Fund a teacher and teach a class in Latin America

As 2021 draws to a close we would like to thank first and foremost all our local teachers for continuing to teach the students to the best of their ability with the resources available, whether this was in limited classroom-based environments or heading out to their homes when they could to give out and collect homework and set topics in the students’ textbooks. Only Ecuador and Honduras resumed staggered group teaching during 2021 with Guatemala and Perú set to resume actual classes in February and March respectively in 2022. Thank you also to everyone who has supported the projects this year in what has once again been a very difficult time all round. 

Our first priority is obviously to keep the projects going and the students educated. Once this has been achieved we can start implementing more sustainable income plans with the families which will provide them, and the schools, with continued income into the future.

In Ecuador we will continue with our seven local teachers as each class now has a teacher which was our aim from when we started back in 2005! Over the coming months we hope to invest in many new sustainable plans in the four communities where we work to help cover the costs of the school, in particular in Plan Moo and Plan Cuy which have already helped to cover secondary, college and University costs for the past several years.

We are increasing the number of secondary, college and University scholarship students in Guatemala to one hundred from seven different communities. Many are mature students with serious underlying health conditions who couldn’t continue studying without the scholarships. We will be building a bigger area for our Plan Costura sewing business for single mothers as demand is outstripping available space! More mothers are entering the programme as the income helps them with any extra costs for their children in primary school, like textbooks. As with Ecuador, we are now helping to cover education from primary school to University through scholarships and sustainable plans, which was our original aim.

Our priority in Honduras will continue to be secondary and college education in rural areas with more emphasis placed on the latter. More support has been made available for primary schools in the area over the last few years so we can dedicate all our funds to further education and continuing to implement sustainable plans, in particular Plan Huerto and Plan Tilapia. With migration an often dangerous and serious issue in the communities due to lack of opportunities it is paramount we create these opportunities through further education. Due to the broad-based and hands-on curriculum in our college the graduates are sought-after with local NGOs and businesses which is a great start.

Our work in Perú has been hit the hardest by restrictions put in place due to the pandemic with the school not due to be re-opened until March next year. The teachers have travelled to the community when allowed and we have supplied textbooks for the children to work with from home. Once the school re-opens we plan to help local University students with their studies in exchange for part-time help in the school to bring the children back to the appropriate level per grade. Funds permitting we will then add more full-time local teachers to have one teacher per grade (currently one for two grades). We also plan to start investing in sustainable plans to help with further education.

We will also be supplying sufficient biosecurity products to keep the classrooms and schools as safe as possible each day as well keeping up with our food programmes, help for the elderly when we can and planting over 1,000 trees to reduce the carbon footprint of the daily transport of the projects thanks to the Appeal.

Thank you all once again for your continued support and all the best for 2022.

cheers

I hope all is well with you. To celebrate Giving Tuesday today all donations will be supplemented with a share of a $1 million fund from GlobalGiving. If you can, please donate to this page today to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity from GlobalGiving for the projects with your donation making even more impact!

All today’s donations will be part of this year’s Fly The Phoenix Appeal which will go towards our local teachers, hygiene products for the classrooms, scholarships, educational materials, the elderly, transport and food for the rest of this year and a platform for 2022 across all our countries.

In a bid to neutralize the projects’ carbon footprint from day-to-day activities which include boat travel for the students in Guatemala, pickup transport for the students in Honduras and teachers’ transport up into the mountains in Ecuador and desert in Perú we, Fly The Phoenix, are planting a tree for every $15 raised.

Many of our college scholarship students in Guatemala graduated. A fantastic effort as classroom-based teaching has not been possible since March 2020 and they have had to travel from the six communities where they live around the lake to collect homework from the central school.

We plan to increase the number of scholarship students for 2022. Many of our scholarship students have serious underlying health conditions which had previously prevented them from continuing their studies due to economic constraints until now with some just starting their secondary education in their twenties.

The first 150 trees were planted at Lake Atitlán thanks to this year’s Appeal as we aim to reduce the carbon footprint of the day-to-day activities of the projects. More are due to be planted this coming month.

We also purchased several solar-lights for families without electricity which allows the students continue to study after dark. The sewing project for the single mothers continues to be successful. We are opening it up to more mothers and the elderly so more income can be spread around.

In Ecuador staggered lessons continued three times a week in the classrooms. We have continued to supply hygiene products and make sure that protocols are adhered to each day. Covid protocols are publicised in both Kichwa and Spanish, as well as orally, so everyone knows the school is doing all it can to remain a safe place for in-person teaching. The children were vaccinated with their first dose recently with the aim to restart regular classes in 2022.

We provided all the ingredients for the mothers to make the fruit-based colada morada and woodoven-baked bread to celebrate the upcoming Day of the Dead in the school. Kulla Raymi was celebrated, giving thanks to Pachamama (Mother Earth)  ahead of the upcoming sowing period. The tradition includes dancing, pampa mesa (communal food) and offerings representing water, earth, fire and air. The new parent committee was voted in. Their role is critical for communication between the school and the communities especially with health protocols during the pandemic, sustainable plan implementation and decision-making.

With Perú suffering from a severe new wave of Covid Delta infections no classroom based teaching has taken place so far this year and it is doubtful they will resume before 2022. The children continue to learn from home with the text and exercise books we purchased earlier in the year.

Once the classes restart we plan to implement reinforcement classes as many of the children, despite the best efforts of our local teachers, have regressed. With their own parents’ limited education not enough for “learning from home” and the strict rules for transport for our local teachers, it has been a difficult year. If we can we will bring in more local teachers, at least part time, to help out with this.

The school year has come to a close in Honduras with the students graduating despite the difficulties presented by the pandemic with class being undertaken on a staggered basis. Our local teachers have also visited the communities to make sure the students don’t lose out. It is hope some sort of normality will be resumed in 2022.

Work on the sustainable plans has continued with the students learning more agricultural techniques that can be used in their own homes. During 2022 we hope to add more plans.

Many thanks for anything you can donate to this page today to take advantage of the bonus funding.

Cheers