Protect 300 girls from Child domestic work in Peru

Dear Global Giving supporters,

Launching our project through Global Giving has been a great success. Everybody is thrilled that in such a short time (April 2011) in the Open Challenge we raised $13,443 and that we won second place in number of donors. Thank you all for your support!

It is a great pleasure to update you on our work.  In this first report we want to share our news from May and June:

We were able to hold Sundays full of activities at “La Casa de Panchita”. The girls learned to make handicrafts like a fan and a portrait made out of cardboard, they learned basic math by playing how to buy fruits in the market, and they also shared and discussed about family and values. The women had computer and English classes plus other things.  There was also time for nutritious meals.

 “I always bring my homework to work at La Casa de Panchita.  In June I was number two in my class for the first time!”. Jennifer Salas, 13 years old.

We have been able to provide 24 psychological counseling sessions and 66 sessions of legal advice. Also, our lawyer won two cases in court and as a result domestic workers were paid fair compensation for their work.

A total of 32 visits were made to mothers of children involved in child domestic work (CDW) to follow up on their situation.  Some of these children also used our library “My Space to Grow” (located in San Juan de Miraflores) where both, young girls former child domestic workers (CDW) and volunteers, helped the children with their school assignments.

We do not want to finish this update without mentioning that we will celebrate our 22^nd anniversary, in memory of Elsa M. Chaney, “the big sister”, who died in July 16^th 2000. She was a very important supporter of organizations of domestic workers in Latin America, and she has been our beloved friend.

The celebration will be held Sunday July 17^th with girls and women at La Casa de Panchita. Please join in the festivities by following us on twitter @casadepanchita and on facebook http://www.facebook.com/lacasadepanchita We love to welcome new followers and friends.

Blanca Figueroa

Links:

• Photos of the girls in ¨My Space to Grow¨