2023

EDUCATION CENTRE, THE SACRED VALLEY, PERU.

The Sacred Valley of Peru is a stunning place, rich in natural resources with vast expanses of untouched nature, its communities steeped in a rich and interesting history.

The children from the higher Andean communities often come down from the mountains to the Sacred Valley to study.

Unfortunately the children are not always treated with the same respect as the local communities. They are frequently treated badly and have to attend the worst performing schools. Often malnourished and lacking in care and support.

There is a big knowledge gap between resident local children who can afford private school and the children from the mountains who cannot. The education is sub standard in the free, government funded schools.

The traditional ways of life in the community are being forgotten in the valley, further ostracising the children from more traditional backgrounds.

This has caused a significant lack of respect and love of nature and for the environment, which is truly sad.

This situation means there is little in the way of fresh produce and desire to nurture it. This is leaving children deeply malnourished and moving onto western style sweet drinks and unhealthy food, further inhibiting their education.

Children from these high altitude areas, when old enough, are encouraged to move to Cusco, for work, a big city far from home and because of their darker skin colour they are treated as 2nd class citizens, put in miserable jobs and unsafe accommodation away from their nature and culture.

Often they are too ashamed to return home having not made their fortune, and as a direct result Cusco suicide rates in this demographic are high.

GOALS

Our goal for 2023 is to create an education centre, that in addition to standard academia, will have a particular focus on the environment that would become a self-sustaining resource for local children.

Primarily Focused on the following areas:

Waste management solutions
- Organic waste composting area.
Here we will demonstrate how organic waste can be converted into high quality fertiliser, and how on a larger scale this process could be monetised in a business model.
- Recycling centre.
Here we will demonstrate how plastic and glass can be processed and formed into new products. In this area we will be using a model developed in Europe by Precious Plastics.
- Grey water systems and compost toilets.
This area demonstrates how we can process our own waste and avoid contamination of ground water and river systems.
Food Security
- Organic market gardens.
These gardens demonstrate sustainable agriculture techniques that can provide high quality organic food for families as well as a profitable business model.
- Food forest and Agroforestry.
Here we will demonstrate how native plants, fruit trees and animals can be reared in an integrated system that provides us with food, medicine and also benefits local ecosystems.
Clean Energy
- Solar power and hydro-electric power.
We want to demonstrate how this technology can provide rural areas with reliable access to free sustainable energy.
Water Security
-Water harvesting.
These systems will provide a solution to the ever-present issue of water, in an area where the dry season can last 8 months we aim to provide solutions that will ease tensions around water use.
- Water filters.
Designs for low tech water filters that are cheap and easy to reproduce will be an invaluable resource.

The team on the ground have already been taking these lessons into government schools for almost 3 years and feeding approximately 130 kids a nutritious meal daily from the gardens they maintain.

It has been a great success and it is now time to take it to the next level to serve a much larger group of children.

The goals for this project are long term and the team are dedicated to creating opportunities for people in rural agricultural areas to continue with their traditional way of life in a way that is sustainable for humanity and our planet.

Once built, paying students from private schools and tourists will fund free education for local children from public schools and workshops for the local community.

The aim is to provide free education to 3600 students annually. As well as paying private school students.

PROPOSED LAYOUT:

FACILITATING PARTNER:

We will be working with Sach´a Munay, a fully registered and audited US non-profit organisation that also operates on the ground as “niños alto andinos” a fully registered social enterprise business (know as BIC in Peru). We will also be working with Sweet Child Peru, a local organisation under the umbrella of Sach´a Munay who have been operating in the valley for over 25 years.

I know the founders very well, having spent much time on the ground with them.

The individuals that will be facilitating the day to day work on this are highly capable, knowledgeable and committed. They live and breathe this work in nature and have previously transformed a wasteland located at the back of one of the government schools in to a garden.

This garden now provides 90 meals each day to school kids using organic and sustainable farming methods – no fertiliser and no pesticides.

The team is firmly embedded in the community and trusted by locals and government, we couldn’t wish for a better partner.

Funds have already been raised locally for the land, a great achievement, and a sure sign of passion and commitment from the community to get this project up and running.

This project will be of particularly high impact and benefit the area as a whole for decades to come.

The budget is approximately $73,000 (USD)

MIGRANT LEARNING CENTRE, MAE SOT, THAILAND.

Mae Sot is a border town in north west Thailand that sits on the east side of the Moei River which separates Thailand from Myanmar and the township of Myawaddy.

This is an area facing great issues with Burmese migrants escaping or being trafficked across the border into Thailand, often escaping extremely difficult and life threatening situations, particularly now with the horrifying military control of Myanmar.

The Burmese have no access to state healthcare, housing or education. Whole generations of children are missing out on school entirely.

