Hogar del Niño opens two Montessori classrooms thanks to sponsorship from companies committed to education and funds raised at the A Night For The Kids events. The new classrooms are intended to foster an education that drives students’ integral, intellectual, emotional and physical development.
Idea by PBO is founded, a self-sustaining print shop created in response to the printed-material needs of the Patronato’s different areas. The project not only meets the institution’s own needs but also serves external clients, generating income to strengthen and secure the continuity of the PBO’s programmes.
The Multi-purpose Court opens at the Hogar del Niño School, a space for sports, school and cultural programmes.
The co-management agreement for the Hogar del Niño school is signed with the Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic.
The PBO is chosen by TOMS as a partner to distribute its shoes through the One for One campaign, through which roughly 40,000 pairs of shoes were given to children in vulnerable communities.
The performer Pitbull gives a concert at the Altos de Chavón Amphitheatre in aid of the extension of the Hogar del Niño School, which was built and opened in 2016.
The government of Japan donates four additional classrooms, expanding the PBO Vocational Workshop, which that same year becomes the PBO Technical Institute (ITPBO), offering technical qualifications in the trades most in demand in the labour market.
The collaboration between the PBO and Direct Relief deepens and the distribution of medicines extends nationwide, reaching more than three million children, adults and older people to date.
The inclusion programme is rolled out at the PBO Technical Institute, giving Deaf students the technical skills they need to enter the workforce.
The first Friendsgiving event, raising funds for the Hogar del Niño’s early-years education programmes based on the Montessori method.
The PBO opens the Patio Hogar PBO-Villa Hermosa sports court, in partnership with Love Fútbol, the Pincus Family Foundation and The Sports Creative, in the Juan Pablo Duarte community — an area of extreme vulnerability within the municipality of Villa Hermosa, home to 30% of the Hogar del Niño’s students.
Extending the Hogar del Niño School with a third floor adds 12 new classrooms, four of them sponsored by the Embassy of Japan.
Construction begins on the Villa Hermosa Community Transformation Center. The centre brings together the PBO’s experience with innovation, technology and commitment, fostering community growth and empowerment. Built with sustainable materials, it offers the community the spaces, tools and support it needs to drive its own development and transformation from within.
The Hogar del Niño School establishes its Diversity Support Department, providing integral care to students with specific educational support needs, accompanying their education with life skills and preventing exclusion.
The TEDxLaRomana event is held on the theme “Flow and abundance: life as movement and shared prosperity”, at the Altos de Chavón Amphitheatre in aid of the Hogar del Niño.
The WAO Innovation Hub sustainability programme is created, a one-of-a-kind space in Altos de Chavón designed to foster innovation, creativity and collaborative learning. That same year sees the launch of WAO Lab by Kids Create, a preschool inspired by the Italian Reggio Emilia educational philosophy, focused on the academic development of two- and three-year-olds.
In November the Hogar del Niño School receives a visit from His Excellency Luis Abinader, President of the Dominican Republic, to launch the Oportunidad 14/24 programme. This scheme of technical and vocational training and labour-market reintegration for vulnerable young people is delivered at the Technical Institute (ITPBO).
In June the PBO opens the Hogar del Niño-Saona Infant Room, which cares each day for babies between two months and two years old.
The Hogar del Niño National School for the Deaf runs from the first level through to sixth grade. It currently welcomes more than 50 Deaf children every day. From seventh grade, more than 20 attend mainstream curriculum classes with the support of sign language interpreters. More than 225 Deaf students have passed through the Hogar del Niño School. Of those, roughly 45 have gone on to integrate into mainstream school, and more than 18 have successfully graduated.
Work has begun at the Hogar del Niño to introduce the ECO School “Verde Hogar” programme and move towards our goal of becoming a Green School. The effort aligns with Law 94-20 on Environmental Education and Awareness, fostering the values, knowledge and practices that promote sustainable development and the responsible use of natural resources.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PBO launches the Family Food Baskets programme to provide sustenance to the families of all the Hogar’s children and to vulnerable communities.
The Madres Maravilla 2.0 programme is launched, offering entrepreneurship workshops and training so that mothers who lost their jobs during the pandemic can learn new trades and build projects that generate an income.
The Hogar del Niño Makerspace programme is introduced, centred on educational innovation through active learning. It is a space where students explore STEAM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) and build the skills that today’s and tomorrow’s in-demand careers require, reaching more than 600 students each school year.
Construction begins on the new kitchen and dining hall at the Hogar del Niño School, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner to more than 2,000 students and 400 staff. Student nutrition is one of the school’s core priorities.
The Ministry of Education of the Dominican Republic accredits the upper secondary cycle of the Hogar del Niño School under the Polytechnic track.
Three Hogar del Niño students take part in 2023 and 2024 in the Junior Diplomat programme of the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations in New York.
The PBO takes over the running of the McDaniel Tennis Tournament in its eighteenth edition, at the request of Mr McDaniel, the tournament’s founder. The event raises funds to secure health and education programmes for the ball boys of the Casa de Campo tennis courts.
In April the Hogar del Niño has the honour of receiving a delegation of 11 ambassadors to the United Nations, led by His Excellency Ambassador José Blanco, representative of the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations. The delegation comprised the ambassadors of Bahrain, Benin, Slovenia, Greece, Guyana, Indonesia, Kuwait, Libya, Malta and Tajikistan.
Put yourself to the test
Ten random questions about these nearly fifty years of history.
We are the Patronato Benéfico Oriental. Ask me about any of our projects, about our history since 1976, about how to donate or volunteer, or about the phone numbers and addresses of each of our sites.
Answers come from information published on this site. For specific arrangements, please write to us.
