Educacion y Futuro--A Bed for Each Child in Bolivia

 One of the primary reasons why I like to put energy into projects such as this one is that I know the people who are making it happen.  And with that comes a significant degree of accountability.  Early on in our $62,000 Orphanage Extension Project in the D.R. Congo , a couple of bags of cement went missing.  (To be clear, in such a desperately poor place, this is understandable and almost unavoidable.  But, of course, we can't really ask people to donate if a notable chunk will jut disappear).  However, the force of nature that is Madlen noticed, called in all the workers, and made it clear what could not happen again.  A couple of years later, she brought in a $62,000 building project within a couple thousand dollars of budget.  (To put this in context, a more modest initiative at the orphanage funded by a large NGO cost twice as much and took five years to complete.) I got a detailed email from Educacion y Futuro's Vincente Danhier today, in w...

 The news is all good news...we've gone past the $9,000 milestone and we have still have six weeks to go. The perceptive among you might notice that our "thermometer" was moved from a target of $11,000 to a new target of $12,000. There are two reasons for this. Please allow me to explain...  The first is that the original estimate was pretty spot on, but there are a few items that have gone up in price a little. As in other parts of the world, the Covid slowdown has led to some shortages and that's knocked prices up a percent or two. The other, though, was explained to me Vincente today: "Queria consultarte una cosa... Necesitamos hacer una actividad mas en el proyecto, una actividad que no estaba prevista. Crees que es posible ? Quisieramos mejorar la seguridad en el muro exterior, atras del albergue. Este muro es muy bajo y siempre tenemos problema en este lugar. Varias veces hombres entraron x alli en las noches, para ver las chicas o para robar su ropa que es...

 Sometimes a picture only speaks a few words:     All that's happening here is that a worker is removing one of the old doors from the bathroom.  Whoop-de-flerkin'-do...   Except it does demonstrate that we are actually moving on this.  The word from Gail at Lantern Projects is that we are on the cusp of having raised $9,000 of our estimated $11,000 budget.  As $5,000 of that has already been transferred to Vincente in Tarija, he felt confident enough to begin work.   We still have a ways to go, so your tax deductible donations are still needed.  There's no guarantee that $11,000 will fully cover all costs. And if we end up with a little surplus....well, I'm sure that a shelter that will (with your help) provide safe housing for 32 homeless girls in Bolivia can find something that is needed. :-)   Thanks for making it happen, my friends.  I wish I could invite each and everyone one of you over for a drink tonight.  

I have begun funneling the early contributions to Vincente at Educacion y Futuro.  At this point, he has $5,000 in his account. (Altogether, we have raised a little short of $8,000 toward the $11,000 goal.)  I received this message and photo yesterday afternoon:  "Buen dia Robert, tengo buenas noticias : hoy dia por fin iniciamos los trabajos !!!  Este trabajador se llama Rider y es un obrero muy cumplido, ya hemos trabajo con él, lo conocemos bien. Los otros obreros recien empezaran el lunes. 1er trabajo: limpiar el patio y retirar 15 centimetros de tierra"   Loosely translated, Vincente is saying: "Yo Mama is a Smurf!"  I jest, I jest!  It's more like: "Good news--today we began with the work.  This worker is named Rider.  He's very accomplished in his profession and we have worked with him before. The other workers will start on Monday. The first order of business--cleaning up the patio and removing 15 centimeters of earth." So, it is hap...

 And as it is September, I can report that our construction project for the Educacion y Futuro (EDYFU) shelter for homeless girls in Tarija, Bolivia is now a featured Lantern Project for the months of September and October.  Those of you with an extra $5, $20, $50, $100, $500, or $5,000 (laugh if you must, but a much-loved friend from long past just re-emerged to send that amount--true story!) can now easily click on this link  DONATE HERE and  the funds will be deposited in the Lantern Project #430 fund, and all of that money will be sent to Tarjia. I have already laid out the fundamentals of the project here:  Introducing the EDYFU Project .  In that post, you can see some photos, watch a video introduction (brutally, I'm certain) translated from Spanish by yours truly, and have a look at the proposed budget. Lantern Projects is a US-based non profit that offers the following: Credibility.  Lantern Projects has  been around for nearly two deca...

It is official--the magnificently effective Lantern Projects non-profit has accepted our Educacion y Futuro initiative as a featured project for the months of September and October. Scrolling down to the June 13th post to learn more about Educacion y Futuro and about the construction project at a shelter for homeless girls that we are going to be funding.  (And I will go into a little more detail below in this post.) But being endorsed by Lantern Projects is huge.  Lantern Projects is a US-based non profit that offers the following: Credibility.  Lantern Projects has  been around for nearly two decades and has funded over 400 small charitable and social development projects from around the world. (See the map below--and note the as-of-yet uncolored Bolivia!) Personal History.  A similar (if more ambitious) project at the Kimbondo Orphanage in the D.R. Congo Foyer House Rennovation Blog was undertaken with the help of Lantern Projects.  We have a personal a...

Good afternoon, my friends.   As I move around, I come across some terrific opportunities to enlist friends in an effort to do some good in the world.  Many of you recall the Bed for Each Child project(s) at the Kimbondo Orphanage in Kinshasa, D.R. Congo.  ( A Bed for Each Child--Congo )  That three year project raised $62,000 over a three year period and transformed a desperately overcrowded and run down housing unit for abandoned kids into a clean, bright, and less overcrowded home for dozens of Congolese children.  This extended project brought together close to a hundred and fifty people from around the world, came in on budget, and made a palpable difference.  And in the wake of the success of that project, I have--since moving to Bolivia in 2017--been looking for a similar such endeavor to promote here. And I confident that I've found one. In March, our family flew to Tarjia, a smallish city in the southern region of Bolivia. The main attractions...