Education for 200 children in Honduras

We would like to share the most recent trustee report from the GVI Charitable Trust. This report covers the six month period from July to December 2011.

This has been by far the most successful period. In six months we have raised nearly as much as we did the whole previous year. This increase in funding has brought a corresponding increase in the impact we have been able to create on our programs around the world.

During this period we have invested in sustainable education across Latin America. This includes support for the elderly in Guatemala and income generation schemes to support education in Honduras and Ecuador. In Mexico we have worked with a community to establish a recycling centre and in Kenya our partners in Mombasa will now see impoverished students complete primary education to earn qualifications for the first time.

These are just a few highlights of an amazing, productive and rewarding six months. Thank you to everyone who has supported us and played a crucial role in these achievements.

• GVI Charitable Trust Annual Report (PDF)
  

On the Phoenix project in Honduras we have developed a new income generating initiative to secure Secondary education for students in the communities of San Rafael and Barbasco.

Project director Dom Williams explains:  ‘After numerous meetings with the communities of San Rafael and Barbasco everyone is in agreement that is it a good idea and Plan Café has been given the green light to begin! Both communities have given a total of 2.5 hectares of land to the project and now Phoenix has bought roughly 12,000 small coffee plants to be planted on the land. The coffee, once the plants are mature in 2-3 years, will then be cut and sold, and the profit will go towards the secondary school to help pay teachers salaries year-on-year. All of this will help create a sustainable income for the school.

This initiative clearly demonstrates the long term vision we try to implement on our projects which enables communities to take the lead and provide and themselves provide the needs to secure continuation of the project.

In addition to ‘Plan Cafe’ donations to the GVI charitable Trust have helped to fund the food and fruit program in the school, bring in much needed educational materials, fund birthday celebrations four secondary teachers and the local dialect, Chorti teacher.