Fund a teacher and teach a class in Latin America

I hope all is well with you. It has been a great start to the year on the projects thanks to your donations to the Appeal. One hundred scholarship students started the school year in Guatemala in both secondary school and college and we handed out a further one hundred bags of necessary supplies to primary school students. Whilst the Government does supply the basics at the start of the year a more complete set is always needed which the parents cannot provide so these extra utensils give the children the best chance of a good education during 2024.

As has always been the case, education tends to be the first sacrifice when there is no money. Many days over the past two months have been spent visiting families in several villages and hamlets around the lake to find those in the most need and who are willing to continue their studies. Some students have underlying health issues which have taken precedence too though with the necessary tools they can now continue their studies.

The classroom materials are not just for the younger children entering education. They are also for older students who had dropped out of primary school due to lack of money to buy these materials. They now have the chance to continue their education, graduate primary school and enter secondary school with our scholarship programme.

We supported two community-led scheme to clean the lake’s shore around Santiago Atitlán where our scholarship students and their parents filled seventy sacks with plastic and other rubbish. This year we want to continue to emphasise the importance of team sports in the schools and our scholarship students got stuck into a football competition. Work will soon commence on school Plan Huertas to provide additional daily meals and we plan to extend our Plan Costura (sewing business) to involve more single mothers and University students.  

In Ecuador classes headed into the second half of the school year with a new printer and the house for the new family was finished with the materials for the roof purchased thanks to the Appeal. Work will begin shortly on securing a new area for a playground next to the school with a wall as well as a school vegetable garden for daily meals. 

A new sustainable Plan Huerta (vegetables) in a fifth community producing beans has started on a 2½ acre piece of land and aims to provide part-time income for several members of the community as well as income for the management of Plan Moo as the herd continues to grow.

Celebración de la Lengua Materna – Kichwa del Pueblo Otavalo (celebration of the mother tongue – Kichwa) was held in the school. In Ecuador Pawkar Raymi and Muchuk Nina were celebrated giving thanks to Pachamama (Mother Earth) for the flowering of crops and the upcoming harvests of grains. Fanesca was also prepared by the parents for Semana Santa (Easter) which is a soup made from a variety of ingredients including beans, grains, fish, eggs and many others.

The parents got together for a minga this month and the whole school was disinfected, all the windows cleaned and small paint jobs were undertaken. Preparation for the new school vegetable garden was also started with lots of earth removed and new darker earth brought in before sowing.

Finally in Perú the new school year got back underway in March with more children entering grades one and two as increased numbers of families migrate from the interior of the country (the altiplano and jungle). Once we know the total number of students we will provide each one with their own text and workbook, as we do each year. We are also installing filtered water dispensers in each classroom due to the poor quality and irregular supply.     

It goes without saying that you cannot study on an empty stomach though the vast majority of the families where we work cannot provide much more than the absolute basics at home, usually a few boiled or dried potatoes or noodles in hot water with some herbs. Some governments have become more proactive with school meals over the years by providing some supplies like rice and beans though these generally run out well before the next delivery.

We have seen the success of the Plan Huerta that we started in Perú in 2022 with Impington International College. The government sends doctors each year to check on the children’s basic health and whilst most are underweight and anemic the levels of chronic malnutrition have reduced.

Our school Plan Huertas aim to provide sufficient vegetables sustainably for the students on a daily basis with any extra used to barter for other products which cannot be grown or shared with the families to eat at home. Our larger plans, like the one we are starting in Ecuador this month, aim to provide part-time employment for members of the community throughout the year whilst generating income to cover other project costs. 

As you can see we've had a great start to the year and to help us continue our work over the next few months GlobalGiving will be matching all donations up to $50/£40 by 50% this week (Monday 8th - Friday 12th April) whilst available funds last as part of their Little By Little Campaign which is a fantastic opportunity for the projects. If you can donate anything this week to take advantage of the matching, thank you so much in advance. 

For those of you with Instagram we have started to update our account once again after a couple of years’ hiatus so please do seek us out on phoenix_flying_2020

We are nearing capacity for the Patagonia Charity Challenge (please follow the link below for details and costs) which is raising money for all the projects so if you are interested in joining us in November 2024 please do let us know by emailing info@thephoenixprojects.org 

We will also be taking on the London Bridges Charity Challenge again on Saturday 3rd August followed by a reunion in a pub. If you are interested in getting involved with the bridges or just coming to the reunion afterwards please do let us know by writing to the email shown above!  

All the best for April and thank you so much again for helping make all this happen!

Cheers

Links:

• Charity Challenges 2024