They are however accepted by the Thai government and can stay, often in refugee camps with dire conditions with serious threat of kidnapping and human trafficking.

We have successfully built projects on both sides of the border serving the Burmese community. As a result we are in a position to work on a new much needed project.

We will be working with trusted architects and teams with whom we have a great working relationship.

Currently the centre is a series of very dangerous tin hut roofs and make shift leaning materials. We plan to completely remove external structure and create safe learning environments for the 89 students in 8 age groups with the capacity to grow the school at minimal costs should student numbers increase.

This project will provide a safe, weather resistant building that can provide clean temperate learning spaces for students and teachers with toilets and a septic tank to meet the demand of the site.

OUR PARTNER FOR THE BUILD:
Building Trust International (BTI)
BTI ls a registered UK charity :1142338.

Working together with BTI we have a great history of always completing projects on time and on budget throughout Asia. BTI is a fully registered UK charity specialising in architecture and fulfilment primarily for charitable projects in Asia.

David Cole is a UK architect with offices in Cambodia and the UK. BTI is an offshoot from his successful architectural business. I know David very well and he has a fantastic track record of both innovative designs and project fulfilment. We, Kanallan, intend to continue working with David and BTI for many years to come.

BUDGET: EUR 23-25K

Below are a selection of images of projects that we have completed working with BTI in Thailand and Cambodia.

2 YEAR NUTRITION PROGRAM, BULINGTAR/BAUDIKALIKA, NEPAL.

Based upon the impact and success of the first 19 months of our nutrition program, many different wards and communities have been requesting our help. As a result we hope to advance the program to further areas. There is more info on our current program info Here

We would be delighted to continue this work and believe another 2 year cycle would make an exponential difference helping many more thousands of children, young mums and pregnant women.

We would be working in the district of Nawalpur Nepal, an area where we have built a number of successful projects and have a very strong network and connection with the communities.

The new phase would follow an almost identical format to the last 2 years. One very important factor is that we will have set up systems to ensure that the 2300 children we currently feed a midday meal to will continue.

Currently we are reaching approximately 127,500 people weekly from our nutrition information radio program and 5000+ per month through printed materials and social media. This reach will grow significantly in the next phase.

FACILITATING PARTNER

Jagriti Child and Youth Concern Nepal (JCYCN) a fully registered and audited Nepalese NGO. JCYCN have been working with vulnerable children in Nepal for decades with great success, they are low key, grassroots and very effective. I have worked with them for over 7 years and we have completed many successful projects together.

BUDGET

EUR 52,000 PER ANNUM (TOTAL 104,000 EUR).

2024

3 YEAR GIRLS EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM

Our Girls Empowerment program in rural Nepal has been a resounding success.

From humble beginnings 5 years ago, against huge social push back and ingrained hostility towards girls, we launched a program that would change the way girls and women are treated across the entire region.

Girls that would never speak to a man, were hugely vulnerable to child marriage at as young as 11, often abused and forced to spend their monthly period in a hut are now taking on politicians on our national TV show, changing government policy and holding officials to account.

They are beginning career paths that they would have never dreamed of and taking everything they learn back to their communities, from self defence to menstrual hygiene and so much more.

From what started as an idea with 24 very vulnerable young women and highly sceptical families and officials we have now worked with over 26,000 young women. The community and politicians and police are now 100% behind all we do and the entire region has benefited.

There is more information on the current program here

We wish to kick off a new 3 year cycle. As well as continuing our work with our existing communities we will reach more girls by moving to a new area. This will time in very well with the opening of our new Girls Empowerment Centre (in 2023).

We have come so far, yet there is still a lot to do. With the media coverage our program is getting in Nepal, coupled with the new centre which is going to receive a great deal of attention we believe this 3 year cycle will change the lives of hundreds of thousands of deeply suppressed and vulnerable young women from around the country.

FACILITATING PARTNER

We will once again be partnering with JCYCN for this phase.

BUDGET:

EUR 100,000 Per Annum (EUR300,000 TOTAL)

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NUTRITION PROGRAM YEAR 2
BUDGET EUR 52,000

This leaves approximately EUR 90k for 2024 of proposed budget for a construction project/s to be proposed in 2023.

2025

GIRLS’ EMPOWERMENT YEAR 2 (PHASE 3)
BUDGET EUR 100,000

This leaves approximately EUR 140k for 2025 of proposed budget for projects to be proposed in 2024.

2026

GIRLS’ EMPOWERMENT YEAR 3 (PHASE 3)
BUDGET EUR 100,000

This leaves approximately EUR 140k for 2026 of proposed budget for projects to be proposed in 2025.

WITH MANY THANKS AS ALWAYS