As you enjoy the
4th of July, eat delicious food and spend time with friends and
family, I thought it only proper to get in on the excitement and share with you
an example of the wonderful work we are accomplishing here in Cajamarca thanks to
your generous support.
Four months ago,
Board Members Maggie Miller and Hector Dominguez’s came to Peru on a mission to
begin discussing our future with local partner, MULTICREDIT, and identify ways
to improve our line-up of educational trainings in the HopeHouse. It was at
that time that Hector came up with a great idea to begin merging technology
with our women’s businesses and to also fulfill women’s desire to learn how to
use the Internet. Collecting donations from friends and family, DHF purchased
11 Kindles that have now allowed us to develop Information Technology Classes
at the HopeHouse so our women can become both technology literate and gain access
to social media sites to improve and promote their businesses. Once the Kindles were in hand we now had to figure out a way to ship them to Peru and avoid the red tape tap and fees associated with international shipping. Thanks to the Texas-based association, Villa Milagro, a team of nurses and doctors in route to Cajamarca for a 7-day medical campaign in June agreed to bring the Kindles free of charge. Once we had the kindles in hand, the last piece of the puzzle was to identify a qualified instructor with enough patience to teach our women the ins-and-outs of Facebook and Internet browsing. Lucky for us, Charo Yupanqui, our HopeHouse Community Education Coordinator and crochet teacher extraordinaire, recommended her computer instructor as a candidate. Professor Salatiel (as we call him) passed the interview with flying colors and helped us develop a 6-week curriculum where women attend classes twice a week for two hours. By the end of the course, women create an E-mail account, FaceBook Page, and learn how to browse the Internet to help themselves and their children with homework assignments.
This Monday we officially
commenced classes with a group of 10 women representing 6 village banks. Needless
to say our students were excited and arrived 20 minutes early ready to take on
IT 101. The demand for classes is extremely high, we’ve have a waiting list of
40 eager women lined up for the second round of classes in mid-August.
I personally would
like to thank all the individuals who donated both money and/or Kindles to such
a worthy cause. Without you, this project would not have been possible a just a
mere idea yet to be realized.
Happy 4th
of July!
Des
