Success and Impact Stories Report 2016

Sharing knowledgeAn important part of the Libras de Amor program isall of the volunteers who give their time and love totheir community, working hard and learning all thatthey can to share it with the families around them.These volunteers are constantly being trained by theLibras de Amor team, to improve their skills andknowledge on nutrition and early childhood stimulation.Each month, they attend meetings to learn themethodologies to use in nutritional and agriculturalactivities, and to provide them with the kits to use whileteaching at the Nutripuntos.Nutripuntos are spaces where they share differentlearning experiences with moms and children,and all the volunteers help the team carry out allof the activities effectively.About 32 volunteers gather at the meeting in eachNutripunto. There are about 100 Nutripuntosdistributed in the cities of Apaneca, Ataco andGuaymango. Most of the times, the Nutripuntos arelocated in the volunteers’ houses, a great proof of howcommitted they are in the Libras de Amor program.Thanks to the support from Food for the Poor, the Librasde Amor team received a donation of chairs, whichthey use at these meetings and during trainings. Theyalso take these to Nutripuntos meetings that are notequipped with enough chairs.This donation helps the team provide a safe and com-fortable space for all of the volunteers who constantlyattend these meetings with a great desire to learn newskills and share it with their families and communities.





Thank you Food for the Poor, for giving th to have an adequate space to learn a families in the

he chance to these commited volunteersand improve their skills to support theeir community.

Sharing nutritionVolunteers who participate in the Libras de Amorhealthy recipes for at risk families in the rural areas ofspaces created for mothers and children to share difdemonstrations to make easy, economic and nutritiouremote villages with difficult road access, and most of tThe food demonstrations are an important part of thehave portable stoves available in order to prepare anavailable in their communities for a greater nutritionalThanks to the valuable support from Food for thedonation of stoves, which were distributed to commtheir hard work, commitment and willingness to leareach Nutripunto, with more than 30 moms and their c

r program share their knowledge on nutrition andf El Salvador. In this program we work in “Nutripuntos”, fferent learning experiences, and participate in foodus recipes at home. Many of these “Nutripuntos” are inthe time have no available electricity.e Libras de Amor program, so it is always necessary to nd show the moms new ways of preparing the foodl value. e Poor, the Chance Program at FUSAL received amunity volunteers in a special ceremony to recognize rn. Each volunteer shares at least 2 recipes a day inchildren attending.

Thank you Food for the Poor, for allowing u We are truly transfor

us to be a vehicle of hope for these women.rming lives together.









Meet Gladys MartínezA dedicated mother...“Every day is difficult but beautiful too, because God gives me the gyear old woman with a big heart who has the responsibility toGladys lives in a small community in the municipality of Chalfilled with challenges that not everyone could handle. She taHer situation is really unusual: her two sons were born with cehad to make a decision early on, to dedicate her entire life and“People like me, who have children with conditions like mine, spthinking that they can be excluded by other people. I know and twith a life purpose”.Her daily routine is complicated, but never changes: she wbreakfast (when there is food available to eat) and then she spthem and taking care of them. One of her grandsons lives withwith the boys at night when he returns home.Having to take care of her 'babies', as she calls Elmer and Miltothat she used to have a small business selling pupusas, a tyshe's had problems in one of her knees and can no longer wand sewing for people in her community. Her daughter helenough when you have two kids with this type of health condwith, because we know that we have lots of needs, but we have noAlmost a decade ago, a group of nuns visited her communityattention of one of the nuns: she visited her home and told Glathought it wasn’t appropriate that Gladys used cloth diapers ofor disposable diapers. Gladys used to take old blankets, towelsnew ones or disposable ones.

gift of life and strength to endure each day”, says Gladys, a 60 look after two small angels.latenango, in northern El Salvador. There she deals with a lifeakes care of her two sons, Elmer, 39, and Milton, 38 years old. erebral palsy and severe quadriplegia. This meant that Gladys time to care for her sons’ needs.pend our lives trapped inside the house, worrying andtell everyone that they are also human beings that God createdwakes up, wakes up Elmer and Milton, bathes them, makes pends the day carrying them around the house, playing withh her too; he works all day as a taxi driver, but luckily helps heron, Gladys has barely any free time to earn an income. She saysypical food in El Salvador, but since she started growing oldwork while standing. Now she works a bit doing needlework lps by giving her some money as well. However, that is notdition. “Our lack of resources is always a difficult situation to dealo way to cover these needs”, says Gladys.y, wanting to know the necessities there. Her case called theadys to search for an organization that could help her kids. Sheon her sons, and she suggested that she visited FUSAL and ask s and clothes to make diapers, since she couldn’t afford to buy For health



