Akorn Philanthrophy
Akorn believes passionately that travel should both respect the natural environment and benefit the indigenous peoples whose lands we visit. Akorn ensures that we support a carefully chosen project in the individual destinations where we operate.
St. Mary of the Angels
Village St. Mary of the Angels, in San Pablo del Lago, the result of the incredible efforts of Padre Alfonso. The project was established to provide a home, food, education, health care and, especially, a family atmosphere for orphans and abandoned children living with HIV/AIDS. Ecuador still suffers from very strong stigmas attached to HIV/AIDS, and it is common for parents to abandon HIV positive babies. So, fifteen years ago, Padre Alfonso left his job with American Airlines and began his life caring for and raising these children in Quito. However, their initially supportive neighbors turned hostile when they discovered the children were HIV positive. Finally, after continued difficulties with misinformed and unwelcoming neighbors and businesses, Padre Alfonso found the perfect home for the project in San Pablo del Lago. With a beautiful setting and 3 hectares of land, St. Mary of the Angels seems like it was destined to be their destination all along. The problems weren’t completely over though - the children have had to change schools on a regular basis due to complaints lodged by the parents of fellow schoolmates. All of these changes have been distressing and expensive, but Padre Alfonso and the children have come through it as a family, and they’ve finally found a school willing to accept and support them.
Padre Alfonso is hard at work putting the land to use – he’s in the midst of a difficult but promising project to establish an array of microbusinesses which will help support their day-to-day costs. The microbusinesses include raising pigs and cuy (guinea pigs, a delicacy in Ecuador) to sell for profit. With support from donors, buildings to house the animals have been built, and some pigs have already moved in, but Padre Alfonso is still trying to drum up the funds to purchase all of the food and vitamins that will be required to effectively care for the number of animals needed to make the businesses sustainable.
Visit St. Mary of the Angels
Akorn guests have the opportunity to see first-hand life at St. Mary of the Angels. During your visit, you are invited to be a “hands-on volunteer” in whichever way you wish – whether that means playing with the children, helping to prepare lunch, or weeding in the garden. The children are welcoming and friendly, and will be happy to show you around their home! For further information on including such a visit in an Ecuador itinerary, contact Akorn Ecuador..
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