Mission & Partnership

Misión ILAC - CESI

Our partner and host in the Dominican Republic is Centro de Educacion para la Salud Integral (CESI), or Misión ILAC - a Dominican NGO founded in 1972.

CESI is an international collaborative healthcare and educational organization that works to promote the integral well-being and spiritual growth of Dominicans in its partner communities. CESI works with a growing community network of 140 rural communities, or campos, in the northern regions in the Dominican Republic to foster growth in areas of education, agriculture, health, and spirituality.

Visit the Misión ILAC-CESI Website

Where is ILAC-CESI?

The ILAC-CESI campus is located in a suburb of Santiago de los Caballeros (Santiago) - a city in the north of the Dominican Republic. Santiago is the second largest city in the Dominican Republic (after the capital city of Santo Domingo).

Check out these 360° views of the ILAC-CESI Campus! (more below)

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360° Courtyard View

360° Guest Cottages (Casitas) & Running Track

360° Creighton-ILAC Classroom & Office Space

ILAC-CESI Campus Photos

Q:Does Creighton University own the ILAC-CESI Campus?

No, the ILAC-CESI campus is property of the Dominican NGO, CESI. Creighton University partners closely with CESI to provide dorm rooms, classrooms, office space, meals, and other amenities for Creighton University students and program participants. Several Creighton University staff members live in the DR and work from the ILAC-CESI campus.

Cooperadores de Salud

Beginning in 1982, CESI began working with rural communities surrounding Santiago to identify a cooperador in each community. The Cooperador is a person chosen by each community for their active participation and leadership, with the intention of coordinating the efforts intended to achieve improved health for the members of their communities.

Many Creighton-ILAC programs work closely with CESI’s rural health program and the Cooperadores de Salud, or rural health promoters. Today the network reaches 140 local communities with 160 representatives.

Cooperadores/as attend training at CESI in both health education and social sciences prepare them to better understand the community dynamics, and improve the ability of the communities to plan and respond to needs and emergencies. The Cooperadores Program represents a permanent commitment to healthcare and education in the Dominican Republic.

Cooperadores are integral links to the local campos during the ILAC Summer Health Program, and they are also responsible for screening patients for the various ILAC medical programs. The Cooperadores Program represents a permanent commitment to healthcare and education in the Dominican Republic.

To learn more about this program, visit CESI’s website.

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Learn More About the Cooperadores Program