29 de Maio de 2007 - Advice needed
I just got some bad news...Casa da Criança is closing.
The facts are these:
a> They are a poor community supporting and running a service to a poor community, with no professional help
b> Private donations have dried up - they have no money to feed the kids any longer
c> Janaina, who runs the centre, works full time and was only getting paid R$300/month - that's about AU$200. She has been working for free for the past 3 months.
I'm not trying to sell you a sob story, but I can see that this place is really making a difference to the lives of 60 children and I am hoping someone can give me some good advice on how the problem can be fixed.
Janaina, Bueno Sensei and Saulo Sensei recently attended a management course for NGO type work and were working on a plan to make the centre self-sustainable, but none of them are professionals in this area. Sensei Bueno estimates they need about R$4000/month (AU$2500) to keep the place going, and a business plan obviously so that this doesn't happen again.
If you have ANY suggestions or advice, please leave a comment below or email me directly gabrielle.paynter@gmail.com
thanks,
Gabby
Comments
Hey G and P and D, really bummed out to hear the news. As you know I have been doing all I can from this side of the Pacific, to locate resources which may help you guys keep the Casa open. Here are some more organisations and projects which may help with resources and/or funds for such a worthy project:
http://www.ashoka.org (supports "social entrepreneurs": people who are involved in solutions to social problems)
http://www.ashoka.org.br/ (Ashoka Brazil)
http://www.changemakers.net (runs competitions to fund social projects)
http://www.plan.org.au/ (australian ngo supports projects aimed at improving lives of poor children worldwide)
http://www.changeforchildren.org/international/international.html (Canadian NGO supports local projects improving welfare and lives of children in Latin America)
Hope these ideas help you and Bueno Sensei. Keep us posted you guys!
B.