Six years ago, Gladys became one of thespecial cases that FUSAL helps under the ChanceProgram. She is part of 51 people that receivedonations every month, because they can't coverall of their basic needs on their own. Most of thesepeople have serious health problems and live inextreme poverty.Gladys has an urgent need: diapers for her sons. Shecomes to FUSAL every two or three monthsand receives disposable diapers donated by Food forthe Poor. Without this donation, the quality of hersons’ lives would be very low. She says, “Every day Iuse 3 diapers per boy, a total of six diapers per day. Oneat night, one in the morning and one at noon. I changethese three times a day so they are never too wet. I givethem a lot of liquid food, because the doctor told me togive the kids lots of liquids.”This support that she receives means lesspreocupation in her life routine. Her two sons are herlife. They bring pure joy and love to her days. Sheloves them, enjoys her life with them and believesthat God made them with a purpose, filling her lifewith laughter, love and joy.Touched and emotional, but happy, Gladys senta message to our donors at Food for the Poorabout this donation: “It means a lot to me.. you haveso many people to help and always are there for us. Ifyou were here I would tell you in the name of mysons, that I admire you, even though I don’t knowyou, but only a few people do what you do for us, and Iam very grateful to you. I pray to God that you never stophelping us.” imTahnpadonrwtkaGeynlloaltndude,yosFssn,oEatooltdmiobfeneoraraauntnhtdidefubMPlropiinloetgoro,innpf.oglerhltihokpiese



eduFocr ation

ESENESEN is one of the most prominent higher education instibusiness areas. ESEN has a special program destined exclufrom the public education sector in the country, with low ectheir university studies for lack of resources, so ESEN providecollege expenses, housing, food and transportation.With Food for the Poor's generous donation of books, we cowith high quality content that we are sure will be enjoyed bknowledge learned in their professional careers.

itutions in El Salvador, specializing in the economic andusively for students with high academic performanceconomic resources. Some of them can't aspire to continuees these talented students with a scholarship that coversontributed to ESEN’s library with wonderful books filledby these brilliant students who will be able to use the

¡Supérate! Fundación PomaSince 2011, Fundación Poma has supported young studentthrough the program ¡Supérate!. All of the program paskills, values, life project and mathematics. They are beresources from 13 different schools located in the municPoma provides academic and professional opportunities tThe books donated by Food for the Poor to the Chance Ptalented youth, helping them improve and develop their kEducation is the key in making a young person discover aEvery time we help a student keep evolving academicagenerations to come.Thank you, Food for the Poor, for helping us supportdonation. You are helping us build a better future fo

ts with high potential, talent and desire to succeedarticipants receive training in English, computer etween 14 and 19 years old, with limited economiccipality of La Libertad. With this program, Fundación to these talented young individuals.Program at FUSAL, are amazing tools for these smart, knowledge.and give the world all the good that he or she has inside.ally, we are building a future that will positively impactt education in El Salvador through your bookor the next generation of professionals.





Food for Special

the PoorReport

FUSAL's Vision Alliance PFUDEM is a Private Nonprofit Organization founded in1989 by a group of businesswomen with a great sense ofsocial responsibility. FUDEM, one of FUSAL's beneficiaryorganizations, focuses on visual health, aiming to fightblindness in El Salvador, caring especially for those wholive in conditions of extreme poverty.FUSAL and FUDEM have a very good relationship that hasfostered a long term alliance, which has a shared goalof helping those in need. Together we haveworked on several social programs that helppeople around the country. Some of these are:• Rural Poverty Programs: reaching as manycommunities as possible, no matter how difficult theymay be to access or how far the distance is, a team willbring medical services to these locations.• Urban Poverty Program: brings visual healthservices to urban marginal areas, offering their residentsan accessible solution for the visual problems that theymight have.•“Windows of Light” Program: This program workson improving the quality of life for children fromschools in the rural areas of the country.These are just three of the many programs in whichFUDEM and FUSAL work together, programs thatbenefit millions of Salvadorans. Most of the peoplewho benefit are people who need a medical visioncheckup and can't afford one because their lack oeconomic resources.

