Buijo School Project
By James H Pasch, Jr.
Thank you for taking a moment to read this information on my new charity I started last year. Over the past 20 years I have been involved with many charities and have run the New York Guitar Show for 18 years. The proceeds from the Guitar Show went to the Aids Resource Foundation for Children. I have also been involved in many food banks and shelters in the United States.
I am still involved in many United States’ charities, but this new charity really hits close to home. I live in Ecuador for 6 months a year with my wife and we are expecting our first baby in July.
The Buijo Foundation is a non-profit foundation that I started to educate the children with all the basic math and reading skills. I also expose them to culture in all its forms, and teach them computers and languages so they may have a chance at a better life. I have chosen personally to try and break this cycle of poverty and need your help. I have never in all my years seen such a "life" in anyone as in these children in Ecuador who live in beyond acceptable conditions.
This Buijo is the first settlement in Ecuador and is a national landmark, and its land is protected from any further modern development. Unfortunately, all of the people who live in the Buijo are some of the poorest in the country. The average salary for a family in the Buijo is $180 per month. Yes. Per month! Many are out of work. The jobs they have are brutal field hand jobs in 90 degree weather and construction jobs in what would be considered unsafe conditions in the United States. Besides the low pay, these people have no benefits or retirement.
The children are the ones who take the brunt of this misfortune and most families do not send their children to school after age 12 because of financial difficulties. Parents need them to help support the family. This continues the cycle of poverty in the Buijo, and it is nearly impossible to get out of this cycle. The Buijo is comprised mainly of 10 generations of families that have lived this way unchanged.
The pictures on the home page give you an idea of the living conditions. All houses are made out of bamboo and scrap wood. No windows and no indoor plumbing. Most houses are built on stilts - not for water issues – but because they create a shaded area where they can sit under the house to protect themselves from the sun. Sanitation is an issue as the animals they raise run freely throughout the Buijo and in their yards and houses making conditions less than acceptable. The children have no recreation areas or recreational outlet. They play in the street and dirt with little or no supervision. That is their life until it is time for them to work and support the family.
I had a two room school built on top of an existing structure in the Buijo for an educational facility and art center for the children. I put up $20,000.00 of my own money to start the project and will continue to donate money every year. I am asking for donations now to keep it running and future pledges to keep this school active. This is a non-profit foundation. All expenses are disclosed and will be provided to all donators. I have also enclosed copies of the office documents from Ecuador registering the charity. Also, we will provide a video of the school and the children and update our progress every year. We are looking for donations once a year and welcome all to come and visit.
We currently have 100 students per week in our school. I see the
excitement in these poor children to learn and better themselves.
We have a waiting list of over 250 more but lack the room and the funds
to expand. We need to get a bigger facility and more computers and
teachers.
This is where we need your help. It only costs $350 per year per student to change their lives. That is less than a dollar a day. Please consider adding the Buijo Foundation to your annual charitable giving.
I personally supervise this charity and will guarantee all funds go directly to the children and staff. If you would like to support this special project, please make out a check to this exact name:
"Fundacion Buijo"
And send your checks to my business address in Hoboken:
Hoboken Vintage Guitars
Fundacion Buijo
164 First Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030
201-222-8977
Thank you very much,
Jim Pasch
