Charity Name: Yachana

Project: Over the last 16 years, the YACHANA FOUNDATION (formally FUNEDESIN) has generated and invested approximately 5.2 million dollars in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This investment of time and resources has underwritten many triumphs, some of which you can read about in these pages. We are truly an integrated development organization involved in many different aspects all designed to improve the lives of the people and protect the environment. We use an unusual development model of non-profit / for-profit where the Foundation owns two for- profit companies, Yachana Lodge and Yachana Gourmet. We are involved in Geotourism, education, agriculture, health, income generation and technical assistance.

Goals: In the Amazon region of Ecuador, poverty, environmental degradation and poor quality of public education are all inextricably linked. Thirty percent of elementary school children in the Amazon region do not finish the 6th grade. Only 15% finish secondary schooling. Students drop out because they feel the current public education available in their remote communities is impractical and irrelevant to their everyday lives. To address these issues, in October 2005, the Yachana Foundation opened the Yachana Technical High School to benefit high school-age indigenous and mestizo students who live in remote rural communities in Ecuador's Amazon region. Meaningful education is the key to reversing generations of poverty, raising environmental awareness and ensuring the sustainable use of the region's natural resources. With the proper preparation, Amazon youth can become good stewards of their land, leaders within their communities and ambassadors for the Amazon. They can learn how to be successful entrepreneurs, gain the tools to improve their standard of living, and create environmentally sound employment possibilities in the rainforest.