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ALL money donated goes to the communities of Llazhatyan & Jadan. We keep nothing for ourselves.
Please helps us pay for kids to go to high school. There so so many promising young students with no money for high school, and that cuts off their ability to go to college, too. |
Helping Ecuadorian Communities: For the most up to date information, visit our new website, gaiasagrada.com. Gaia Sagrada is nestled in a small community called Llazhatan (Ya-zat-yan) in the Andes Mountains, very close to Jadan (Ha-dan). We care about our neighbors and we want to help them. They are poor and we are a blessing in their community, giving them work. They are of the mountains, farmers. They trade amongst themselves for what they need. However, it is very difficult for them to improve their lifestyle and make it more modern because there is no way for them to make money in the mountains, even with farming. We would like to help them financially in whatever ways we can, so any donations toward Llazhatyan and Jadan are greatly appreciated. You can give when you're here, or right now if you like. ALL money donated goes to the communities of Llazhatan & Jadan. We keep nothing for ourselves. School Repairs and English Teacher They need a $2000 roof for their school. It breaks our heart that children have to learn while sitting between drips falling in buckets. We also would like to help by providing an English teacher in their school. Being able to speak English gives Ecuadorians ten times the opportunities they would have if they only speak Spanish. They can go to English speaking universities to become doctors, nurses or other professionals, and they have more appeal to employers because it is quite common that an employer needs English speaking employees to help them communicate with the outside world and expand their business. Note: If you are a TEFL certified English teacher (Teaching English in a Foreign Language), there may be work exchange or staff position opportunities at Gaia Sagrada for you. Water System Upgrade It has come to our attention that the community is trying to raise $800 for the water system here in order to expand it and make water available to more families on the mountains here. Some people are still without water. There are also other sources of water to develop that would make the capacity of water more available to more people, as well. Micro-Loans & Grants for Upstart Small Businesses $50 - $500 for small farmers and country people to start businesses. These are not people who can go into the city and get a good job. They don't know how to use computers, and many don't even have more than an elementary school education, not to mention the class discrimination against the indigenous. The government of Ecuador does not provide good high schools for free. High school must be paid for, so they most often cannot go to high school. This does not mean these people aren't smart and intelligent. In fact they are. They are very clever and have figured out how to do a lot of things without technology that would surprise most of us. Some of them are even geniuses! Llazhatyan also has many industrious and wonderful people who would love to start businesses, if they only had a little bit of start up money. We would like to give micro-loans and grants to help them get their home businesses off the ground. The reason it would be a half loan / half grant is because it would create the impetus for them to get their business off the ground so they could pay half of what they are given back into the system which would then be loaned to another person who wants to start a business. The half that is paid back would then be in the community fund to help other new upstarts as the younger people grow up. This community would be truly assisted if the country farmers could get a $50-500 loan for various entrepreneurial aspirations. There are many who are living on land but cannot start anything because they simply don't have the money to buy chickens or seed for growing vegetables and fruits. For some, the investment would be very small to change their lives. If we can buy ten chickens for $50 for someone who wants chickens, they could get started with an income generating business. If we could supply a seamstress with a sewing machine and she could start a curtain-making business, we would be changing someone's life drastically. This in turn affects their immediate families who also live better, as they share what they have with their families. Help us help the entrepreneurs in Llazhatan get a break in life. Let us all help them on their way to being able to make more money and send their kids to school, have a better lifestyle, and even get hot water. (We would like to teach them how to make solar hot water with black tubing and glass covers.) Send Kids to School Only elementary level education is offered in Ecuador for free. High school must be paid for. Only people with disposable income can send their kids to high school or college. That is why the country folks, usually the indigenous like those around us, are at a disadvantage in Ecuador. They cannot progress past elementary school because they don't have the money for high school. That also cuts off their possibilities for going to college. Send some kids to high school with your help. We would like to help children who want to go to high school and then to college who live in the Jadan / Llazhatan area. All children should have an equal opportunity to have the education they need in order to reach their dreams. Please help us send some of the kids to school from this area. Cookies and Food for Community Get Togethers! Every now and then the community comes together for celebrations, dances, functions and other types of events. It would be great to be able to give all the kids some money and cookies for Christmas each year, and bring goodies to the celebrations! This wouldn't amount to a lot of money, but would be appreciated by the community none the less.
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It breaks our heart that children have to learn while sitting between drips falling in buckets.
Just because they can't afford to go to high school doesn't mean they aren't smart and intelligent. In fact, they are... and some of them are even geniuses!
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