This season, Tea is partnering with The Global Fund for Children to give back to several organizations located in South America. This month, we’re featuring the Asociación Jutam Nayampi in La Paz, Bolivia. Learn more about this wonderful organization below.
Latin America has the highest rate of urbanization in the world. La Paz is a metropolitan city located in the valleys of the Andes mountains in Western Bolivia. It is Bolivia’s third most populated city with over 2.3 million inhabitants, with an influx of migrants each year. The neighboring cities of La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia, receive more new residents each year than almost any other cities in the region. In Panticirka, a community on the outskirts of La Paz, nearly every resident is from the countryside, drives to the city to look for work amid falling crop yields and prices. While the economy of La Paz has improved over the years as the political environment has stabilized, many of these migrant families still live in poverty, scraping together a living by working as construction workers, domestic servants or street vendors. Children in the community are likely to leave school early to start work and many are at a high risk of becoming involved in street gangs.
Asociación Jutam Nayampi is a grassroots organization that serves these migrant children and youth. They aim to intervene early to help children stay in school, while also encouraging creativity, self-reflection and self-esteem. The Global Fund for Children specifically supports Jutam Nayampi’s ludotecas, which are creative workshops where children learn through theater, puppetry, cooperative games, sports and handicrafts. The ludotecas work to engage children who otherwise may not have the access or encouragement to be creative on their own. It also gives them an outlet from the everyday hardships they face at home and school. Our hope is that all little citizens everywhere can have a creative outlet and we’re so grateful to connect with Jutam Nayampi and support their efforts in La Paz.
