Condor Foundation Bolivia COVID-19

The Condor Foundation consists of 2 projects in Sucre, Bolivia which were established to support people and communities in need.  

Condor Trekkers began in February 2010 and it functions as a not for profit tourism agency offering city tours and treks through the beautiful mountains and villages surrounding Sucre. In 10 years, the project has funded rural schools with educational materials, built a library and community tourism projects, water infrastructure projects and much more.

Condor Café opened its doors as a non-profit vegetarian restaurant to complement the tourism agency in December of 2011.  In the last nine years, the café has funded various projects including the building of greenhouses and supporting day care centres to allow local women to work. It has also been quite successful in educating local people about nutrition. 

Both parts of the project have functioned as self-sustaining fund raisers for social causes and after the initial investment, donations have not been sought until now. After surviving a political crisis which paralysed Bolivia and decimated tourism in October of 2019, the Agency and Café were recovering well when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Bolivia has suffered more than most countries and there is no indication of when the country may begin to recover. 

In this time, we have been unable to cover our fixed costs which mostly consist of rent and wages, water, electricity etcetera and we now find ourselves with a debt of around sixty thousand Australian dollars.

In the last decade, the Bolivian government has significantly increased workers benefits and most companies do not pay all of these. At Condor, we believe in the welfare of all of our staff and we have always paid all benefits. The economic downturn from Covid has prevented us from doing so in the last year however.

In Bolivia, the legal representative of any company or organisation will go to jail unless all debts are paid.

Any help that would allow us to meet these costs and continue the project would be greatly appreciated. We understand that most people around the world have suffered greatly during this pandemic and are not in a financial position to donate. Promoting this campaign will also be very much appreciated.

 
Thank you from all the team at Condor.

Randall Howlett