Elderly Support in Latin America

I hope all is well. 

We are launching the 2023 Appeal today (Monday 18^th September) and GlobalGiving will be matching all individual donations of up to £40/$50 by 50% between now and Friday 22^nd September which is a fantastic opportunity for the projects. All money raised with this year’s Appeal will be put towards our local teachers’ salaries, scholarships, classroom materials, daily fruit and sustainable plans.

Last year's Appeal, launched in September 2022, raised an incredible £21,000/$26,000 towards the £85,000/$106,000 we have spent on The Phoenix Projects in Latin America over the past twelve months.

As you can see clearly, we were able to accomplish one quarter of our work in Latin America over the past year thanks to your generous support to the Appeal. If we can get close to that figure once again for this year's Appeal we will be able to achieve so much more in 2024 so if you can donate this week please follow this link.

Currently our work for the elderly in the community is concentrated on impementing agricultural family sustainable plans as we believe this is the best way to guarantee consistent help for them. 

The children in Perú are getting more involved in the school vegetable garden and receive classes in irrigation types, planting, the growing process and of course harvest (which is obviously the most popular part!). With the extended Plan Huerto we have been able to provide more nutritious food for the children each day with extra being shared with the local families and in particular their elderly relatives.

Plan Moo (cows) in Ecuador provides daily milk for the families which is obviously highly beneficial. Any milk not consumed by the family can be sold to buy medicines and other needed products which the elderly, or any other member of the fmaily may need.

In Guatemala our sewing programme aims to create family income which can be shared with the elderly. 

Ultimately as our projects in all our countries are centred around education this will be the greatest benefit to the elderly relatives: an educated grand-child who has more chance of gaining employment which which they can help their families. 

Have a great rest of September and anything you can donate this week so we can take advantage of the matching and get this year’s Appeal off to a great start would be fantastic and thank you so much in advance.

Cheers

I hope all is well with you. We have had a fantastic few months on the projects in Latin America including two Charity Challenges to raise much needed funds for the schools. We are already planning three challenges for 2024 which can be seen by following the link at the bottom of this newsletter.

We have been concentrating on food production within the communities which can be shared with the elderly members of the families. In Perú, work was undertaken to double the size of the school vegetable garden and install drip-irrigation by students from Impington International College, UK. The school’s first orchard was planted with drip-irrigation. In a few years the elederly should be enjoying avocados, apples and peaches. The elderly were also invited to a celebration where plates of food were shared with everyone. 

Work has begun preparing the ground for a vegetable garden in a local school in one of the communities where our scholarship students live in Guatemala. The harvests will go towards daily meals in the school and any extra shared amongst the families, especially the elderly.

Parents and grandparents of all four communities got together to celebrate Mothers’ Day in the school with folkloric dance and food. We provided the ingredients for a full meal for them which was cooked by the fathers and shared. Over the summer we plan to increase our Plan Moo herd which will help cover the local teachers’ salaries in the future as well as providing much needed income for the local families to help cover secondary school and college education as well as extra food for the elderly. 

All the best from the projects and we’ll update you again in a couple of months.

Cheers

I hope all is well with you. From Monday 3rd until the end of Friday 7^th April, GlobalGiving will be matching the first $50 of all individual donations to this page by 50% which is a fantastic opportunity for the projects, the children and members of the communities where we work. Thank you so much in advance for anything you can donate this week helping us continue our work in Latin America with the additional bonus of the matching!

You may have seen mention in the past of the week-long Charity Challenges that Fly The Phoenix undertake each year to raise funds for the projects and have thought about getting involved. This year we will be taking on the Lost City Charity Challenge in Colombia in May and the Inca Trail in Perú in July and it would be great to have you on the team if you are interested. For information on the challenges please follow the link below.

This year we really want to try and help the elderly more with regular food parcels depending on funding. We will also be putting in more vegetable gardens which not only feed the children though the harvest is then distributed with the local families with special attention given to the elderly. As Plan Moo is directed to individual families, the elderly will benefit with daily milk and extra products and medicines they can buy with the proceeds from the sales of milk.

