Harry Gomez teaches English to students enrolled in the Survival Skills program in the Dominican Republic. He was born in the capital city of Santo Domingo and was raised in La Romana by his mother, a pediatrician, and his father, a retired admiral in the Dominican Republic Navy. He came to America to earn his college degree in software programming, which formed the basis of his career for more than 10 years in the video game, entertainment, tourism and healthcare industries. Having the ability to speak English opened many doors for him in the Dominican Republic, and in 2014 he began teaching English to businesspeople working for international companies in La Romana.
Harry says he began learning English as a small child by watching Sesame Street and The Electric Company on TV. His parents, neither of them native English speakers, enrolled him in English-speaking schools. They also brought him to the United States when he was in the third grade while his father took a year-long course at the National Defense College in Washington, D.C.
He now teaches English to his corporate clients during the week and teaches the students enrolled in our Survival Skills program on Sunday mornings. By learning English, these students are preparing themselves for a secure and successful life after they age out of the orphanage.
“Knowing English will give these kids a boost when they start looking for a job,” Harry said. “What I am teaching these young people can help them get ahead in life and offer a better outcome to their futures. With these classes, these kids believe they have a chance to live beyond the orphanage with the tools that they need provided by people that care about them. Just Hope gives them hope.”
