How We Work
We don't parachute in with our own plans. We partner with people who already have a vision for their own country — leaders who understand what their communities actually need, not what outsiders think they need.
Sometimes the help they need is funding. Quite often it's a business plan and a path to sustainability. Sometimes it's a construction team, a medical team, or an extra set of hands. Whatever it is, we help where they need help — and we build toward the day they don't need us anymore.
"We help as long as people need help. When they're up and running, we're out."
Over 30+ years, we've partnered with dozens of organizations. Our current work is rooted in Haiti, Burkina Faso, and the Dominican Republic, and we support partner organizations in several other countries around the world.
Why These Places
We work where opportunity is scarce and local leaders are ready. Here's what our partners are up against.
of the population faces food insecurity, and fewer than half of rural families have access to basic clean drinking water.
children can't read proficiently by late primary age, and fewer than 1 in 10 students finish upper secondary school — among the lowest rates in the world.
rural households lacks access to safely treated water, and rural poverty runs far higher than in the cities tourists see.
Sources: World Bank, UN, and national household survey data.
Where We Work
Our longest partnership — over 30 years in Los Alcarrizos and Villa Altagracia. Homes built in a week, the cleanest water in the country, a medical clinic, a vocational school, parks, and more.
A remarkable local organization building opportunity from the ground up in one of the hardest places in the world to get an education.
In a country facing hunger, instability, and scarce clean water, we walk alongside multiple Haitian-led organizations serving their own communities — with funding, planning, and support where they need it most.
Lighthouse Projects · Dominican Republic
In Los Alcarrizos and Villa Altagracia, our partnership with Lighthouse Projects has grown into homes, water, health care, education, and places to gather. This is what long-term partnership looks like.
Every house has three bedrooms and a living room. Mom and dad get their own room. The girls get their own room. The boys get theirs. That detail matters more than most people realize — it means dignity, privacy, and safety for every person in the family.
When a construction team comes down, they don't build for the family. They build with them — mixing concrete, raising walls, sharing meals all week long. And on the last day? We move them in.
Our reverse osmosis systems produce more than 25,000 gallons of clean water every day in Los Alcarrizos — and even more in Villa Altagracia.
But here's the part we love. In these communities, pastors and priests are the true leaders, and the Sunday offering plate was never enough to live on — so they were driving taxis just to stay. We put cages of five-gallon water bottles outside their doors and deliver fresh water every day. They sell it at a profit that lets them stay in the community, ready whenever they're needed. And it's still the most affordable water anyone can buy.
At the vocational school in Villa Altagracia, students learn skills that turn into paychecks: salon services, hair, nails and massage, electrical work, carpentry, auto repair, English, and computers.
Alongside the school, the medical clinic and visiting medical teams care for the whole community. And the parks we've built together — basketball courts, a gazebo that hosts everything from pickup games to weddings — give people a place to gather and a reason to stay.
Disaster Relief
For over three decades, we've responded when the worst happens — bringing help, supplies, and hands to the hardest moments.
Disaster relief is where our partnership model matters most. Because we already work through local leaders, help gets where it's needed — fast, and without a middleman.
Our Track Record
Over the years we've worked in Kenya, Zambia, Romania, and across West Africa — and we've walked alongside dozens of organizations until they were standing on their own. That's not a loss. That's the whole goal.
Past work: Kenya · Zambia · Romania · West Africa | Current work: Haiti · Burkina Faso · Dominican Republic | Plus partner organizations in several other countries
Bring your group - Co-workers - School - Church - A Group of Friends - Your Family - Your Leadership Team, and we take care of everything to ensure that everyone on your team has an incredible experience. Work teams or medical teams are typically 7-10 days. You will never be the same again.
"We brought our whole family when my kids were 10, 11, 13, and 14 years old. My husband and I know this is the greatest gift we could ever give them. And they agree." - Kim Sorrelle
Rays of Hope International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.