Program with FUDEMn fytos lepy lh t enof

How we work...Vision campaigns give a lot of people the opportunity, regasafe diagnosis about their visual health. All these patients caclinic.Once FUDEM’s staff reaches the location where it is goingneed and then open the doors to people. The consultation 1. Collect the information of the patient. 2. Get a preview of the patient’s diagnosis. 3. Evaluate the severity of the problem. 4. Finish the testing and give a diagnosis. 5. The patient chooses the rim of the glasses in the optic 6. The patient receives the lenses.

ardless of their age, to receive a consultation and aan't otherwise afford a consultation in a private optical to carry out the campaign, they organize everything theyn process is very easy; seven simple steps:cs area.

Meet the voices behind FUDEMSandra HernándezSupervisorSandra Hernandez is a woman who believes that the greatesatisfaction in life is helping others. Sandra is the supervisof the different campaigns FUDEM takes to people all ovEl Salvador.“In a month, we usually have around 72 campaigns,working in the 14 departments in the country. In eachcampaign we expect around 300 people to attend”, saidSandra.There is no doubt that the glasses change the perspectivehow people see life. Sandra told us that the patients reaenjoy choosing the glasses and the cases, even mowhen they have orientation on what looks good on them“We have a staff member, a visual consultant, who assispeople about the lense style depending on the shapetheir faces.”Usually the patients have never received a visucheck-up before, and sometimes they make the mistakof buying glasses at the supermarket withouta prescription.Here they get the opportunity to have eyeglasseswhich are appropriate to their vision measurement.

M est sor ver of ally ore m. sts of ual ke



María Santos ArgeliaBeneficiaryMaría Santos Argelia is a 62 year old woman whohad never received a visual check-up, but thanksto FUSAL and FUDEM with their visual healthcampaigns in her community, she now has had anadequate visual check-up and is wearing properlenses.Every weekday, María takes care ofher granddaughter, while the girl’s mom isworking. She not only cares and gives love to thegirl, she also enjoys helping her with homeworkfrom school. “I help her with whatever I can, Inever went to school but I can read really well,because I was taught by my mother”, says María.Hard working and with a noble heart, María alsotravels every weekend to help her relatives sell shoesand clothes. That was when she noticed she neededhelp.“I was selling and someone told me to look at anumber and I couldn’t see it. I didn’t know what todo then”, she said.

María knew she needed visual help to see things betteclothes, but she couldn’t afford it. She heard about the careach her community.“It’s a great support because I don’t have enough resourcebut now because of my age I can’t and I don’t have money.She was filled with gratitude for having a new pair of glassesaround her too, now that she can see everything better.María filled with joy and emotion.

er, whether it was helping her granddaughter or sellingampaigns FUDEM organized and hoped one day they willes to go to a private optical clinic” she said, “I used to work,. This is really good, I congratulate you for this cause”.s. Not only has it benefited her visual health, but the people “Thank you, may God pour many blessings on you”, said

The donation of eyeglasses and cases from Foodsmall communities in El Salvador. Thank you Foodhelping organizations like FUDEM to go to every c families and commu

d for the Poor reached hundreds of people fromd for the Poor, with your support we can continuecorner of the country, bringing light and hope tonities in El Salvador!





SPECIAL REPORTUWS010315 PO016820

Math text booksMathematics have always been one of the most challenging subjects for all students in school,even though they have multiples benefits, like creating critical and analytical thinking,increased thinking speed and learning how to research and conclusion-making in anysituation.Sometimes math is not the problem; the problem is the way in which it is taught. The poorteaching material, the lack of study resources, like textbooks at schools, and even theindifference of teachers, are factors that make math the most difficult subject for students.In El Salvador, every year, all of the high school students take the PAES (Prueba deAprendizaje y Aptitudes para Egresados de Educación Media), a special test designed toevaluate their knowledge in four basic school subjects: Social Studies, Science,Literature and Mathematics. When the results are published, they usually show theobvious need to improve in some areas, especially math. In 2015, the national math averagewas 4.4 out of 10.These poor results in math shocked the country and moved different organizations to searchfor ways to reinforce this academic area for students. Thanks to the support from Foodfor the Poor, FUSAL was able to donate math books to 4 institutions which are committedto education, so that they can teach students the wonderful world of mathematics, andhelp them reach high marks in the PAES or any other test that they may face during theiracademic life.

Aulas Fundación TelefónicaThe search for a better education has been the main goal for the Aulas FundaciónTelefónica program. The Fundación Telefónica Classrooms is a digital inclusion projectthat promotes the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as anessential tool for improving the quality of education in all Latin American countries.The program currently helps 184 schools, with 52,000 students. They also donatearound 300 books to each school. With the books received, program volunteers preparespecial kits, which contain the math books for kids and teachers, divided by grades.They distribute the kits to teachers in public schools and enroll them in trainingsessions, to show them how to use the books with the students during classes, and makethe learning process easier, so kids can actually enjoy mathematics.

