Fund a teacher and teach a class in Latin America

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. We are expanding the sewing project to include many more mothers this year to help them generate income for their fledgling families. 

Our local teachers in Honduras continue to visit the communities to hand out worksheets for the students and progress continues with the sustainable plans. 

In Ecuador the Ministry of Health officially gave the school the green light for a couple of days' teaching a week, thanks to the protocols we continue to put in place. Previously it had been left to the parents to give their permission, which they did. 

Perú is still some way off school-based teaching though we have purchased individual textbooks for all the children so they can continue to work at home. Each week there will be a teaching and correcting session in the school, if permitted.

This week – Monday 8^th to Friday 12^th 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); needles, thread and materials in Plan Costura (sewing machines - $250); a hoof or leg in Plan Moo (milking cows – from $500 for each young cow); a male & female starter pack in Plan Cuy (guinea pigs - $600 including house) or hundreds of fry for Plan Tilapia (fish farms - $800 including pools and feed). 

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

Links:

• Charity Challenges Peru and Ecuador 2022
• Sustainable Income Plans

I hope all is well with you and you managed to celebrate Thanksgiving in some form this year. With 2020 finally drawing to a close we must turn our attention to preparing ourselves as best we can for 2021.

To help our Covid-19 recovery programme, and as part of this year’s Appeal, GlobalGiving will be sharing $1 million on Giving Tuesday on 1^st December along with donations made on this day. This opportunity is huge for us as we strive to purchase all the necessary supplies (gels, disinfectants, soaps etc) to make each classroom safe for when the children come back to school in 2021. We also want to continue to provide basic daily food so at least they have something in their stomachs to aid learning! If you can donate to this page on 1^st December we’ll receive more bang for your buck and be well-prepared for the months to come – thank you!

In addition to this and to aid our medium-term recovery programmes from the Covid-19 turmoil, GlobalGiving is offering a 200% matching on all new regular donations up to $200 set up between 14-18^th December. The match applies to the first installment paid during this time and the matching will be paid after four payments (in April 2021). This will really help us keep stocks full as well as providing a food programme for the children well into the new year.

You may have seen in the news the destruction wreaked by Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Central America recently. Our communities in Honduras were badly effected and we have started a recovery programme to help them get back on their feet. This coming Giving Tuesday and the regular donations will help a lot with this over the coming weeks and months.

Our secondary and college scholarship students finished the school year in Guatemala this month despite the logistical problems involved. Due to their extreme poverty they could not study virtually due to lack of internet so homework had to be collected, conducted at home and then returned each week. Their efforts to improve their futures should be commended, as well as the teachers.

The single mothers continued to benefit from the sewing business we implemented this year. Having become highly proficient in face mask making they have now turned their attention to different types of clothing for sale locally. The income they have generated for themselves has been a massive help for them and their fledgling families and some are considering going back to school at some point in the future.

Hurricanes Eta and Iota caused extensive damage in the communities where we work in Honduras destroying many homes and harvests. Our immediate response will be to invest in large family vegetable gardens with quick growing crops to help them get back on their feet and have income to purchase needed supplies sustainably in the future. They will be fully irrigated with rain-capture tanks for the dry season and infrastructure tunnels for protection and to reduce evaporation.

A silver lining - all the final-year students graduated from our college in Honduras. This is all down to our local teachers travelling to the communities each week to continue teaching with classrooms closed since March. Virtual learning hasn’t been possible due to the economic constraints of the families so the work of the teachers has been vital this year and must be applauded.

In Ecuador, the new school year started up again with classes now held on Mondays and Fridays with work set for during the week. We have taken on two new local teachers, ex-students, bringing the total to three Phoenix local teachers (six in total) who live in the communities themselves and who can help with day to day homework.  

Almost two tonnes of emergency food was provided in our four communities with priority given to the elderly and disabled due to severe shortages due to Covid-19. The supplies included rice, pasta, cooking oil, oatmeal, sardines, salt and face masks. We plan to do further emergency food drops over the coming months whilst the Covid-19 pandemic continues to restrict movement. 

We also purchased protective clothing for the teachers to wear as they travel to and from the school up in the mountains to try and prevent the virus spreading into the rural communities as well as bio-secure items including gels, soaps and sprays for when the children enter the classrooms as well as some food as part of our emergency supply program.

To celebrate Day of the Dead the mothers prepared the traditional colada morada for the children, made from corn and fruits.

With the school year coming to a close in Perú, of which just a couple of weeks was spent in the actual classroom back in March, the children managed to complete their studies at home. Whilst many schools continued with virtual learning this simply hasn’t been possible for our students due to lack of internet, so their accomplishment must be applauded even more.

Once we get the go-ahead for the children to return to class in 2021 we will concentrate on making sure they understand all the topics from 2020 so they aren’t disadvantaged when moving up a grade and more advanced learning – without the basics it will be hard though we can do it.

Thank you for all your support this year, as in previous years: one more push and we can really start to plan for 2021 with your help.

Cheers