Sedona Village School Opens!

schools

Escuela Delfin

jchmcpherson

 Located in the southern zone on the Pacific Coast in Costa Rica, the rural town of Pavones is a surf and yoga destination attracts many families from around the world who seek an alternative way of life. Our program, Escuela Delfin (Dolphin School) is named for the dolphins who live in the harbor next to the school. Seeing them from the beach instills a profound sense of kinship through their natural beauty, gentleness and intelligence.

This experience has inspired us to share these deeply held values in designing a school to educate the next generation. Our long term vision is to one day be a full preK-12 school, however with this grant we will establish a primary school.

In late 2022, we created a plan to become an internationally-accredited bilingual school in English & Spanish with a campus of our own. Joanna of MTF gathered together local leaders and neighbors, and we opened a preschool/kindergarten in January 2023. Having provided a unique program for families thus far, we’ve affected many lives already.

We are mission-driven: to be a community resource and remove the barrier of cost for families who cannot afford tuition by leveraging financial support from the families who can. Our leadership team is 5 people (the 2 founders, Joanna of MTF and two local parents) with the support of paid staff and community members. We are in the process of forming a non-profit organization with a board of directors comprising the school leaders, parents and community members.

The school requires more teachers and partners, as we turn a bold and compelling vision into reality.

Learn more about opportunities for impact. Contact us to get involved.

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Medical support in Rwanda

jchmcpherson

Universal Health Coverage and Type 1 Diabetes in Rwanda: A cup of coffee can save a life!

Imagine you are sick and don’t have a way to get care. You can’t work and can’t go to school. This is the reality for many children/youth in low and middle income countries  who have  Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).

In Rwanda,  a  person with T1D must pay $20 for insulin each month, which is unaffordable for many.  The country, however, has innovative health insurance known as mutuelle de sante.  It is family-based health insurance in which each family member must pay $3 per year, less than the cost of a cup of coffee.  When the family is insured under mutuelle, the overall medical cost becomes only 10% of the original total cost. The person now can pay just $2 under mutuelle.  

Covering health insurance allows the child to attend his/her monthly checkup and families to get more involved in their child’s care and increase their communication with the medical providers, contributing to better diabetes control for the child. This means they can work or go to school and have a chance at living life, rather than struggling to survive.

Pillar of Health pillarofhealth.org raises funds to provide health insurance to those families who cannot afford it. We have a larger vision to sustain health insurance for all by supporting agricultural business. Our animal husbandry program is in its pilot phase. Patients care for the animals, and sell or use the food from pigs, goats and chickens. 

We are very grateful for the support of Panorama Global/Helmsley Charitable Trust grant that helped us pay health insurance for children/youth with T1D and family members from 23 district hospitals.

Support Pillar of Health by donating $3 a month to pay for a year’s worth of healthcare for someone like you in Rwanda!