When Anyesica Alvarado and Deborah Van Ham took Professor Nicholas Robins’ class, Latin America to 1826, they thought they would only be learning about Latin American history. Little did they know they would use this course as a vehicle to start their new fundraising organization, the Latin America Project.
Alvarado, a junior studying communication, and Van Ham, a senior studying leadership in the public sector, started LAP in January. LAP is an organization that unites students at NC State and Raleigh and assists Latin Americans with limited resources.
Although the organization was just founded in January, the club already has a total of 18 members, according to Van Ham.
“I love being in LAP,” Van Ham said. “It’s so invigorating being around everybody and watching everybody come up with these ideas.”
The club focuses on raising funds specifically for two nonprofit organizations in Latin America, Help Huanca and Proyecto Bienestar (or Project Well-being.)
“Our goal is to help communities better themselves,” Van Ham said. “We kind of like to see ourselves as a community-building organization in action.”
Robins is the director and founder of Help Huanca, an initiative that helps residents in Huancavelica, Peru, reconstruct their homes. According to Van Ham, Alvarado, the president of the organization, was excited about this nonprofit and wanted to do something to help.
Robins saw a need for Help Huanca because the city has high levels of mercury from its history of silver mining extraction since the 18th century.
Most of the homes in Huancavelica are contaminated, and repairs cost about $1,200 per home. Van Ham said residents in these homes suffer from complicated health issues, as the mercury goes straight into their lungs and blood streams when they inhale it.
Van Ham, on the other hand, has an internship with Proyecto Bienestar. This nonprofit focuses on providing women in Saltillo, Mexico, with business knowledge and skills, and it offers micro-grants to Mexican women who want to start their own businesses and help their community, according to Van Ham.
“The majority of the women in these sites have some type of informal business,” said Julia Sherman, secretary of LAP and a sophomore studying international relations. “So we want to give them the resources that are necessary for the growth and establishment of their businesses.”
Sherman said her experiences with the organization LAP have been really beneficial for her.
“It makes me feel good to know that what I am doing in this organization will help people that do not have access to the resources needed to improve their living standards, “ Sherman said. “It’s a great feeling to know that the funds we raise will directly improve the lives of these people in need. “
Van Ham said the ultimate goal of LAP is to raise $10,000 a year for each nonprofit. However, since this is only its first semester as an organization, Van Ham said their goal is to raise as much money as they can, hopefully about $2,000 to $2,400.
To raise funds, LAP is holding several different fundraising events. The first event was a bake sale in the Brickyard, and Van Ham said LAP plans to hold another in the Talley Lobby on March 9 from 9 – 11:30 a.m.
The biggest fundraising event LAP will have is a dance event called, “Come As You Are (in 10 Years),” in Talley on April 23. Tickets are $10, available at LAP’s meetings and fundraising events, and through its email. Van Ham said it will be a fun event and has an important message as well.
“For the women in Mexico and the families in Peru, their lives are going to be what they’re going to be; they don’t have a choice to alter their destiny,” Van Ham said. “Ten years from now, they’re going to be on the same track that they were on 10 years ago. And we [as students in the U.S.] do have that ability. I really want to press upon people the importance of using your opportunities wisely.”
Van Ham said LAP’s biggest challenge so far has been getting the word out. Although there are about 18 members of LAP, only about eight of them are very active. The organization is actively seeking new members.
“Because we’re a brand new organization, we don’t have a lot of what my instructor calls ‘street credibility,’” Van Ham said. “We’re not well known, and our name isn’t synonymous with anything because we’re brand new. We’re having a lot of trouble finding members that want to be actively involved.”
In the future, LAP desires to help different organizations in Latin America that support the development of communities with limited resources. The club also plans to organize annual trips both Saltillo and Huancavelica each school year. Members of LAP will have the opportunity to go on a service trip to Peru during winter break and Mexico during spring break to work onsite with the organizations in Latin America.
Van Ham is going to Saltillo to visit Proyecto Bienestar during spring break to interview the women involved in the program and to create a short video.
“My goal is to find out from the women, (1) how Proyecto Bienestar has helped their lives, and (2) what kind of changes or improvements can be done,” Van Ham said. “And one really important question, ‘If you could say anything to a U.S. university student, what would it be?’”
Both Van Ham and Sherman said they are enjoying the organization, and they hope their membership and fundraising will grow throughout the semester to make a “viable impact in Latin America.”
The next club meeting is March 22 at 6 p.m. in Ricks Hall, Room 105, and all are welcome.
Divina Providencia Church in Saltillo, Mexico, loans space to the nonprofit organization Proyecto Bienestar to work with women of the area.
