Protect 300 girls from Child domestic work in Peru

Dear Friends,

We would like to thank you once again for your support and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

At La Casa de Panchita we had a Christmas celebration with our girls! They had a lot of fun crafting Christmas decorations, dancing and playing. They also made wishes for 2016. Carmen, one of the child domestic workers who attends our workshops, wishes she could have “a better house and a computer”. This does not sound like a 10 year-old typical Christmas wish, does it?
As you may know, these girls come from San Juan de Miraflores, one of the poorest districts in the outskirts of Lima, where a great part of the population lives in shantytowns. Carmen explained she would like to have a computer to have access to more information when doing her homework and improve her grades.

We may not be able to give a computer to our girls (or a house!), but thanks to your support we are able to give them school support and a place where they can feel safe and enjoy their childhood.

AGTR-La Casa de Panchita is participating in Globalgiving’s Year-End Campaign and, with your help, could win special prizes to keep this project running a bit longer! Here’s the project: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-girls-and-women-peru/

Thank you!

Dear supporters,

On the occasion of the beginning of Globalgiving’s Year-End Campaign, we would like to share with you the story of Bernardina, one of the girls in Child Domestic Work who attended La Casa de Panchita.

Bernardina came to Lima from the rural Andes when she was only 15 year-old, to work as a live-in domestic worker. When she first arrived, she was very humble and shy. She told us she barely spoke to anyone. Her employer took advantage of the fact that she was just a young girl, alone and unaware of her rights. She used to start working at 6am and most days she would have to work till midnight! When she decided to start attending night school and get an education, her employer became hostile, because she had to leave “early” and wasn’t there to make dinner. At this time, her monthly salary was 600 PEN ($180). After nine months, she left because they refused to pay for her bonus (mandatory according to Peruvian law). At La Casa de Panchita Bernardina attended labor and human rights workshops and received legal counselling that allowed her to claim her bonus and overdue payments!

Bernardina has big plans for her future. She is working hard to finish high school and get a BA! She wants her parents and brothers to be proud of her. She wants her future children not to have to be child laborers like her and have all the things she never had.

AGTR-La Casa de Panchita is participating in GlobalGiving’s Year-End Campaign, which runs from December 1 through to December 31. We need to raise at least $3,000 from at least 30 donors in order to qualify for special prizes. Together we can do it!

Please consider donating to support girls just like Bernardina create a better future for themselves!

Thank you! Bests,

Blanca Figueroa