Education & nutrition for children in Peru

I hope all is well with you. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to cause major problems in Latin America though the rollout of national vaccination programmes are giving some hope for the future “new normal”, albeit slowly. Our local teachers, who have all now been vaccinated, have continued to maintain the education of our students by travelling to the communities to hand out homework and answer any questions. Online teaching is not an option due to lack of internet and devices. Some staggered classroom teaching, with all the protocols in place, has been possible in some countries though normal classroom-based teaching for all is still months away.

This week’s Little By Little bonus donation campaign gives us a brilliant opportunity to build a foundation to work from as we look ahead to the final months of 2021 and into 2022. GlobalGiving will match each donation up to $50 by 50% from Monday 13^th to Friday 17^th September. It would be fantastic once again to rely on your support this week with whatever you are able to donate to this page.

Thanks to your donations during this time we have been able to keep everything going on a shoestring budget, including buying all the necessary biosecure products to maintain safety, though there has been so much we have wanted to do which has had to be put on hold. Restrictions due to Covid-19 have forced the cancellation of usual fundraising events including our charity challenges over the past nineteen months and the economic outlook remains uncertain.

Whilst the main priority is obviously keeping our current local teachers and the education of the children, once more funding becomes available we want to increase the number of local teachers, undertake maintenance, restock the classrooms and invest in more family sustainable income plans for the future which is even more critical during these times. The sustainable plans will provide extra income for the families to buy essential food and medicines as well as helping to fund the schools in the future.

We will also be planting a tree for every $10 raised during this week to help reduce the carbon footprint of the day-to-day activities of the projects. These include boat travel for the students in Guatemala, pickup transport for the students in Honduras and teachers’ transport up into the mountains in Ecuador and desert in Perú.

With Perú still suffering from high rates of Covid-19 the classrooms still remain closed. There have been whispers that staggered teaching may start this month though nothing concrete has been confirmed.

For the whole year our students have been learning from home using the textbooks we purchased at the start of the year. The teachers make regular visits to the community to set homework and correct worksheets. As the parents generally have little or no education themselves they cannot help with home-schooling so the regular visits by the teachers is essential.

Once the “new normal” starts we can concentrate on implementing sustainable family income plans which are now more critical than ever. These may include agriculture in the limited irrigated chakras (fields) in the desert, alpacas for wool and sewing projects.

We will use all funds raised this week during the Little By Little Campaign to go towards our local Phoenix teachers, biosecure products for the classrooms and food supplies for the families.

Many thanks for anything you can donate this week to the Little By Little Campaign. It is such a fantastic opportunity for us to be able to get back on track after these past eighteen months and build a solid platform for the years ahead.

Also, if you are thinking of doing something different in 2022 please do follow the link in this report to our Charity Challenges in Perú and Ecuador in May and June taking in the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu in Perú and volcanos in Ecuador – you can do either or both!

Have a great month and thank you all once again.

Cheers

Links:

• Charity Challenges Peru and Ecuador 2022

With Perú suffering from a severe new wave of Covid infections classroom-based teaching is not expected to restart for several weeks. The children continue to learn from home, as they have done all year, with the text and exercise books we purchased earlier when some restrictions had briefly eased.

As virtual learning is not an option and the parents’ education limited it is hoped the students can get back into the classroom soon to receive their education. In the meantime the teachers try to make regular visits to their homes when they are allowed and go through topics one on one.

This year’s GlobalGiving Bonus Day will be celebrated is on 14th July where donations between $100 and $1,000 will be matched at varying levels whilst funds remain from 9am Eastern Time. The following matching structure will apply:

Donations of $100 - $499 will be matched at 15%

Donations of $500 - $749 will be matched at 30%

Donations of $750 - $1,000 will be matched at 50%

With fundraising events having been put on hold for the past year and half this is a fantastic way to help us raise the extra funds we need to keep the projects and education going in all our countries. If you can, please do donate early from 9am ET on 14^th July to take advantage of the matching bonusses as the extra funds tend to go quite quickly and thank you so much in advance!

We are also looking for partnerships with businesses as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility programs as we look to implement more sustainable income plans in all our communities over the coming years. If you know of a company looking to expand their own CSR program and wanting to support projects in Latin America, please do email me on info@thephoenixprojects.org By using the tax benefits for all US taxpaying companies by donating through GlobalGiving it is a CSR program which is beneficial to all parties, especially if the donation is made on the July 14^th Bonus Day!

Thanks again for all your support and all the best for the second half of 2021

Cheers

Links:

• Corporate Social Responsibility