Past Projects

2011

Dominican Republic Education and Monitoring (DREAM) project: £2,000

2010

Hogar de Vidar Orphanage in San Andres Sajcabaja, Guatemala
Amount donated: £2000

San Andres is a large village about 6 hours north of Guatemala City and home to the orphanage of around thirty children ranging from 6 month old babies to teenagers.  It’s run by a local married couple in their mid thirties who live among the children. The village is so inaccessible that they have very little help from outside volunteers. There is no financial support from the government or any regular income apart from their small sponsorship programme.  Basic needs of food, clothing, health and education are provided with the help of 2 American paramedics who travel around the various villages on a weekly basis. Money is required to provide facilities for educational physical recreation – such as a heavy duty plastic play area e.g. climbing frames, tunnels, swings, slides etc.  This would have to be transported by road from Guatemala City and assembled locally.  With any additional funds it would be useful to buy musical instruments which the children could share, as they do have the opportunity to learn how to play them.

How were Children of Latin America donations spent?

The Hogar de Vidar orphanageallocated the donated money from Children of Latin America to build a play area. 

Movement of Mothers and Children of San Carlos in San Carlos, Uruguay
Amount donated: £2000

2009

Amantani, Corca, Peru
Amount donated: £1,600

Amantani is a UK based charity whose mission is to use education to help the indigenous children of Ccorca to successfully negotiate with modern Peru’s westernised society. By setting up sustainable boarding houses, so helping the local children to benefit from the modernisation of their district, rather than fall victim to it.  Being a small charity they avoid any overheads in the UK. This means that all the money raised can be sent directly to help fund projects in Peru.  There is local community involvement in that all paid-teachers, co-coordinators and workers in the projects will be Peruvian. Every project will be created and overseen in co-ordination with pupils’ parents, local communities and authorities. Their long-term aim is self-sufficiency and sustainability within each project by working in direct collaboration with Peru’s Ministry of Education, the local Municipality, the pupil’s parents and former pupils.

How were Children of Latin America donations spent?

A new classroom has been completed and been put to much use by the girls in the boarding school and children in the secondary school.  During the morning the children from grade 5 of the secondary school come to work in the classroom which has been great for them and a huge step towards forming a closer relationship with the school pupils and their teachers.  In the afternoon the girls in the boarding school use the space to do their homework and to participate in various workshops and classes.  The space is also used as a dining room where all the girls’ boarding schools can now congregate in order to eat together which is fantastic.

Fundacion Cardio Infantil in Bogota, Colombia
Amount donated £2000

The Foundation was born as a medical care organisation that provides free payment medical services with cutting edge technology for low income Latin American children who suffer from heart diseases.

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2008

Asociacion Hellen Keller in Lima, Peru
Amount donated £2000 

Asociacion Hellen Keller is a non profit organisation that help young people who can neither see nor hear. Through teaching and the aid of Braille machines, they aim not just to enrich the student’s lives but also to give them a degree of freedom and independence. Starting with four students meeting in a public park, AHK has expanded to serve over sixty students. A psychologist and former teacher at schools for disabled students, Ms Leynes was motivated by the deaf-blind children she saw shuttled from one school to another; none of the schools were able to deal with the combination of these children’s special needs. Now, AHK serves not only deaf-blind children, but also many with multiple disabilities. A new community-based outreach program promises to reach hundred more students. Vocational skills are very important and the students start their preparation from an early age. They need to learn to master many skills with their hands, to learn routines, to learn concepts and to communicate.

How were Children of Latin America donations spent?

Children of Latin America’s donation of £2000 helped improve the vocational workshops for all the students who are deaf-blind and also students with significant disabilities.

Helping Hands in La Paz, Bolivia
Amount donated £2000

The Helping Hands project grew out of a library project started in 2002 in a Bolivian state home and technical training centre for teenaged boys. Marion Ibanes, a Bolivian architect and Linda Zarate, a Canadian-Bolivian retired teacher started this library to provide the boys with books and other school materials and the Bolivian government provided the housing and the food. This meant the boys could remain in high school until they turned 18 and had to leave the state home. But many could not support themselves after leaving the home and had nowhere to go. Many had not finished high school and some wanted further their educations in local universities or technical institutes. So Linda and Marion decided to launch a project that would assist the boys in their transition back to the community. They began the Helping Hands project in 2004 with more that 40 teenaged boys. However, the project has now grown and they had 54 students in Helping Hands including 17 girls in 2008. The Helping Hands project depends on supporters from all around the world and the total contribution goes directly to the boys and the girls. They rent their own rooms within the community and receive $15 per month to pay for the rent, electricity and water. They must work either full time or part time to pay their food expenses and attendance is monitored if they are still in high school.

