Niños del Tercer Mundo

With the generous support of the proprietor, Jodi Mead, and his manager Ken, a fund raising evening took place in Mulligan’s Bar, Puerto del Carmen, on Saturday 26th April. The top prize was a week in a luxury villa donated by Kevin Roper, seen here giving the lucky winner his voucher. Prizes for the Raffle were given by the Iberostar, Yellow Submarine (Pto. Calero), Ocean Catt (Pto. del Carmen), CM Macher and several shops in Tías, the Ferretería, Miss Foster (Vifutería), Scruples, Aeralva Boutique, Mr Pickwick, L and D Illuminaciones and Maxo. We thank them all and many others. 655 € was raised for the water project in Peru, a DVD was shown, the music was brilliant and the whole evening a great success.

A Bring and Buy was held in La Asomada on 19th/20th April, which raised €2,280 in sales and donations. Enormous thanks to everybody who gave, bought and helped so much on those two days.

The Valentine’s Dinner at the Costa Calero Hotel raised €4,975; this has enabled us to send $6.000 (4.300 €) to the water project in Peru. You can be very sure of the gratitude of the people in the Carabayllo shanty town on the mountainous outskirts of the sprawling city. Water means everything, an absolute essential. You are helping them to get it. Four communities, 350 families living in shacks on the unstable hillside, have almost completed their walls and expect water and drainage to their homes this June. Haidee Zauny, our co-ordinator out there, now has the money to buy the cement, sand and steel bars needed. That will end the second stage of our work out there and the next stage which should begin in March, is a new development.

The government has now offered to pay volunteers $5 a day (10 hour day), if they work on the building of their containment walls and will also pay for half the materials. With this incentive 8 more communities have asked the water board for water and Juan, the young architect working for us, is making the plans for the walls that will make their bit of the mountain safe. Some of the walls needed have to be 4 and 5 metres high with a wide base and tapering so that they end with a low wall. They are terracing the hillside and making paths for the people that did not exist before – as well as enabling water pipes to be laid.

Gill and Sue Thain visited the project in January and agreed on behalf of Niños del Tercer Mundo, to raise money for the other half of the materials they will need. The poverty out there is awful and the government subsidises food kitchens, with meals for one dollar and the women take it in turn to do the cooking to earn a free meal. The men go into the city to look for work; some have skills but the majority are peasants from the countryside and there is no social security.

Our next fund raiser is a Bring and Buy at our house, Camino La Caldereta 48, La Asomada, on the 19th and 20th April, from 11am to 2pm. If you have some things we could sell on the day Gill would be very grateful if you let us know well before. We can come and collect or you could come and deliver to us. We find that people bring things (sometimes) late on the day when most people have gone home. Cakes have to be on the day!

Joe Mead, the owner of Mulligan’s bar (on the Avenida in Puerto del Carmen), has offered us a fund raising night on Saturday 26th April. It will be his usual party style night with a difference. We now have 21 Associate members of our Charity but want to build up to a 100. We would be very grateful if you would consider giving us that support. You would have a say at our Annual General Meeting in November and be more closely involved with our activities. The annual subscription is €50 but we would be even happier if you were to consider a monthly donation paid directly to our bank account. Our treasurer will be happy to give you more details.

Many thanks for your support.
Christopher