By Dom Williams | Founder and Director
I hope all is well. The Covid-19 pandemic still rages in Latin America though vaccination programmes are beginning to be rolled out with front-line health workers slated to be the first recipients. Many restrictions are still in place and full-time classroom-based teaching is still some way off.
We have given out fifty secondary school and college scholarships for students from four different communities at the lake in Guatemala. Due to lack of internet at home the school will be open a couple of days a week for the students to receive brief teaching sessions and homework. Due to the geography of the lake and the school many of our students have to walk long distances each way to study though they are well aware of the importance of an education, especially in a country where competition for employment is extremely high and dependent on levels of education. This is why we intend to concentrate on secondary and college education over the next few years. By implementing family sustainable plans (see below) they can then cover University costs themselves.
We are expanding the sewing project to include many more mothers this year to help them generate income for their fledgling families. The majority of the mothers are young and single without education so giving them this opportunity to generate some household income is paramount. Other mothers have several children to feed and clothe so this sustainable plan really does help.
This week – Monday 8th to Friday 12th March - GlobalGiving are 50% matching all small individual donations from $10 to $50 as part of their Little By Little Campaign. We want to take this opportunity to add one of each of all our sustainable plans with your 50% matched donation going towards the total cost of setting up each plan. These plans will then provide sustainable income for the local families and the schools well into the future.
Many of you were extremely generous in the recent Appeal so we understand if this isn't possible right now though if you do have some spare change rattling around please do donate to this page to help us take full advantage of this fantastic matching campaign.
Please note, the matching will only be applied once per person though feel free to share this with friends, family and work colleagues and club together to fund your own plan.
The amounts shown below are the total costs of each plan to give you an idea of how your 50% matched donation plays a vital part. For example it could be used for seeds or piping in Plan Huerto (vegetable gardens – the total cost is $200 with rain-capture irrigation and poly-tunnels); chicks or feed for Plan Pollo (chickens - $200 including coop and feed); gas or hobs for an industrial stove in Plan Negocio (cottage industries from $250) or needles, thread and materials in Plan Costura (sewing machines - $250).
Despite Covid restrictions being lifted slowly this year the thought of international travel is still far from many people's plans though when that itch demands to be scratched it would be brilliant if you could join our Charity Challenges in Perú and Ecuador in 2022.
The dates for the Inca Trail in Perú are Saturday 21st to Saturday 28th May with the itinerary for Ecuador still to be confirmed. There is still plenty of time to decide though feel free to get in touch on info@thephoenixprojects.org
Thank you all for your amazing support as ever and have a great March.
Cheers
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