A range of Christmas gift vouchers has been created by the volunteer-run Lata Foundation to help raise funds for charitable causes.
The Latin America Travel Association (Lata) arm has set a target to raise £10,000 to support grassroots initiatives in the region.
While many people have suffered throughout the pandemic, the poorest areas of Latin America have been in crisis.
Founded by the Latin American travel industry, the Lata Foundation has traditionally welcomed many corporate donors from the travel sector.
But many of these donations have dried up given the travel restrictions caused by the pandemic.
Vouchers, priced between £5-£100 can be purchased via https://latafoundation.org/christmasgift
Funds raised will be directed towards the Lata Foundation projects, including the following examples:
£5
- Can fund a pair of ballet shoes for a child attending Projeto Vidançar in Brazil; a dance school located in Rio’s Complexo do Alemão favela
£10
- Can cover the cost of food, clothing and education for a child for two weeks at Friends of Alalay, a home for former street children in Santa Cruz, Bolivia
£20
- Can cover basic supplies for a student for a full year at Abriendo Mentes; a small community-based project in Costa Rica which aims to empower individuals from two rural coastal communities through education and community development programmes
- Can provide four hours of academic tutoring and/or community English lessons for children in a small town on Colombia’s North Caribbean coast (who have been out of education for over 21 months due to the pandemic) or provide a desk and chair for a child taking part in the academic tutoring programme via community project El Rio
£50
- Can provide supplementary remuneration through charity partner Healing Venezuela, to three junior doctors in Venezuela for a month, to help prevent more doctors leaving the country
- Can provide food for a rescued mammal for six weeks including sloths, monkeys (spider, squirrel, whitefaces capuchin, howler), anteaters, kinkajous, coatis, porcupines, badgers, agoutis, armadillos via Kids Saving the Rainforest, Costa Rica
£100
- Can provide the uniform, study books, writing materials, exercise books and educational equipment needed for a disadvantaged student to attend secondary school for 6 months via the Condor Trust, Ecuador
- Can fund one participant on the XtraOrdinary Women’s Bootcamp Course for micro-business owners in Nicaragua, aimed at empowering local women and helping them out of poverty.