How Far Your Donation Goes:

 

$55 can provide academic learning materials for a young girl so they can learn to read. 

Children need support to stay in school and to succeed. With a strong focus on literacy, Project Somos works closely with children to improve their reading. With children in grades as high as 5th grade, who still cannot read, it is essential these children receive this guidance. With your gift, you can help a child stay in school and learn to read!

$75 can provide individual counseling for a young girl who is struggling, with no one to listen to her 

Many girls are working hard to stay in school while struggling with domestic trauma. Physical and sexual abuse is common. Many girls are growing up with fathers who have made the journey north in hopes of providing for their families leaving the children dealing with grief. With your gift, you can provide the support of our Mayan psychologist. 

$140 can provide food from our organic farm for a young girl, usually left until last at home. 

Each month we provide 22 hot, delicious lunches and 44 fruit-based filling snacks to each young girl in the program. Good nutrition is something these children simply won’t get without our support and it’s something so vital for our brains and bodies to function properly. A hot, organic nutritious lunch costs just $3 and a snack is just $1.50. With your gift, you can help a child eat, grow, function and learn. 

$200 can provide a complete academic education program for a young girl. 

Our education program is well-rounded and rich with learning. We teach reading and writing through our literacy program, English with our foreign, trained teacher and volunteer supporters, technology through our computing program, sports with Mai, baking through our kitchen training program and agriculture with our farm supervisor Oscar. With your gift, you can support this entire program for a month, ensuring a child receives a well-rounded education.

$350 can gift a girl a space in our girls empowerment program for a year. 

Girls are trained to stay quiet, merge into the background and are not allowed to dream further than child marriage,and young motherhood. Our girls’ club helps girls find their voice, their place in their community and teaches them to dream. 

$500 will pay for a Christmas party for the children this Christmas. 

It’s important to find ways to celebrate and share time together. A Christmas party with a special menu, celebrations and a gift for each child is an important way to end the year. We’d like to have a party this December where the parents attend a training session, create a Christmas decoration with their children and pick food from the farm for lunch. With your gift, you can gift presents to all the children this Christmas.

$600 can pay the monthly salary of a farm worker on our organic farm. 

Our organic farm and nutritional program is vital to ensure the children fully develop their brains and bodies, allowing them to learn, play and explore ready for their futures. We proudly employ local people to manage the farm, ensuring we are investing in the local area and training local people. With your gift, you can pay the salary of one of our farm workers for a month. 

$800 can provide early education for a preschool class. 

Preschool education prepares children to have more success and confidence in public school. It teaches them social skills, supports them to learn Spanish as their second language (the majority of the children speak their mother tongue of Kaqchikel) and to experience learning through physical, creative and imaginative play. With your gift, you can cover the salary of our preschool teacher for a month. 

$1000 can buy new needed kitchen equipment for our kitchen. 

Our kitchen serves more than 25,000 lunches and 50,000 snacks for the children every year. This means we often have to replace kitchen equipment or buy new equipment when we test and trial new recipes. With your gift, you can purchase new stoves, new fridges and freezers, food processors, pots, and more plates, bowls, cups and cutlery as our programs grow.

All contributions will be used as designated. Surplus funds will be allocated to similar impactful programs.

Fatima is a bright and resilient nine-year-old with a big heart and boundless potential. Fatima, faces challenges in her local public school where, despite her eagerness, the lack of support leaves her feeling lost and alone.

Fatima lives with a developmental disability, and her school simply doesn’t have the resources or training to meet her needs. Sadly, instead of finding friends, she has encountered hurtful teasing, leaving her feeling rejected. After coming home from school in tears every day, begging not to return, her mother, who faces her own health struggles, made the difficult decision to keep her at home. But she didn’t give up; she found a new path forward for her daughter with us here at Project Somos.

At Project Somos, Fatima is not only accepted, she is cherished. Here, she learns at her own pace with compassionate teachers who are patient, kind, and dedicated. She plays, explores, bakes, and finds comfort in nature, making friends and feeling valued in a way she never has before.

For Fatima, Project Somos is a place of warmth and love, and she tells her mother daily that this is where she wants to be.

Through our girls’ program, Fatima has a safe place where she can be herself, grow, and learn, surrounded by the support and kindness she deserves. Her journey isn’t easy, but with a nurturing community around her, Fatima is discovering her unique strength, voice and who she really is.

Please note that we use different names and photos of the children in these stories to ensure their anonymity and safety, however, their stories are told authentically, respectfully and honestly.