By Rae Lewis | Founder and board member
Greeting friends.
Please accept my gratitude for helping us get through the funding needed to keep the CW girls school open and free to our 100 girls. Next March when the Maria school opens we hope to grow the income from the Maria student tuition to support both schools. SOON!! We are working with a professional marketing team to help us fill the classrooms. Prayers are appreciated.
Next month (Sept) we celebrate 38 years dedicated to the many Cusco children in need and delivering academic excellence for our students. We are still challenged financially, but we have turned a corner and we will hope to have Maria students by March when school begins again. CW school continues in a vibrant high energy with the usual academic activities that fill the days since the last report. Thank you all so much.
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Each time we enter this classroom we are blessed with the artwork of our beloved and talented Gloria (photo) who sadly passed 3 months ago. We miss her so much!
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There is so much to share with you, Briefly: Sonoma Valley is the founding location of CW and has a few surprises for us. One old, promised, but almost forgotten grant to cover the girls huge multipurpose patio to protect the girls from the hot sun and winter hale - is finally finalizing a permanent strong roof now. it took several years due to funding glitches from granter.
Surprise NEW grants from local nonprofits:
1-Sonoma Nonprofits 'Bon Marche Thrift store' and 'Kigali Center for Entrepreneurs' have provided the financial means for the 15 CW families most-in-need to receive a Micro Business suitable for their Andean region. So far ONE family has a portable food cart to prepare and sell tasty local food in good foot traffic areas and thus raising money to feed their family. A SECOND family skilled in sewing clothing received a sewing machine, sewing notions and fabric to begin to serve the public and raise money for the family. There will be THIRTEEN additional families through 2025. Our families will benefit greatly from owning their own business in so many ways.
2- The Sonoma Rotary Club is talking to a very philanthropic and supportive resident who after visiting the school began talking to a Cusco board member about getting a Satellite Tower for the CW school computer lab. As you can see there is magic in the air.
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The 2024 Peruvian School year will end mid Dec for summer break. Until then the school activities are fast and furious: academic tests, graduation, Christmas etc. Your donations are always needed.
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https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/educate-120-poor-girls-in-cusco-for-economic-survival/
OUR CHALLENGE NOW!
It is disappointing that 2024 was our second school year that the Maria school has been ready for students, but not a single student registered. The reason could be many: economic belt-tightening of many families struggling with the cost inflation of daily basics like food; we need a good professional expert skilled in new school start-ups to attract parents of future college bound students to our modern new Maria School.
FUTURE RISK FOR CHICUCHAS WASI SCHOOL
for girls - with no charge to poor families:
We have entered a crisis mode since the financial plan going forward for the Chicuchas Wasi school for girls has counted on the expected income from the Maria school to support both school operating budgets. We expected that it would have been generating some income the last two years, but we have had zero income.We are calling all angels now to donate to buy some time to get new boys and girls enrolled. Maria school is beautiful and ready.
THE IMMEDIATE FINANCIAL PLAN FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS:
Ruth fired the first marketer and is now working with a better one to motivate parents to enroll their boys and girls to our Maria school.
Economically, we have the operating funds for the 2025 school year school year. Thirty years ago I created an emergency fund and we will need to spend it to keep school open through 2025.That is all there is without the Maria plan income. We will be dependent on our supporters to donate to buy some time to get the Maria school enrolled
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/educate-120-poor-girls-in-cusco-for-economic-survival/
CW's future when the (tuition-based ) 'Maria Tuition School' classes are filled, will be self-supporting. Covid upset our plans to open the Maria school in 2020 due to strict lock-down that lasted 2 years. We will be enrolling Maria School's new students hopefully for March 2025 school year.
Links:
By Rae Lewis | Chicuchas Wasi Founder in 1987
By Diana Rae Lewis | Founder & President
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