Empower 4000 Venezuelan Children to Succeed!

Our very first GlobalGiving campaign drive in September 2020 brought in a whopping $25,000! Being our original goal 5k, we were, understandably, ecstatic! Funds from our first effort were sufficient to implement full structured character formation education at three schools, for a total of 770 students, along with cash bonuses for their teachers. 

After careful evaluation, the selected schools, all in the town of Sabaneta, El Consejo, State of Aragua, are Unidad Educativa Manuela Perdomo de Almeida, with 159 High School students; Unidad Educativa La Gracia de Dios, 400 students in Elementary and High School, and Unidad Educativa Alfredo Almeida, with 211 Elementary Students. 

All three schools are located in a low income / high risk area. Some of the local challenges are water supply, electricity, transportation and crime. We are familiar with the territory. Even though school buildings need urgent repairs, spirits are high and principals extremely motivated.

 

By October we realized the main impediment to start the project as was originally planned was the continued school lockdown. We had hoped the pandemic would have been controlled by then. But as we all know, it wasn't the case. No school… no students… no classes! What should we do? We met virtually with several principals working from home and, not wanting to interrupt existing teaching, much less delay starting new ones, we decided to go virtual! Our base team in Caracas prepared weekly lessons and activities (in digital format) from Alive to the World curriculum for all grade levels, and delivered to teachers by smart phones. Teachers then distribute to their students and in some cases, parents. And it works! With the added benefit that parents at home are witnessing and participating in what their children are learning. 

 

Finally, in December, given the existing circumstances of extreme need and the announcement of continued lockdown, our board approved we proceed to distribute the monthly cash bonus to Alive to the World teachers. The school meal we had planned to deliver, in joint effort with an international organization working with Venezuela, is still on standby, but we feel satisfied with the partial results we have been able to achieve in this first phase, through your wonderful generosity: a) delivering our values-based weekly lessons by internet and b) distributing the much needed bonus to teachers, which will very much help keep them alive and in Venezuela! 

We all look forward to the control of the pandemic, and getting back to regular school activities with children filling the hallways with bursts of excitment, energy and laughter some time in 2021, which will allow us to proceed to supply a nutritious meal for each one of them and their teachers. 

Thank you, once again, for your continued support!

And thank you, GlobalGiving team, for your efficient support and encouragement!