WOMEN & GIRLS’ EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVE - hUDSON vALLEY rEGION, ny

Our latest endeavor is to develop empowerment programs for battered women in safe houses, as well as women and children in homeless shelters. We will continue to support our projects in various parts of Peru.

QUILT PROJECT - Urubamba, Peru

ADF worked with the Munaychay Orphanage in the hills above Urubamba in the Sacred Valley.  The orphanage is a fully self-sustainable complex that was built by a German doctor in 1998 to care for indigenous populations of orphaned, abandoned, neglected, and abused children of the Peruvian Andes.  It is a beautiful setting that offers a clean and safe environment for the children with water (albeit cold), sewer, solar power, and no heat.  With our educator, Lise Golub, RN, a master quilter for over 30 years, we developed a quilt program with young girls aged 12-16.  Our goal was to teach the girls a new skill that they could use to produce a saleable product.  Sales of the quilts would allow them to make the money needed to pay for a secondary education, a luxury often not offered to girls for free. https://vimeo.com/385560664

BABY BOOTY PROJECT - Cusco, Peru

ADF began working with the women from the Huchuy Yachaq Community Center, nestled in a mountainous area in the outskirts of Cusco.  The women of this community are extremely poor and have limited access to water, sewer, heat, and other modern conveniences. Most are head of households and are unemployed with little or no skill sets; they have very little opportunity to earn livings to support their children and families.

Together with our educator, Lise Golub, RN, we began a baby booty project...a project that the women could relate well to since they are all mothers, many caring for infants and young children. With all materials in hand, we spent the better part of a week teaching the women how to make decorative baby booties that they could sell in the open market as a means to create a sustainable income.  They have been taught the skills necessary to show them how to take their profits to grow their business while supporting their income.  ADF will continue to grow this program until it is completely self-sufficient. https://vimeo.com/385561919

SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT - Totora, Peru

ADF has started a "copier project" to support a remote school in the tiny village of Totora, Peru. This is an indigenous area that has no access to water, sewer, or heat. Many children must walk for hours along mountain trails to get to the only school in the area. Classrooms of 30-40 kids each must share 1 or 2 textbooks among themselves which makes it very difficult for the teachers to instruct the children, and the government cannot financially support the school by supplying it with more books.  Our mission is to buy copiers for the classrooms, thus allowing the teachers to develop better and more adequate lesson planning by enabling a "sharing" of textbook data through the use of copies.

The youngest of the children, grades 1 & 2, are currently learning in a tiny ancient church with dirt floors.  Our goal is to outfit a new classroom with desks, chalk boards, and other shcool supplies. https://vimeo.com/385561355

Please support these projects by donating here....