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ABOUT US

Wichana Foundation was started in the fall of 2019 by Peter Bernstein, Sarah Cox and Urku Deborah May to support community-based programs in Ecuador that benefit the health, education and culture of community members. We raise funds through individual donations, grants and the sale of artisanal crafts.

CURRENT PARTNER PROJECTS (2022):

Mojandita Curubi Centro de Salud is a small health clinic in one of Otavalo's indigenous communities. With substantial support from the foundation, this rural mountain clinic can provide medicine, medical and dental care to many poor residents of this community. In 2022, we began a rural home visit program to bring medical care to elders and disabled residents who can't travel to the health center.

Muyumi Kanki Kichwa Cultural Center is an indigenous-led organization in Cotacachi focused on the revitalization of Kichwa culture and language through courses and workshops held with youth in their rural communities. They also host a weekly radio program on Cotacachi public radio called Kaypimi Kanchik. All Muyumi Kanki programs are conducted 100% in runashimi (Kichwa) to fortify the language that is the key to the culture.

K'allam'p is an indigenous-led organization of Cotacachi that has created a traditional Andean midwifery center for a well-established network of indigenous Kichwa midwives to attend patients, provide education, and train both local and international midwives.

Siona Community of Cuyabeno - our foundation that provides emergency food, medicine and medical care for the remaining 500 Siona indigenous people who live in this isolated Amazon region of Ecuador.

ImbaburaTaytamamakuna Kawsay is a Kichwa runa cultural preservation and education project of the foundation that respectfully empowers local indigenous elders, the runa taytamamakuna. Indigenous cultural activist and photographer Rafael Perez Anrango captured their images and stories in their own Kichwa language. We have published the English edition of a book that includes all the images and stories. The Kichwa-English-Spanish edition of the book is almost ready for publishing.

The Chicken Project - our foundation continues to buy baby chicks for vulnerable communities to provide them with food and income during the pandemic. Our local partners Kichwa Cultural Center Muyumi Kanki and the Mojandita Curubi Health Center lead and manage this project.

Place of Hope (Sumak Paktarina Kuska) - our foundation provides a US tax-deductible donation platform for this volunteer-based organization that provides daily meals to dozens of the poorest elders from the city of Cotacachi and the surrounding rural indigenous communities.

It’s About Children - our foundation provides a US tax-deductible donation platform for this volunteer-based organization that provides scholarships to local students, enabling them to complete their high school education.

Our Women's Advisory Committee provides us with guidance from the outstanding women leaders of our partner projects. The members provide one another with mutual support, project analyses, program development and fundraising tools. WAC's guidance for the foundation is vital to our success because it is rooted in its members' intimate knowledge of the needs of the families and communities where they live as well as serve through their community service projects.

WAC MEMBERS:

Yarina Flores of K'allam'p
Salome Alvear of Place of Hope Sumak Paktarina Kuska
Rosita Cabezas of Mojandita Curubi Health Center
Martha Chavez of Mojandita Curubi Health Center
Alli Tolbert, Wichana Program Development Director
Koya Valencia of Muyumi Kanki Kichwa Cultural Center

The Wichana Foundation is a US tax-exempt organization (501(c)(3)) so contributions are tax deductible as permitted by applicable law.

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CONTACT

Tel: 917-273-0360

Email: info@wichana.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/wichana.org

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