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Casa Mantay

Opening its doors in 2000, Casa Mantay is a safe house that provides shelter, food and education for young mothers between the ages of 12 and 18.
Casa Mantay, Cusco, Peru, November 2018 © Andrew Dare Photography

Coming from troubled backgrounds, many of these vulnerable girls have been victims of sexual abuse, neglect and violence. Casa Mantay aims to empower them, offering them the support they need to live as strong, independent members of society, capable of taking care of themselves and their children.

An essential part of this work takes place in the Taller Mantay, the organisation’s workshop, which provides the girls with training for four hours a day and generates jobs for women who have already left the Casa. Authentic Peruvian leather accessories are made and then sold in Palacio del Inka in Cusco. Casa Mantay also built an innovative Social Enterprise project, ‘Arte Floral’, which teaches the girls how to create a range of decorative flower arrangements. These arrangements are often sold at weddings & luxury 5 star hotels.

‘Experiencia Mantay’, is the latest, unique social enterprise, which is aimed at tourists to educate them about Casa Mantay. It begins with a guided tour and background explanation of the organisation. Afterwards, a presentation on the Taller Mantay is given, and then the tourists have the opportunity to create their own, completely personalised and individual, keyring.

The main objectives of these social enterprises are to facilitate the training and eventual economic independence of the mothers in the company of their children. Additionally, the profits generated from these sales go towards buying supplies, paying the salaries of the workshop employees and contribute towards the running costs of Casa Mantay.

Casa Mantay, Cusco, Peru, November 2018 © Andrew Dare Photography
By providing a helping hand, free from judgement or discrimination, Casa Mantay is helping lift the women of Peru out of poverty and allowing them to become upstanding and valuable citizens.
mantay.org

How LAFF Helps

Quality Education

Formal Education:

LAFF financially supports Casa Mantay to ensure that all mothers and children have access to formal education and/or vocational training, with all the materials and resources needed to attend school. Through this, LAFF aims to have 100% of girls passing their exams each year. LAFF also provides after school tutors to Casa Mantay to improve the girls’ quality of education. 

Personal Development:

Financial education: LAFF supports the financial education of the girls at Casa Mantay by providing a series of group workshops by an expert volunteer on savings, taxes, health insurance, and independent life, to increase their autonomy and independence going into adult life. Furthermore, LAFF ensures that  100% of girls have been assessed for cognitive learning disabilities and correctly diagnosed, thus being able to tailor education based on their individual needs. This means the girls are able to  reach their full potential in their academic goals without any setbacks.

Capacity Building

Organisational Capacity Building:

LAFF has supported Casa Mantay in the creation of a Strategic and Annual Plan with clear indicators and objectives for Casa Mantay for 2020 onwards. This allows Casa Mantay to develop and possibly expand their current programs, and plan future ones. Furthermore, LAFF provides technical support to improve Casa Mantay’s Monitoring and Evaluation systems, including documentation, and provides sessions on M&E consultancy. This allows Casa Mantay to gain expertise in monitoring and evaluating programs, so they are able to use knowledge to prepare future programs and monitor current ones.

Financial Sustainability:

LAFF has helped Casa Mantay by creating a fundraising plan based on its budget projection for 2020. This means Casa Mantay will have increased annual revenue contributing to long term financial sustainability. Furthermore, LAFF has helped create a plan to set up an emergency fund for unexpected urgent needs, in the hope that Casa Mantay will have enough funds to provide for all program, maintenance and emergency costs as well as be able to expand on existing programs when needed. 

*These programmes are ongoing and subject to change depending on the needs of our partner organisations. Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 crisis, many of these projects have had to be put on hold. We endeavour to implement these projects as soon as possible.

Casa Mantay, Cusco, Peru, November 2018 © Andrew Dare Photography
LATIN AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE
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