Gender Equality Bolivia Project #38170

Support 125 children at Refugio Rafael in Bolivia

by Global Gallery, Inc.

Project Report | Jan 25, 2023
Partnerships Make Our Work Reach Further!

By Connie De Jong | Project Leader

The evolution of our work has brought heart and hope to many families and we continue to grow and change as people's needs and the community also grow and change. The last quarter of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 find us expanding our reach from the internal programming of the refuge to the entire community. As we build relationships and provide support to the wider community, we realize we are in a moment of transition to a bigger program and look forward to closing this chapter and starting a new phase of work in the 2nd quarter of 2023.

Our ongoing internal work includes the following: support for 4 single mothers and their families for transitional housing and building a foundation for becoming independent, an after-school program for 60 children at a time, reading and math clubs for youth, entrepreneurial training and development of small businesses including a bakery and handcraft program, health care support, gardening, youth camps, and hosting various non-profits within the facility as well as in the community.

Our external work includes providing ongoing follow-up support to the families who have lived in the refuge or who live in the community in their own housing but have additional needs in order to stabilize their situations. In addition, we partner with Smile Forever, Lentes al Instante (Instant Glasses), the non-profit Food Bank. These partnerships have allowed us to serve the dental and vision needs of the entire community, as well as to provide supplemental food support to families.

The vibrancy of our work is as evidenced in these photos during this youth camp and community program. We appreciate your ongoing support and look forward to sharing the next chapter with you. We expect to have a new program launched on GlobalGiving as we define the financial support needs and new goals for our work in 2023.

With our deepest gratitude,

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Sep 27, 2022
We love llamas!

By Connie De Jong | Project Leader

Lentes al Instante

We have so much happening now, but we are most excited about the developments in the handcrafts entrepreneurship program. In the past 6 months, the community of women in the refuge and in the local area have amped up the handcrafts program with energy and creativity.

From sourcing wool in their home communities, to washing, spinning, dying and crocheting, the women in the handcrafts program have created a beautiful circle of creation and income generation.

The most popular product so far is a llama cup koozie, but the new crocheted roses are also well loved! We dressed up the koozies with air plants and also made a little vase with them for the roses, so we are happy they are selling fast and creating more orders for the women. We are testing out some new patterns for holiday ornaments and other new products, so watch World Peaces for new items at www.worldpeaces.com

We also want to share about the collaborative projects with "Smiles Forever" for dental care and a eye glasses campaign with "Lentes al Instante" to benefit the entire community. Fundacion Ayllu and Refugio Rafael are evolving into services that benefit the entire community in and around Marquina. Much of the community is comprised of people who have come in from small communities looking for work and educational opportunities. With these changes come many pressures, and we believe that solidarity can lift everyone up!

Smiles Forever dental clinic in Cochabamba, Bolivia is answering the plea to bring preventative and urgent dental care to children served by Refugio Rafael. Andean Highlands families, some with only a mother, have come to the shelter located approximately an hour and half from our clinic. Currently, our two GlobalGiving groups are beginning a dental evaluation for elementary and older youth.

PREVENT CAVITIES AT SHELTER

Already children are being identified for SDF treatments, which is a way to stop the spread of cavities. Other older children have been found to need specialist dental care for root canals or crowns.

This is an ideal new partnership because of the proximity, and it is really wonderful that both Smiles Forever and Refugio Rafael have strong leadership and stable finances to give this promise of longterm success.

Muchas gracias! Your gifts inspire us to expand dental care, in areas totally lacking in this critical aspect of overall health treatments.

Even though Refugio Rafael has a school and a medical facility, it lacks a dental exam and treatment room. The old equipment fell into decay and must be completely replaced and the room upgraded.

Thank you everyone for continuing to support our dental outreach areas.

With "Lentes al Instante", an NGO from Germany that checks patients for the need for glasses, and for those that do, creates them the same day. We designed and implemented a campaign for 300 people from the community to be seen, measured and provided with glasses as needed!

Finally, we are planning for volunteers visiting in March. If you would like more information about these opportunities, please email us at Worldpeacesfairtrade@gmail.com

Smiles Forever

Llama products process

Llama making process

spinning wool

wool process

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Apr 29, 2022
Connecting in person again, finally!

By Connie De Jong | Project Leader

Wayne and group

One of the most important parts of our work at Refugio Rafael and with Fundación Ayllu is the opportunity to visit with volunteers from around the world and infuse shots of energy, new ideas and hope into the lives of our partners and friends in Bolivia. Finally we were able to visit this April, with volunteers from Ohio, Masachusetts, and Australia, a small group of 5 people. We found the people and project thriving and facing the challenges created by the pandemic with heart, spirit and grit. We worked to amplify this energy over the course of 2 weeks with maintenance on the buildings, new partnership agreements for dental and vision care, after school tutoring and supplies, celebrations, food and donations. We look forward to a year marked by changes, renewal and lots of activity!

Here's a quick list of how we spent our time together:

Celebration of the Day for Children on our arrival. Victour provided backpacks and school supplies, toys and snacks! The Foundation supplied more treats and cake! The kids had a great time and felt honored and lifted up!
New partnership started with a vision care organization, with a tentative date set for May eye exams of 500 local residents!
Sealing of the school house ("la escuelita") roof to keep leaks at bay (work completed by one of the young men who grew up in the Refugio and who is now a professional construction worker)
Repair of all plumbing issues in the house and la escuelita, including adding showers, moving the water meter out of the path of the road
Upgrade of lighting fixtures to LED, addition of a solar powered outdoor light, and upgrade of wiring to and between our buildings (work completed by one of the young men who grew up in the Refugio and who is now a professional electrician!)
Repainting and sealing of all paintable walls in the house (work completed by a new friend from the Director's church who we hope to see back to work with our youth, his special skill set!
Repair of our grass cutting machine, a sewing machine and a computer for the older youth to work on homework!
Tutoring in English and other subjects with our 2 educator volunteers, Jack and Iskra
Celebration of Angela's birthday, our only April birthday, as a community, with an amazing meal of roast chicken, salad, corn and more!
Visits with over a dozen women to develop artisan products, support improvement of current handcraft production, develop new product ideas and review handcraft skill sets in the community. Purchases of handcrafts for sale back in the States were higher than ever!
Coordinating with the social assistance interns who helped bake bread, tutor children, meet with families and keep our environment to standard.
Visit to 2 external families who have transitioned to their own homes. Assess and support their transitions to building income, keeping their kids in school, and managing stresses and challenges as they arise.
Patnership with Smile Forever to treat the children living in the refugio as well as setting up the week-long attendance to the cavilities and dental health of 400 school children in the coming months. This one is special because GlobalGiving is how this organization found us! We are so grateful and thrilled that we can connect to solve tooth pain and cavities for so many children in our area.
Beautification of the living area with new curtain rods, curtain material, full length mirrors, and more! Also sealing of areas around windows and window repair.
And of course we shared photos from past years, played soccer and uno and other games, colored, chased our new resident cats, cooked, cleaned and ate together, embraced new friends and old, told stories, listened to each others celebrations and woes, and reconnected as we only can in person.

We are so grateful for the time together with our Bolivian partners and look forward to inviting you to join us as a volunteer in the future, should you want to connect your skills with the needs of this community. Thank you for all the ways you support us!

Volunteers Jack and Iskra

Susie

Connie

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