USAID and San Diego Padres a Winning Team for Education in Dominican Republic

NAJAYO, Dominican Republic, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Through a
unique public-private alliance, the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) teamed up with the Major League Baseball-Dominican Development
Alliance (MLB-DDA), and the San Diego Padres to donate $35,000 to the
Instituto Dominicano de Desarrollo Integral (IDDI) for basic education
activities in Najayo, Dominican Republic Oct. 27.

The announcement was made by the U.S. Embassy to Santo Domingo's ad interim
Charge d'Affaires. Christopher Lambert and the San Diego Padres Associate
Counsel Jeremy Horowitz.

"Education is an important asset for the economic development of any country,"
said Lambert. "To invest resources, time and effort in education is a sound
investment."

Lambert also encouraged current Dominican baseball players, academies and
baseball fans to contribute through the MLB-DDA and praised the continued
efforts of the San Diego Padres.

The donation will support the popular and successful after school program
called "Espacios para Crecer," or "Spaces to Learn." Spaces to Learn augments
official class time with additional opportunities for creative learning. The
Spaces to Learn program was developed in 2003 by a U.S. Department of Labor
grant that served to eradicate child labor. The donation will enable the
Dominican Republic's Fundacion Sur Futuro to implement the Spaces to Learn
program in the public school system.

The USAID, MLB-DDA and the Padres partnership will also support the American
Chamber of Commerce's efforts toward teacher training in mathematics and
reading to first through fourth grade public school teachers. For the past
three years the Chamber managed a USAID-funded project that provides technical
and financial assistance, which matches private sector investments in the
public schools in order to improve the quality of basic education in the
Dominican Republic.

The MLB-DDA was founded in November 2008 to tap the potential combined
resources of baseball in community outreach programs in the Dominican
Republic, a country which currently produces more than 20 percent of all
signed MLB players. USAID provides financial support through a matching grant
incentive fund. For more information about MLB-DDA, visit www.mlb-dda.org.

For more information about USAID, visit www.usaid.gov.

Public Information: 202-712-4810

SOURCE U.S. Agency for International Development

USAID Press Office, +1-202-712-4320