How were Children of Latin America donations spent?

The donation made by Children of Latin America has paid for six university students for the year of 2008 for their room and board, university fees and materials.

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2007

Fundacion Esfuerzo y Prosperidad (FUNDAESPRO) in Guatemala City, Guatemala
Amount donated £2000

In 2007 Children of Latin America supported Fundaespro (Foundation Effort and Prosperity) which is an organisation that provides integrated day care and educational services in marginalised urban areas in Guatemala City. It was started in 1986 by a group of women living in the poor areas of Guatemala City and who decided to put their strength together and improve the qualities of life for the future generations. They specially support children who come from extreme poverty and children under the age of seven who are not yet in school and whose parents are working long hours, sometimes 24 hours and the children are left alone and vulnerable. Fundaespro’s goal is to see all children in day care and to strengthen their confidence and moral values from an early age. This is especially important for children living in risk of becoming street children. They need role models and so the organisation tries to work with the parents to ensure they are in employment and can provide for their families. The organisation is depending on donations both from the local and national authorities and agencies to set up these large scale day care services.

How were Children of Latin America donations spent?

The funds from Children of Latin America made a significant contribution to the day-to-day running of Fundaespro.

Asociacion Bienestar Social de la ciudad de Escazu (ABSCE), Costa Rica
Amount donated £2000

The project is aimed to help and support children through a scholarship program which includes the provision of school uniforms, shoes, backpacks, books, notebooks and pencils etc. All things that children need to attend school classes. ABSCE also provides the children with tutoring. To achieve their goals, the project pays the salary of one teacher, an assistant and provides a building, used as the school library. At that time the project supported 45 children with school materials and another 40 children with tutoring, information and help with homework. They are hoping to expand the charity and help even more children to give them a better future by giving them a good education.

How were Children of Latin America donations spent?

The donation made by Children of Latin America was used for school materials and tutoring.

Secretaria Nacional para la Integracion Social de las personas con Discapacidad (SENADIS), Panama
Amount donated £2000

SENADIS is a governmental organisation that helps people with disabilities, allowing them to integrate socially. They stand for equal opportunities, respect for diversity, citizen participation, universal accessibility, independence and human rights. They are working hard to address the poverty and exclusion faced by people with intellectual disabilities and their families and they serve as a link between governmental institutions and the different related disability associations. Inclusion International is a project that has grown from the works of SENADIS and they signed a historic agreement in 2007 with the government of Panama named “Living without barriers”. The project funded a series of initiatives to promote full accessibility, community living, and the full exercise of the rights of persons with a disability and their families. Through the project Initiatives, Panama took concrete steps towards the eradication of poverty for people with disabilities and their families. Specific projects included making schools and public buildings accessible for all disabled people, purchasing of accessible buses, construction of rehabilitation centres in rural areas and crucial direct financial support to individuals and families.

How were Children of Latin America donations spent?

Children of Latin America donated the money to one of the SENADIS’s projects in Cocle province. The money was to fund a school for disabled children in Aguadulce. They allocated the fund to buy several pieces of didactic equipment. 

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2004

Fundacion Salud Taller (FUNSTALL) in Bogota, Colombia
Amount donated £1600

Funstall was established as a non-profit organisation in 1994 and provided attention for peasant children in Bogota, coming from several regions of the country to receive medical treatment after having had traumas derived from burns. The organisation has grown since then and they now help children who suffer from cancer and related diseases, physical handicaps and amputations. They have the capacity to board 20 children during their treatment and they provide food, nurses, physical therapy and the opportunity to study and transportation to specialised centresof assistance. But most importantly they support and give affection to those children who are terminally ill and if they recover they get returned to their city of origin and medical follow up checks are made to ensure they are kept healthy. The organisation generates income by selling used clothes, hosting events such as bingo, sale of Christmas cards etc but mostly depend on donations from corporations and charities.

How were Children of Latin America donations spent?

The funds donated by Children of Latin America helped to take eight terminally ill children to a seaside resort where they enjoyed the experience of seeing the sea for the first time.