Elderly Support in Latin America

2016 has got off to a great start for the elderly population in our projects in Guatemala with many already seeing the benefits of our sustainable plans in their homes, which include cows for milk and chickens. Later in the year we will be planting fruit trees in the houses too. Some who are fitter and more able are getting involved in our weaving sustainable plan too which brings in more family income for medicines.  

Due to the huge success of our inaugural Phoenix Seven Continent Charity Challenge in 2015 we will be repeating it on Saturday 30^th April. This year we will be asking that all funds raised will go towards implementing a sustainable plan of your choice so please do have a look at the link below for different targets from as little as $150 and also more information on challenges that are already in the pipeline which so far include the London Bridges Challenge (25km and 16 bridges) and the Wharfdale 3 Peaks in England; events in Boston and Austin in the US; climbing Acatenango volcano in Guatemala; painting the whole school inside and out in Honduras and hikes in both Ecuador and Perú. If you want to get involved, please do contact us on dom@thephoenixprojects.org

Links:

• Phoenix Seven Continent Charity Challenge - 30th April 2016

I hope all is well with you. We are proud to have launched our Food and Fruit Appeal for 2016 which will be raising money for our daily food and fruit programs in Guatemala. Each year we aim to spend over $30,000 on food and fruit so the more we can raise this Thanksgiving the more we can guarantee in 2016.

For every $40 donated one child will receive their daily food and fruit for the school year and we will also plant a fruit tree to help sustain the program for years to come in their own homes which will benefit the elderly members of the family aswell. To put this into perspective around 50% of wasted food in the Western world comes from the home with households throwing out hundreds of millions of tons of food and drink each year. Domestic food waste can cost the average household around $1,000 a year – we could feed 25 children and plant 25 fruit trees to sustain the program for that amount!

This year our food and fruit program that you have kindly donated towards in the past has had such an impact on the children with their BMI’s gradually rising from alarming and dangerous levels. Whilst still in the bottom percentiles, each year we are improving the situation with your help.

It would be so great to be able to guarantee our Food and Fruit program for 2016 so anything you can donate this Thanksgiving to this page would be gratefully received – and not a crumb wasted!

cheers

We plan to implement a chicken rearing program which will benefit the elderly members of the community. Whilst our sustainable plans help the whole family we will be implementing a scheme whereby the children earn a chicken each week in the school (one child per class) and the chicken must be given to the the grandparent. This will show the children the value of working hard to earn a living and will show the elderly the benefits of an education. The elderly will also receive fruit trees as part of our Annual Appeal, as highlighted below.

This year’s Annual Appeal is dedicated to our daily food and fruit program with the aim to provide now and sustainably in the future: how? For every $25 donated to this page one child will receive the daily food and fruit we provide each year and we will also plant a fruit tree which will continue giving in the future - including the elderly population. Many thanks for your donations in advance and together we can sustain daily food for the children.

On Wednesday July 15th, Global Giving will match donations made through this page up to $1,000 per donor based on the organization’s Partner Rewards level: as we are Superstars we get 50% extra per donation, whilst available funds last!. There is $115,000 available in matching funds and GlobalGiving are offering a $1,000 bonus award for the project with most individual donors and a $1,000 bonus award for the most money raised. Matching begins at 9:00:01 EDT and lasts until funds run out or 23:59:59 EDT.

Your donations allow us to continue to help the aged population here in Guatemala. Just recently we handed out egg-laying chickens to our grandmothers in Santa María, sustaining an egg-a-day for them, which is crucial in this current climate as crops once again are deemed to fail this year. We also plan to start a chicken scheme from which the income will go on to help build and sustainably run an old people's home in Itzapa. On top of this we plan to hand out fruit trees later in the year as part of our annual appeal. So much in the pipeline!  

Thank you for your support thus far and thank you now for helping us build a better future.

cheers

The rains have once again failed in Guatemala putting into doubt harvests for 2015. Our families rely on these harvests for essential daily food, including beans and corn. It is very hard to share a meal with the whole family when there is nothing to share and what little there is tends to miss the bowls of the elderly population. As a pre-emptive measure we have handed out egg-laying chickens to the grandmothers of our children in the school which will at least sustain one egg a day.

With donations to this page we will be able to increase this program and make sure it is sustainable each year to ensure at least some food in the households, especially for the elderly. $100 will provide 10 egg-laying chickens. In the future, depending on donations, we plan to build and run an old people's home, with a nurse, daily food and constant care for the elderly which could have running costs of $3,000 a month after the initial start-up - that is our aim. These chickens are the start of sustaining the elderly in the future.

cheers