First Isa Mundo Auction

Dear blog readers,

We decided that it would be a good idea to have an online auction to raise funds for our projects. We are in the process of gathering a bunch of goods for the auction. If you have any new items you would like to donate for this auction, please feel free to send us an email and tell us all about it. The more amazing things we have, the better the auction will be. And the more money we raise, the more we will be able to help those who need it the most! ; )

Trip to Nica

It’s about that time of year again…time to travel! This time, the foundation brought us to beautiful Nicaragua. Not many people know that Nicaragua is the second most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere. Once in Nicaragua it was hard to imagine that in such a beautiful country, 27% of its population is suffering from undernourishment. Despite seeing all the hardship, we had a very worthwhile trip. During our short week, we managed to meet with three organizations: Bridges to Community, Empowerment International and Caritas Feliz (featured on October 13).

Bridges to Community is a non-profit striving to create a world where basic needs are treated as human rights: shelter, nutrition, education, healthcare, and employment. Thanks to Miranda and Kevin who graciously toured us around amazing projects including community education, sustainable housing, small loan projects and leadership programs. Thank you to Miranda, Kevin, Jarred, Bonnie and many other community members for sharing your wonderful stories and for welcoming us into your homes and communities. Please check out the Bridges website to found out more about their amazing work in Nica http://bridgestocommunity.org

Empowerment International’s mission is to break the cycle of poverty before it is transferred to yet another generation, by building more educated and productive communities. Their vision is to enable every child to go to school and achieve the level of education they desire. One of the great things about EI is that they encourage the communities to make EI program their own and then empower them to raise their voices and tell their own stories. This is a great approach with working with communities – empower them to make the change! Thank you Deepa for meeting with us (twice!). Check out EI online at http://empowermentinternational.org/

We are now working with these great organizations on the possibility of future projects and we hope that through these projects, we will help empower the future of Nicaragua.

Carita en NIca

A few days ago, as we (or Isa Mundoers) were walking around Granada trying to orient ourselves and plan our next few days of foundation work, we walked through a poorer neighborhood of town and discovered Carita Feliz. It's difficult not to fall in love with these children (check out the pictures). The next day, we decided to walk back to Carita to learn more about this organization.

Carita was founded in March 2001 by Peder Kolind, a Dutch native. Having recently moved to Granada, he found many children hungry and begging for food. His first day here, he bought food from a street vendor to 70 children. The next day he found 130 children waiting expectantly for him. He soon realized that the community needs were so immense, so he decided to launch Carita Feliz.

Their mission is to work with children and youth, through education, to promote the development of attitudes, knowledge, abilities, and skills to encourage their full educational development. They are currently helping over 1,500 children and youth and their families, through meal and nutrition programs, after school programs, scholarships, medical and dental programs and many others. All services offered by Caritas are completely free for all.

They are doing fantastic work with the communities…and, one of the great things about Caritas is that it is completely ran by local community members and leaders. To learn more about Carita visit:http://www.caritafeliz.org/

Isa Mundo Article on Volunteering

Isa Mundo Foundation's Director, Paul Lorilla, was interviewed by Latincouver regarding the importance of volunteering and giving back to your community. Read the short article by clicking on this link:

http://www.latincouver.ca/home_page_articles/en/volunteerism_giving_back_community

Website launch

Back in April, we posted about our new website. Since then, Geegen has volunteered many hours to revamp our website, add a few projects and indulge our many requests for changes and updates. We are now learning the wonderful challenges of website design and the world of html.

We are just about ready to officially launch our new website, so stay tuned and keep visiting our site!

The construction has started...

...and we have pictures to share with you! A few weeks ago, we blogged about the completion of the first phase of our Road to Success Campaign (the fundraising) and we are now happy to report that phase two has officially started! The best part of this project is that it is being done by local Mayan families…so the money we have raised is not only benefiting the orphanage, it is also benefiting the local families by providing them a source of income for their laborious work.

Road to Success Campaign is a Success!

Great news! We've completed another project (well almost...we raised the funds and now the work can get started!).
Casa de Sion will soon be building its access road connecting the orphanage to the water wells, providing potable water for the children and surrounding families. Thanks to your support, we were able to complete this project and add it to our growing list of amazing projects! Thank you for your support.