ACCURO Q3 2023 PROJECT UPDATES

GIRLS’ CENTRE NEPAL.

The construction of our girls’ safe house and empowerment centre continues, the building is looking incredible and the girls and community are truly excited.

We have however been hit with significant funding issues; the budget was signed off pre-covid and the construction of the external structure went on through covid.

Once we hit phase two which consists of all internals, electricity, plumbing, windows doors, security etc we found the costs to have ballooned due to issues related to covid shortcomings and the fuel crisis.

We are facing this problem with the help of a London Public Relations firm who are working for us pro-bono.

Step one is a mass email campaign created by them to be sent to both my network and more importantly their clients and their network which is a significant number of businesses and HNW individuals. We will be sending this out in the next 10 days.

There will be an option to simply donate and also options to sponsor specific areas in full such as classrooms, disabled access lift, bathrooms etc.

Step two; the PR firm are putting together a video promoting the centre and also regarding the 10 year anniversary of Kanallan. The intention of this is for people to learn about our work, but also donate and be a part of our flagship 40th project (this centre) marking the anniversary.

Step three; the PR firm will continue to send project updates to the email list (those who opt in) on the progress and continue to fund-raise.

As you will see in the video the girls are also helping! They have made a tour video of the current structure which we will use in our campaign. They are very keen to make more as the project progresses.

There is a lot of press around the project in Nepal so we hope to utilise this too and the PR firm is pitching us to some UK media outlets such as the FT How To Spend It supplement.

Another key point is that via the GEP mentoring program the girls (and us) are in touch with successful people from various industries, this is building our network. Hopefully through this, individuals and businesses will see just how much we are doing and the impact it has on so many girls lives, that perhaps they might like to support the centre or spread the word.

We will of course keep you updated as things progress.

ECO PROJECT PERU

Our eco centre in Peru is looking amazing, its such an incredible project. Almost every inch of the planting areas have been laid out in a way that matches a famous star cluster (Pleiades) that the children and families hold sacred.

Not one single piece of rubbish or excess material leaves the site, everything is repurposed. The library looks amazing made from a repurposed shipping container and offers kids the chance to read in a quiet bright environment, these kids would never usually be able to afford a book.

The composting and recycling areas are already in full swing and fully interactive so the kids can see different stages of composition and transformation back to fertiliser and other useful by products.

There are a great many small and interesting sections to explore and learn of the environment and climate change in the area. Once complete we believe this project will be the very first of its kind in the Sacred Valley of Peru.

Fee paying schools are already booking tours to see the progress as well as visitors to the region.

One of the great things about this centre is it will change with the seasons along with all of the interactive areas, so the kids will constantly be learning new things when they come.

Fresh produce from the gardens will be used to not only feed the kids, but to offer paying customers farm to table dining evenings under the stars which will help fund the running costs of the centre.

I thought it would be nice to introduce to the amazing couple heading up the day to day of this programme, please see their video below.

 GIRLS’ EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM

The Girls’ Empowerment Program is, as ever, very busy. One of the most exciting aspects is the DIDI (sister) program really growing. The girls put together videos and answered questionnaires regarding their career aspirations and they have been everything from teaching at primary school to hedge fund manager!

The program is now aligning the girls with the best suited mentor for introductions.

We have a had a great reception from possible mentors covering a large scope of professions, a large proportion are contacts of Amber, the lady heading up the programme and are all vetted and we oversea any comms and have a strict policy around this and the girls safety.

The girls are all so excited. Here is a video from Regina, one of the first girls from our GEP, she sent a little birthday video to Amber unprompted, you can really see the level of connection the girls are already feeling.

To have this in their world is truly remarkable, some of these girls live in very small huts and houses in deep rural Nepal and they are chatting with individuals such as bankers and doctors in London and New York about career advice with very real and tangible goal setting.

Below are some letters the girls wrote after their first sessions.

CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAM

The nutrition program rolls on in such a positive way, we are still feeding over 2500 children a day and observing the day to day of the kids health with mobile clinics.

The program is consistent in its day to day and we are awaiting reports from this quarter.

There have been a number of long Nepali holidays so we are a little delayed with info, but all is going well and the program is creating a real buzz in our new area of operation.

More to follow in our end of year report.

WITH MANY THANKS AS ALWAYS