Millions of tourists delight in the Dominican Republic’s white beaches, thatched roof resorts and vibrant nightlife, all while child exploitation looms in the country’s shadows.
I
n this darkness, Jacob – a Destiny Rescue rescue agent – realised the true meaning behind his badge in one of his first cases. Jacob, 25, watched a teenage girl weep and say she wanted to commit suicide after being rescued from her abusive, middle-aged husband. The rookie exceeded his standard duties and encouraged her, saying “today, your life is going to change” – and it did. “It is not only about rescuing the girl. It is about changing her life,” he says.
“
The soccer boy Before becoming a rescue agent in February and living in the Dominican Republic, Jacob coached a church soccer team from 2016 to 2019 in his birth country of Haiti. Haiti shares an island
30
in the Caribbean with the Dominican Republic – the border between them cuts the island near-perfectly in half. Jacob says he became a coach to serve his church because soccer was his “passion,” and, admittedly, he was a little empty-pocketed on other skills. In this role, Jacob learned how to lead people, start projects and speak English, which are now all arrows in his quiver for Destiny Rescue. Everything that helped me to become a rescue agent is because I was a soccer manager,” he says. Jacob then received the invitation to join Destiny Rescue after his pastor asked him to translate a conversation between a senior rescue agent and a victim of
exploitation. He viewed this as just a favour. But Jacob, who can speak English, Spanish, French and Haiti’s native language, Creole, impressed the agent. The agent then asked him to help translate again on two separate occasions before finally asking him to come on board. “That was one of the greatest news I have ever received … I knew I could do what I wanted, which was helping other people.” Learning on his feet Jacob was overwhelmed when he started work in the Dominican Republic. He landed on the ground as a trainee, learning how to investigate cases and rescue children by shadowing senior and retired rescue agents.
