A powerful weapon against poverty

For years education has been spoken of as the most important means of transforming lives. It is a powerful weapon against poverty, ignorance, and conflict. It is the ultimate weapon for change, encouraging, nurturing and inspiring young minds to reach their full potential and make their communities and the world a better place to live in. Understandably education is at the heart of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals which aim that by 2015 every child will be able receive a primary education and why this year with your support we aim to double the number of children at the Quest school in the shanty town of Villa Maria, Peru.

The children in Grade 3 working hard

As you may know, the charity La Vida works in partnership with Quest4Change and is sponsoring 26 very disadvantaged children to attend the Quest school in Villa Maria, Lima, Peru. Last year they launched a scheme whereby individuals can sponsor a child themselves through La Vida. Sponsors receive photos, an update on the child's progress through the year, and news from the school through videos and other messages. As a result of the scheme another 20 kids were able to attend the school in 2009, which had 70 pupils on its books at the end of the year. The new school year begins in March and there is capacity for 120 children in total at the school, so if anyone else would like to become a sponsor for 2010 please get in contact with La Vida as soon as possible via email at sponsorachild@lavida.org.uk or our Just Giving page: http://www.justgiving.com/sponsorvillamaria.

Edy and Aylyn - Two of the children sponsored through La Vida

The cost is £180/year or £15/month. There are more details on the project on our website: www.http://www.lavida.org.uk.

Quest4Change has been working in Villa Maria for over 14 years now, over the years this project has grown from providing two months worth of sporting and recreational activities for local children during their summer holidays to running year round workshops in sports, arts and music. We also established a pre and primary school which provides free and subsidised education to 100 children, who due to circumstance beyond their control would otherwise receive no formal education at all. And our most recent project is tackling the appalling living conditions of many of these children, through a targeted community led programme of home construction. To find out more about this project and others, click here.

Your support will make a real difference, thank you.

Summer activities have reached out to over 200,000 children.

Find out more about volunteering on this project.