Centro Escolar Católico Residencial LibertadLocated in Residencial Libertad, Tonacatepeque, this public school offers great quality educationto more than 1,200 students. One of the most important areas needing reinforcement for children hasbeen Mathematics.To achieve good grades in their future education, it is necessary for students to understand math aswell as possible, since some college curriculums are math related –especially for those studyingmarketing and accounting. Last year 105 kids graduated from high school; 75 of them graduatedwith specialized studies in marketing or tourism, and 35 in accounting. The donated math textbooksgave the students the ability to not only have new books, but also to have updated versions with newtopics to enhance their learning and knowledge in math. Also, teachers received a teacher’s manualwhich helped them take better advantage of the book's teachings and gave them tips andprocedures to help students understand as much as possible.¡Supérate! Fundación PomaSince 2011, Fundación Poma has supported young students with academic potential, talent,intelligence and willingness to be successful, through the ¡Supérate! program.The students are between 14 and 19 years of age, they study in 13 different public schools of LaLibertad, and have limited economic resources. They receive special, high quality training in English,computers and values, to reinforce the curriculum that they already receive in school. In addition tothis, the students at ¡Supérate! Fundación Poma, take a special course in Mathematics, which helpsthem to prepare for the PAES and develop skills to excel in higher education and their working life.With this, Fundación Poma provides them with the opportunity to attain a better academic andprofessional future.Obra MercedariaThis institution has various ways in which it engages with their students, who are children frommarginal communities. They have a library, a lounge, a computer room and volunteers whoconstantly guide the students.The volunteers' work consist of teachers who help designated groups of students, providingthem with academic support. Volunteers spend 3 hours in the afternoon., each day. Currently, thisinstitution helps about 380 children from the surrounding area. The purpose of the program is to giveeach kid the necessary resources to understand and complete their school work, in order to succeedacademically and share educational experiences with other students, while they continue to learn.

Teaching math to kids with the proper tools and methodologies will help themimprove their academic results and open opportunities for them in the future, sothat they can choose to study whatever they want, including mathematics in higherlevels. Thank you, Food for the Poor, for giving these institutions the tools to build a better education for our kids and youth, allowing them to boost their skills in mathematics, and preparing them for a better tomorrow.

Thank you!

FOOD FOR THE POOR Special Report

In El Salvador, the education system is mainly focused in 4 basic subjects:mathematics, literature, social studies and science. A second language, English, istaught mostly at private schools, but in the public school system it is only at a basic level.Nowadays, a lot of universities have as a graduation requirement knowing a second language,and jobs are also requiring a second or even a third language to apply to certain positions.Other influencing factors are the strong presence of international products and themigration rates to North America.Unfortunately, most of the students in the public sector can't reach a high English levelin their school classrooms. If they wish to learn, they must pay private classes, whichare too expensive.Thanks to a book donation from Food for the Poor, FUSAL provided Englishtextbooks to institutions that are currently teaching free, high quality English classesto unprivileged kids from the public sector.

Aulas Fundación TelefónicaThe search for a better education has been the key factor for the program Aulas Telefónica. Thisprogram was born with the goal to experiment innovative technologies through the training andsupport for teachers and to create advanced and sustainable educational models supported byacademic experts, so that they can be reproduced by third parties.They currently reach about 184 schools and 52,000 students. With the donation of books theyreceived volunteers from the program prepared special kits, containing the English books forstudents and teachers, divided by grades, and donated about 300 books in each school. Theyalso distributed the kits to the teachers in public schools and involved them in training sessionto showed them how to use the books with the students during classes, making the learningprocess easier so kids can actually improve their English levels .¡Supérate! Fundación PomaSince 2011, Fundación Poma supports young student with academic potential,talent,intelligence and willingness to be successful, through the ¡Supérate! program. Thestudents are between 14 and 19 years old, they study in 13 different public schools of LaLibertad and have limited economic resources. They excel because of their high academicskills, which is impulsed by ¡Supérate! Fundación Poma.They receive a quality preparation in English, computer and values, to reinforce the contentthat they get at school. With this donation of English books, they are able to not only have themas a resource, but they can take the books home in case that they need to borrow them. Sincemost of them have little or no access to certain educational resources, the books andflashcards have been an amazing help for the students to enrich their English skills, and for theteachers to develop new methods for a more dynamic teaching and classroom experience.With this, Fundación Poma supports students to reach multiple opportunities for a betteracademic and professional future.