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FUNDACION HELPING HANDS - LA PAZ (BOLIVIA)

    ANNUAL REPORT 2023

2023 has been a very busy and productive year for the students of Helping Hands.  With your continued support, we have been able to give our students the opportunity to continue their education and become valuable professionals who will improve their own future and that of their families and their country.

Here, we share our annual report highlighting some of the outstanding achievements of our students and many special activities at Helping Hands.

COMPLETION OF HIGH SCHOOL AND POST SECONDARY PROGRAMMES

In 2023 Helping Hands supported 93 young students, 29 in High School, 40 in university and 24 in technical studies. 2 of our students graduated from high school and 17 completed their careers in technical or university programs.

OUR FORMER STUDENTS

We are very pleased to see the success and life changes of so many of our former students.

Nestorina is a teacher and is currently employed in a rural area, Tipuani, a town in the tropics. Nestorina married a fellow Helping Hands student, Ronny, who is also a teacher in Tipuani, and they have a four-year-old son. 

Limber is a Registered Nurse working in the Pneumonology department of the well-known Hospital Obrero. He is also about to finish a postgraduate degree to become a professor of Nursing.

Guines decided to learn to drive heavy road construction equipment. He is now working as the project supervisor near Ixiamas in the Bolivian tropics.  Guines is married and has a four-year-old daughter. 

Alvaro is a very successful chef and is currently working at the restaurant “Nina Brasas” in the brand new “Green Tower”, the tallest building in Bolivia. He also did his apprenticeship at the prestigious Hotel Los Tajibos in Santa Cruz.

OUR STUDENTS VOLUNTEER

Throughout these years at Helping Hands, we encourage our students to do volunteer service in their communities. This year, they were able to engage in many activities such as visiting the elderly, tutoring younger students, donating blood, cleaning up local parks, handing out food and clothing, and much more.

Their experiences were enriching.  They reported to us about gaining new perspectives on many social issues, improving their self-esteem by helping others and becoming more empathetic to their fellowman.

INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT

We feel the personal development of our youth is very important.  For this purpose, we held 10 workshops in 2023 with a variety of topics such as sharing experiences of the graduation process, encouraging a loving communication between mothers and children, how to maintain positive friendships, reducing bullying, how to write an academic paper and others.

In our annual survey, the students mention that these workshops were very useful, providing them with important information and the opportunity to meet and interact with one another.

FOOD SUPPLEMENTATION

In Bolivia, one of the most frequent issues is malnutrition in the younger population. Therefore, Helping Hands supports the most vulnerable families in our Foundation. We know that proper nourishment is extremely important for our students´ performance in school. Every month, 24 families are provided with supplementary food baskets which contain fresh fruits and vegetables, oatmeal, cooking oil, and high-protein foods such as eggs, powdered milk, lentils, beans, quinoa, and peanuts.

OUR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

This year, we organized our traditional Christmas party with an attendance of about 162 students and family members. Many of our students participated in the talent show, singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments. An impromptu rubric cube contest added much excitement to the talent show.

Everyone shared hot chocolate and plates of Christmas bread and cookies followed by the well anticipated raffle of prizes. To end the evening, all students received Christmas bread, cocoa, powdered milk and cookies to take home, and the younger children received a gift.

The Christmas party is a happy occasion to bring together all our young people, and to celebrate the successful conclusion of a year of hard work and much effort to overcome the many challenges they had to face.

 A FEW FACTS

In 2023, Helping Hands supported a total of 93 students, 61 girls and 32 boys from 7 municipalities in the department of La Paz.

We thank you so very much for partnering with Helping Hands to bring the opportunity of an education to so many vulnerable Bolivian young people.   Having an education opens so many doors and breaks the cycle of poverty of so many families.

 Muchos saludos,

Linda


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