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Hello! Thank you for visiting our GoFundMe. Cesar, Asha, Matreya and I have decided to do something really exciting! We will be volunteering and living at a non-profit organization called Project Somos for 2 months.
This is an eco-sustainable children's village that is taking action to break the cycle of poverty in this small Guatemalan town. In this community, children arrive each morning to attend school. Through volunteers, they can also receive new and exciting classes such as farming, cooking, art, yoga, English and more. They also provide nutritious, organic farm to table food. But most importantly kids are given a safe, loving environment where they can play, ride bikes, laugh and have fun. They can be carefree children, something they don't experience at home. Project Somos is also providing job opportunities, vocational training, and parenting classes to all the Mothers of children who attend school. Project Somos clearly believes in listening, learning, and adapting to what their community has shown them they need. They are helping children and their families help themselves through nutrition, education, love and support that comes in many forms.
Photos provided by the Project Somos website.
Website: https://projectsomos.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectsomos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/projectsomos/
Our family has the unique opportunity to contribute to this project. We all have skills that will be put to use! The girls will have an amazing experience here. They will be volunteering in the preschool classroom. Project Somos strives to get each child 1 on 1 reading skills every day. The girls will be trained to help preschoolers learn their ABCs and 123s (in Spanish)! Since they are just kids they will also be joining in all the fun games throughout the day, extra-curricular activities, and farm-to-table classes. Cesar will be a helpful handyman but he will also be helping kids get 1 on 1 reading time. I think they'll use Cesar the most to play with the kids who have the most energy and need more ways to express it!
Photos provided by the Project Somos website.
Where will the money be spent?
This is where my jobs come in. I will be using my years of homeschool experience to teach some really cool classes. The class I'm most excited to teach will be a STEAM class. This is a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math class. The kids will problem solve both independently and in teams to build bridges, make marble mazes, design and build model houses with a variety of materials. We'll make catapults, slime, and rockets that actually launch into the air. The sky is the limit! I can also provide these kids with some creative and exciting art project too. Finally, I will be teaching English classes. They've never had a certified, trained and experienced ESL (English as a 2nd language) teacher and they are looking forward to having someone who could add structure and guidance moving forward.
Offering all of these great classes will require money! We need help! 100% of your donations will go to Project Somos! There is a strong community of expats here in Guatemala that I will reach out to for recyclable supplies! But art supplies and project supplies add up quickly. The more supplies I have the more students I can offer my classes too! This is a small school but it has students from PreK-6th. With the proper supplies, I could teach each grade, multiple classes, each week! What an exciting opportunity for these kids. I've seen these classes bring incredible joy to homeschooled children that rarely lack for anything in their beautiful lives. I'm excited to share these same joys with kids who deserve the same!
Photos provided by the Project Somos website.
It's very hard to know how much money I will need to complete these classes. I can promise you that all the money will go to this project. I will work hard to keep my costs down! Then all the money that isn't used for a class will be given directly to support the project itself. Every single penny will be used to help the families of Project Somos.
Cesar and I need help to do this! We cannot buy the supplies ourselves because neither of us will be working throughout our 2-month stay at Project Somos. We will be living off of our modest savings.
WE HAVE SURPASSED MY DREAM OF $1000! EVERY PENNY MOVING FORWARD WILL BE GIVEN DIRECTLY TO PROJECT SOMOS! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'M SO EXCITED TO GIFT THEM WITH THIS MONEY! PLEASE KEEP DONATING! They deserve every penny they receive!
$1000 would give me $25/school day for 2 months. There are 55 students. That is $2.20/student/school day.
We are asking for so much for 2 reasons. First, it would be great if my classes weren't limited because of a lack of resources. Second, I know this project has a wishlist a mile long. I am here, on the ground, communicating with the directors personally. If I don't need all of this money for class then I can spend that money exactly the way the directors need it to be spent. And if what they really need is the money and not the supplies at that time, I will give them the money directly. I trust this organization and feel confident that it will be spent responsibly.
Finally, we want you to love Project Somos as much as we do! As a way to say Thank you and a way to include you in the experience, we have opened an Instagram page so that you can be apart of the journey too.
