Dear Friends!

we have 2 more weeks to go before leaving Cusco! And looking at our fundraising activities both on-line and off-line we are stunned :) When we began our volunteering at Bruce Peru we silenly admitted to each other we hope there is one thing we will not have to do, and that was fundraising... It is still quite difficult to imagine that we received so much money and actually all our targets were met! Moreover the help we received is beyond our original objectives, which means we can complete this year eaxctly as we planned and we do not leave the cash box empty for the new director.

We are also glad for the almost 50-50% balance of the donations we received through this page and we were able to raise here in Cusco. The last outstanding example was a charity party in one of the local clubs this week, where about 150 people got crazy for one night and dropped 2 Peruvian Nuevo Soles to our donation box after each drink. We raised around 300 USD one night, which indicates the temperature of the party.... :)

This month has been also wonderful because of the gorgeous volunteers we had. Let us thank to all of you once again Laura, Viki, Tom, Katie, Sarah and Michala for the fun you brought to our lives and for all your help!

The last days were bringing quite a few new donations thanks to the network of our volunteers. Muchas gracias Canadienses and the ones we do not know!

rita and tomek

30 Nov 2008 - Cusco

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Hello again,

we have to say we are very proud of all the people who have donated money to our kids. Thank you again to all of you!

It is almost the end of school year and we are preparing the kids for the entry exams to the state schools. It also means that we have to pay a small yearly fee, get uniforms, notebooks and pencils for kids. Since during the break of January and February we will have to recruit new kids for our summer school - condensed program helping kids who would probably not make it to the 1st grade without our 2 months preparatory summer school - we are also going to have new expenses.

For Christmas we have started a new campaign collecting donations in form of kids clothing, school utensils and toys. We plan to have 40 partners (bars, and hotels) which will serve as drop-off points in our campaign. We will also have a party at one of the more popular bars in central Cusco where some of the proceeds will go to our cause.

With all these happenings in the pipeline, nine volunteers at the moment with us we have decided to increase our target in order to fulfill our mission.

Once again thank you everybody and we are looking forward to new donations from all over the world.

Tomek & Rita & 40 kids (10th of November 2008) ===============================================================

Hello again,

as a result of our local fundraising activities we manged to raise another 990 USD with pub quizzes and a charity lunch at the local membership club with over a 100 guests. And as a "side-effect" our little team became some kind of celebrity in the Cuscenan nightlife :) at the moment we run the most wanted pub quizzes and there is hardly any restaurant, bar or club which has not been on our way when looking for sponsors for our Club Cusco event...

From all the money we raised and you sent us - besides running the daily activities - to improve learning we introduced 2 schoolbooks for every single kid in all our schools. We organized a day out in a swimming pool for the Peruvian student day, and we have loads of cloths and presents for the coming year-end and Christams party. Moreover besides the daily breakfast we have introduced lunch coming from a local restaurant.

We have 6 weeks to go till the school year ends and we are still missing A VERY SMALL bit to complete the year with a budget able to cover the uniforms and enrollment fees for the coming year!

Thanks for all your help and encouraging messages!

rita and tomek

Dear Friends!

every single time we find a new donation on this page we are overwhelmed with happiness and celebrate! Every penny we receive encourages us to go on and gives us the confidence that what we are doing is important. Not to mention the fact that each coin saves us time to focus on our kids instead of running around in Cusco raising money by organizing events of various kinds. We take pride in having so many friends willing to help these children and entrusting us with their confidence.

We are thinking about you every time we can pocket a hug or a beso from these kids, we wish you could see their smiles!

hugs,

rita and tomek

Thank you for visiting Rita Asvanyi's and Tomasz Bilinski's Fundraising Page!

From August till December 2008 we are running a small center in Cusco, Peru under the umbrella organization of Bruce Peru. Over 20% of school-age children fail to attend the otherwise obligatory school system due to child labor caused by poverty or behavioural difficulties. We have three schools in the outskirts of Cusco, all together with 35 children between the age of 6 and 14. All these kids would end up illiterate without our efforts to find them, convince their families to allow us to teach them for one year and enroll them to the state schools. We work with three Peruvian teachers, a social worker and international volunteers.

Besides recruiting volunteers and collecting donations like clothing and medicine for the children, we constantly seek for financial support in order to be able to maintain our activities. We are a completely self-sustaining center with no other income than donations from individuals. To pay the rent for our three schools for one month costs 40 USD. To pay the food for our students costs 180 USD a month. Additionally we provide school supplies, medical service and clothing to our children. We pay salaries to our local teachers, maintain a small center for 8 volunteers and commute every day to the suburbs, where our schools are located.

If you would like to help these children to get the opportunity to receive education please use this tool to send your contribution or forward this link to anyone you feel would be interested.

Should you have any question you can contact us via:
e-mail: bruceperucusco@yahoo.com
blog: bruceperucusco.blogspot.com
or phone: +51 84 255 220 (Time zone: GMT - 6:00).

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to make a contribution to our fundraising efforts.

Many thanks for your support!