How You Help - Where your donations go

THE EARTH EDUCATION PROJECT

PACHAMAMA PAPER WORKSHOP

The Earth Education Project is a grassroots non-profit organisation working with the community living off Central America’s largest open top rubbish dump; La Chureca in Managua, Nicaragua.

The Pachamama Workshop which is based in the Juntos Contigo (JCT) education centre, teaches a group of 20 women, benefitting 11% of the families, who normally scavenge the municipal rubbish for their income, to learn to recycle paper by hand and produce cards which they paint and decorate also using recycled materials such as tin cans.

The women receive a monthly food provision for their attendance and participation whilst in the learning phase of 2010 which is a pilot year. The aim is to establish a sustainable business in the community run by the women that will provide the families with alternative incomes based on newly learned skills.

Alongside the workshop The Earth Education Project runs a practical environmental and gardening curriculum for the women, youth and children of La Chureca. And we provide the women with additional support in areas of read, writing and calligraphy.

The women of the Pachamama Workshop are hard working intelligent women who have had a very tough life. Of the 20 women between the ages of 15 and 53, 17 have children. All of the women have worked, or still do work, on the rubbish dump. We are building the business with them that will mean that neither they nor their children have to collect rubbish for an income again.

Your donations facilitate the workshop classes; provide materials to set up the workshop in Juntos Contigo and individual learning packs, the monthly food provisions and extra academic support in reading, writing, mathematics and calligraphy.

In September 2010 the women will start a basic micro- business management course to compliment the vision of the Pachamama Workshop.

In the future we would like to support the women with IT lessons with support from Juntos Contigo. This is essential to learn invaluable skills and to manage programs and the internet to run a business.

The women are encouraged to go for regular health checkups and workshops at the local clinics, EEP, with JCT, facilitates these visits with pre and post visit follow up including discussions on health and nutrition, women’s health and basic household health.

The Pachamama Workshops, which means Mother Nature’s Workshop in the Andean language Quechan, is more than a business venture. It is a space where women are encouraged to develop their creativity and skills, through further education regardless of whether they were able to finish school and can read or write.

The workshop is based on our love for nature and belief that can produce products for modern day markets that are in harmony with our surroundings. The women are encouraged to take pride in themselves, families and their knowledge base. We aim to have healthy strong, informed women working at the Pachamama Workshop. They are learning the relevant artistic skills which will enable them to lift their families out of poverty.

Without your support and generous donations none of this would be possible.

Gracias de corazon.
Thank you from all of us;


The Earth Education Project team
Contact: tallerpachamama@gmail.com
Founder: Andrea Paltzer
United Kingdom: +44 78 5342 4990
Nicaragua: +505 8878 2960
Administrator: Ana Gonzalez
Country Director: Ruben Silva
http://www.juntoscontigo.com/
Artist: Lesbia Perez