El Puente the Bridge

We envision a world in which the definition of “resources“ is recognized to mean much more than just

Goal One: Strengthen our education program by funding students to attend school, recruiting tutors, and expanding our resources on-site (laptops, printer, etc)

Goal Two: Create a new community garden, kitchen and dining area. This will allow for the community to participate in growing and preparing their own food. It will foster community through shared meals.

Goal Three: Expand and define our micro loan program. We will set a clear application process and re-payment plan for community members in need of Microfinance.

El Puente invests in education for our community members. In 2021, we provided needed school supplies to over 100 indigenous students to be able to attend school. We sent 2 community members to a two-week workshop in sustainable bamboo construction. And we sent our manager Derek to a 3-week intensive training program hosted by indigenous leaders from multiple countries.

The coronavirus left no community untouched in 2021. El Puente responded and adapted through education (encouraging healthy practices such as hand washing, masking, and social distancing), and through assistance (providing meals-to-go for affected families and income support to those unable to work). We host a community meal twice weekly on our property. We adapted by spacing out our tables and requiring households to sit together during the meal. We changed the way we prepare the food (moving to an outdoor kitchen instead of inside) and serve the meal (masked volunteers serving family groups one at a time). El Puente also adapted our school program in response to the pandemic. When school shut down, we transitioned from providing backpacks to kids (who would not need them since there was no school to go to), to investing in laptop computers so that kids could keep up on their classes remotely.