By Jenny Byrne | Fundraising & Communications Officer
Despite all the continued uncertainty in the world, our projects have been able to move forward at last in Peru and Cambodia. 2021 has been another tough year, but as it draws to a close, everything seems to be taking steps in the right direction!
CAMBODIA
The biggest news in the last month is that our Helping Hands School in Cambodia has finally reopened! The school is offering a full schedule of academic reinforcement sessions, English classes, art sessions, nutritious meals, health and hygiene lessons and other support. Our key focus for the coming year has to be on helping the children catch up academically. Schools have been closed for the best part of the last year, so most children have fallen significantly behind. Luckily, our dedicated team is on hand to help get them back on track!
With schools reopening, our Sports Programme is back in full swing now too! The children are happy to be back to a normal routine of PE lessons, games and training drills. Our coaches have been working on their own fitness, as well as sports knowledge and skills, over the last few months so they have lots of new tricks up their sleeves.
PERU
Picaflor House continues to operate on a reduced schedule, as the government has yet to provide clear guidelines about a blanket reopening of schools. We do expect his to happen at the start of the coming academic year (in March 2022) though. Even on a reduced timetable, children are still getting a couple of hours every day at the project, to receive support with their homework and have time to play or do some craft projects. With the rainy season approaching, we are having to move more activities inside and this will be facilitated with the building of new classrooms. We received a grant that will cover the materials and construction costs of two of the planned classrooms and we are about to break ground!
We are looking forward to expanding the reach of Picaflor House’s education programme, with the launch of our Mobile Library! Thanks to the fundraising efforts of our dedicated supporters, we have been able to purchase a vehicle which will start taking books, qualified teachers and other learning resources out to five of the rural villages around Cusco. We will be ready to set off at the beginning of January, to help get the children ready for their return to school.
Having learnt a lot about our communities over the last 8 months, through our visits with the PAWS programme, we have realised that animal welfare needs to be the key priority for next year. We're restructuring the project so that we can continue providing all-important veterinary care and neutering surgeries, but also focus more on helping owners understand what their pets need to be healthy and happy.
TRAVEL UPDATE
Most countries are starting to open borders and lift travel restrictions - even in the light of new variants - so we are able to welcome volunteers to our own initiatives and most partner projects. We already have three interns booked to arrive within the next month and volunteers are starting to book in again too!
A huge Thank You for your support, especially through such a tough year. We hope that the rest of 2021 is filled with positivity and joy and that 2022 brings new opportunities for everyone. Happy Holidays!
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