Instagram: PelaezFamilyinGuatemala
Thank you so much!
Photos provided by the Project Somos website.
This is an eco-sustainable children's village that is taking action to break the cycle of poverty in this small Guatemalan town. In this community, children arrive each morning to attend school. Through volunteers, they can also receive new and exciting classes such as farming, cooking, art, yoga, English and more. They also provide nutritious, organic farm to table food. But most importantly kids are given a safe, loving environment where they can play, ride bikes, laugh and have fun. They can be carefree children, something they don't experience at home. Project Somos is also providing job opportunities, vocational training, and parenting classes to all the Mothers of children who attend school. Project Somos clearly believes in listening, learning, and adapting to what their community has shown them they need. They are helping children and their families help themselves through nutrition, education, love and support that comes in many forms.
Photos provided by the Project Somos website.Website: https://projectsomos.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectsomos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/projectsomos/
Our family has the unique opportunity to contribute to this project. We all have skills that will be put to use! The girls will have an amazing experience here. They will be volunteering in the preschool classroom. Project Somos strives to get each child 1 on 1 reading skills every day. The girls will be trained to help preschoolers learn their ABCs and 123s (in Spanish)! Since they are just kids they will also be joining in all the fun games throughout the day, extra-curricular activities, and farm-to-table classes. Cesar will be a helpful handyman but he will also be helping kids get 1 on 1 reading time. I think they'll use Cesar the most to play with the kids who have the most energy and need more ways to express it!
Photos provided by the Project Somos website.Where will the money be spent?
This is where my jobs come in. I will be using my years of homeschool experience to teach some really cool classes. The class I'm most excited to teach will be a STEAM class. This is a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math class. The kids will problem solve both independently and in teams to build bridges, make marble mazes, design and build model houses with a variety of materials. We'll make catapults, slime, and rockets that actually launch into the air. The sky is the limit! I can also provide these kids with some creative and exciting art project too. Finally, I will be teaching English classes. They've never had a certified, trained and experienced ESL (English as a 2nd language) teacher and they are looking forward to having someone who could add structure and guidance moving forward.
Offering all of these great classes will require money! We need help! 100% of your donations will go to Project Somos! There is a strong community of expats here in Guatemala that I will reach out to for recyclable supplies! But art supplies and project supplies add up quickly. The more supplies I have the more students I can offer my classes too! This is a small school but it has students from PreK-6th. With the proper supplies, I could teach each grade, multiple classes, each week! What an exciting opportunity for these kids. I've seen these classes bring incredible joy to homeschooled children that rarely lack for anything in their beautiful lives. I'm excited to share these same joys with kids who deserve the same!
Photos provided by the Project Somos website.It's very hard to know how much money I will need to complete these classes. I can promise you that all the money will go to this project. I will work hard to keep my costs down! Then all the money that isn't used for a class will be given directly to support the project itself. Every single penny will be used to help the families of Project Somos.
Cesar and I need help to do this! We cannot buy the supplies ourselves because neither of us will be working throughout our 2-month stay at Project Somos. We will be living off of our modest savings.
WE HAVE SURPASSED MY DREAM OF $1000! EVERY PENNY MOVING FORWARD WILL BE GIVEN DIRECTLY TO PROJECT SOMOS! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'M SO EXCITED TO GIFT THEM WITH THIS MONEY! PLEASE KEEP DONATING! They deserve every penny they receive!
$1000 would give me $25/school day for 2 months. There are 55 students. That is $2.20/student/school day.
We are asking for so much for 2 reasons. First, it would be great if my classes weren't limited because of a lack of resources. Second, I know this project has a wishlist a mile long. I am here, on the ground, communicating with the directors personally. If I don't need all of this money for class then I can spend that money exactly the way the directors need it to be spent. And if what they really need is the money and not the supplies at that time, I will give them the money directly. I trust this organization and feel confident that it will be spent responsibly.
Finally, we want you to love Project Somos as much as we do! As a way to say Thank you and a way to include you in the experience, we have opened an Instagram page so that you can be apart of the journey too.
Instagram: PelaezFamilyinGuatemala
Thank you so much!
Photos provided by the Project Somos website.