Elderly Support in Latin America

The old people's plan has continued on its monthly path, and the results are being seen, with better fed "ancianos" and more children being at school every day. The Plan Semillas scheme has born its first harvest of the year and more products for the old poeple will be shared out later this month.

Since my last entry, the elderly have continued to receive their food parcels, and in return, as promised, the children keep coming to school; of course, they want to, though the added filip that their grandparents receive food due to this can only help! Plans are being put into action to open another Old People's Plan, to include fruit trees, seeds and chickens. I will keep you updated. Many thanks for all your support. cheers Dom

2009 has started with a bang, with even more elderly relatives of new children in the school. We have just conducted Plan Fertilizante aswell, a form of micro-credit though with physical products, rather than cash, and one of the repayments is to provide items for the Old People. Roll on 2009 and thanks for your support.

During 2008 we have expanded our Plan Ancianos (Old People's Plan) to encompass twice as many members of the elderly generation in two communities in Guatemala. By the end of 2008 and into 2009, it is aimed to cover all the families that are currently enrolled in the GVI Phoenix schools in Guatemala. Each month, the basics are distributed to the families, in return for the participation of the children in the school - it is a two-way deal, the children must attend school for the relatives to be part of the Plan Ancianos. Also, to further involve the community, recipients of the "fertilizer scheme" earlier in the year had to put some items into the Plan Ancianos, so everybody has a responsibilty.

Links:

• GVI Phoenix Blog

Thank you all for your donations and especially Tilly Lavenas with her matching fund. This only lasts for a couple more weeks, so if anyone is nearly there, a donation now will be doubled! This scheme has gone incredibly well in 2007, with almost 100 elderly receiving the basic foods every three months, which include rice, beans, oils, pastas, soaps, sugar, salt etc. We are seeing some differences with the children too, which we hoped, whereby the children can now receive the food that may have gone to the old people within the family. During next year, we are introducing a chicken scheme, where each family will receive two egg-laying chickens, with the deal being that they must provide into the Old People's Plan, eggs and a chicken over the course of the year, to make it more sustainable.