As is custom, Pawkar Raymi was recently celebrated, asking Pachamama (Mother Earth) for a good harvest, made more pertinent this year with the current abnormal climate. We have several community events coming up over the coming months which the elderly are always invited to. There is always a good meal and plenty dance and games for them to get involved with and feel part of the wider community.

Have a great April and if you can donate to this page this week to receive the 50% matching on the first $50 it would be fantastic and thank you in advance. Also if you are interested in getting involved in the charity challenges, please do get in touch through the link below.

Cheers

Links:

• Colombia and Peru Charity Challenges 2023

I hope all is well with you. As 2022, our 20^th Anniversary, draws to a close it is worth reflecting on what has been a year of rebuilding after the pandemic with full classrooms and sharing with you our plans for 2023 and the years ahead.

Access to full-time education from primary school to university will always be our number one priority though we are also aware that in times of hardship, employment opportunities are scarce even with an education. The pandemic, the effects of climate change which for years have been plain to see where we work and the current cost of living crisis are prime examples of these additional real-life obstacles facing our communities who already live with extreme difficulties.

The implementation of sustainable family and community income plans is key to ensuring independent economic stability no matter how the macro environment is faring and, after education, will be a priority for our work over the coming years.

We have learned so much over the past twenty years in Latin America, the highs and the lows and we plan to use this extensive knowledge we have garnered to benefit not only the communities where we currently work though also to implement new projects in other communities. The goal is the same wherever: sustainable full education and economic security.

During the year we have undertaken various community studies to see the situation in the communities, especially for the elderly population. Funds permitting we provide food for them though it is generally agreed that the more we can implement sustainable income plans for the families which generate a reglar income the better. The elderly can then purchase the products they need.

We also want to expand the sewing project in Guatemala to include the elderly (who can make it to the base) so they can sell their products in the local markets for extra income - sustainability. 

Thank you so much to you all for helping us get this far and we hope you will continue to support our work for years to come as we face the known and unknown issues facing Latin American communities now and in the future.

Have a fantastic 2023 and thank you all once again.

Cheers    

One of the best ways we can support the elderly in the communities where we work is the make sure their grandchildren have access to quality education so that in the future they can secure employment and help their grandparents in any way they can. We are continuing to provide this education and have already seen many of our former students gain employment and help out at home with extra costs.

Whilst there are still years to go for many of our students to gain employment and help out this way, we are putting in place sustainable plans to provide daily food for many elderly in the community and when we can, celebrate with them so they can at least eat a sturdy meal now and then! In Perú we are celebrating our first harvest of the large scale vegetable garden which will provide daily vegetables not only for the children though also for the aged generation. In Ecuador we are resuming Plan Moo, the purchase of cows, which will provide regular income for the family home, including the elderly, with the sale of milk. 

This year The Phoenix Projects are celebrating twenty years in Latin America and thanks to you around five thousand children, teenagers and adults have been able to receive a quality education during this time in Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Perú and previously in Brazil, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

We have built schools, extra classrooms, kitchens and energy efficient stoves, provided employment for dozens of local people, planted hundreds of thousands of trees, distributed educational materials, daily meals and hundreds of tonnes of fruit and implemented sustainable income plans on an average annual budget of around $100,000/£85,000.

Additionally, over three hundred families have benefitted from the implementation of sustainable income plans including cows, chickens, weaving, vegetables and small businesses.

To celebrate our 20^th Anniversary we are launching this year’s Appeal today and all donations up to $50/£40 through this page will be matched at 50% by GlobalGiving between Monday 12th September - today - until Friday 16^th September. Larger donations can of course be made although the matching will only apply to the first $50/£40 and only once per individual donor.

We still have so much more we want to do over the coming years with the experience we have gained, including replicating the projects in other communities with sustainable plans covering running costs from the start.

Your continued support in helping to fund local teachers’ salaries and scholarships, school materials, food and sustainable income plans is as important now as it has been in the last twenty years.

We realise that times are uncertain though anything you can donate to the Appeal through this page this week to take advantage of the 50% matching will help us start the next twenty years in the best possible way!

Thank you so much in advance.