Throughout this year, Jasper and Evie have been quietly serving on the board of La Mano Amiga, an incredible new non-profit run by Jessica Tyndall (a former student of NoVES)! La Mano Amiga serves as an anonymous helping hand for some of the poorest people in Honduras. The majority of the people that they support grew up in an orphanage called NPH (Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos). The orphanage met their basic needs when they were children, but as soon as they became adults (or teenagers in some cases), they were on their own, living in one of the poorest countries in the world with no social safety net and no one to turn to. 

Living in extreme poverty, the people who La Mano Amiga helps don't have the family connections that people often use to borrow enough money to remove obstacles or jumpstart a new business. The organization’s goal is to help people remove these obstacles to help them move forward. People like Agueda, who needed a tortilla maker, a large bag of masa flour, and some supplies for $332. With that small gift, she was able to start selling tortillas out of her home (and now sells them to another recipient of funds from La Mano Amiga). 

However, La Mano Amiga is a small organization and needs to make decisions about who they can fund. Jasper and Evie have been working this year to help make those decisions. They sorted through 30 applications and determined where the limited funds could do the most good. I've been part of these conversations and I can say that the choices have been difficult. In each of our meetings, I've seen Evie and Jasper work hard to empathize with the reality that people are facing and balance individual and community needs. 

This year, they have allocated over $10,000 to help 17 adult orphans (and, by extension, their families and communities). They've helped people start new businesses, expand the possibilities of their existing businesses, and make better lives for their kids. They've also helped create an incredibly valuable framework for how La Mano Amiga makes funding decisions. 

In Jessica’s words, “We are reaching a severely marginalized but incredibly resilient (and grateful!!) group of people and helping them in  such an impactful way...and we absolutely could not have done it without Evie and Jasper's help!” 

La Mano Amiga is such a strong example of what happens when we teach kids to recognize the humanity in others and to help bring out the best in them. I’m so grateful that Jessica shared this opportunity with us and so proud of Jasper and Evie for their amazing work. If you’d like to donate to La Mano Amiga, you can do so via venmo (@Jessica-Tyndall-13) or Paypal (Jessica.uze@gmail.com). To be added to their email newsletter or donate another way, please reach out to Jessica at jcudpt@gmail.com.