Support 125 children at Refugio Rafael in Bolivia

Despite all the challenges, perhaps even because of them, we are happy with many of the accomplishments of the past year and are so looking forward to the opportunities that lie ahead. 

Our programming has altered with the changing needs of our community and we are awed by the support we have received from our loyal supporters. In the past year, we have:

• Established a revolving fund to support the women who have been housed in the refuge to invest in independent living.
• Restarted after-school programming (masked, socially distanced, and varying schedules) for the children most in need of support. We feel for all the children of Bolivia who are not served by internet or who do not have access to reliable technology to be able to learn from home. We are happy we are able to serve 40 children during this time.
• Increased handcraft production, especially for the mothers who are not able to work outside due to Covid.
• Increased production of vegetables and small farm animals to support nutrition and livelihoods.
• Diversify our support to families in the community who may be at risk of losing their homes.
• Provide social services to all of the families served by Foundation Ayllu.
• Provide health care partnerships to benefit all the families in the community.
• Restart the baking program to support tuition for our older youth and bread for the neighbors.
• Celebrate the Birthdays of all the members of the Refugio Rafael community.
• Build solidarity among the members of the community and the women who have lived in the Refugio.
• Support career development for the oldest youth who are completing their high school years, including technical and professional programs.

We feel the reach of our programming expand, even as the reality of Covid has restricted our activities. We believe the impact of our work will begin to be realized in a wider geographic scope as women move out into independent living. We look forward to further developing economic and educational activities for all the members of our community as we transition out of lockdowns.