Teaching boys at Helping Hands to set up an e-commerce store

One Week in Barahona June 29-July 6th, 2026

I spent a week in Barahona, Dominican Republic, at Helping Hands Orphanage, teaching a group of young boys how to build and run an e-commerce business.

One week isn't enough time to teach anyone everything about running a business, and I knew that going in.  We focused on three things: creating products people actually want, marketing them, and taking care of customers when they show up. 

The Setup Wasn't Ideal

The days were long. We'd start around nine in the morning and finish up around ten-thirty at night. In between, we lost power more times than I can count. The internet came and went whenever it felt like it. And most of the boys speak Spanish or Haitian Creole, while I speak English. So a lot of what we did happened through translation, gestures, patience, and pointing at screens.

Somehow, that never really slowed us down. If anything, it made the wins feel bigger.

What We Actually Did

Most of the real work happened one-on-one. I'd sit next to a boy and we'd walk through it together, what product he wanted to create, what he thought people would buy, how to design it, how to list it, how to price it. Some of the boys took to it right away. Others need more time to see themselves as someone who could actually do this. 

We're not launching a hundred products overnight. But over the next few months, you'll see products going up in the store, one by one, and each one will represent a boy who learned to make something and put it in front of the world.

Why This Matters More Than It Looks

There's something worth understanding about this orphanage: it's home to both Dominican and Haitian boys, and inside those walls, they all get along fine. Outside is a different story. Haitians and Dominicans have a long, painful history, and the Dominican government has made it clear it would prefer Haitians not be in the country at all. That reality closes a lot of doors. A Haitian boy graduating out of the orphanage doesn't have anywhere near the opportunities a Dominican boy does.

An e-commerce store doesn't care what passport you carry. It doesn't ask where you were born. If you can design a product people want, list it well, and take care of the customer, you can make a living.

That's the piece that grabbed me while I was there. What we're building isn't just a fundraising tool for the orphanage. It's a skill these boys carry with them for the rest of their lives. When they age out, they can keep working with Helping Hands, creating products and teaching the younger kids coming up behind them. They can start their own stores. They can walk into local businesses in Barahona and help them get online.

Still a Lot to Learn

The boys have a long way to go, and they know it. But they're excited. You can see it, the way they lean in when something clicks, the way they want to show you what they just made. That excitement is the thing you can't teach. That was already there. All I got to do was help point it somewhere useful.

More to come as the products start going live.