The International Project Alliance (IPA), a consortium of eleven Rotary Clubs in District 50/50, is seeking a sponsor for one more village in the Honduran Copán region. Villages have been prequalified based on previous work with the IPA, community need and commitment, and the feasibility of affecting the desired outcomes within a reasonable time. This IPA program is called Adopt a Village to reflect its highly targeted approach and the ongoing stewardship implied.
Home in La Vegona, Honduras
Today’s sponsors are pleased to have long term relationships with the villages they sponsor and to see how far their money goes in Honduras. There are ten villages presently in this program. The one remaining village that has been prequalified and is still seeking support is La Vegona.
La Vegona is at 3,000 feet elevation, in a lush valley, surrounded by coffee plantations, above one of the rivers that flooded badly during the Hurricanes of 2020. The bridge to the village was washed away and the IPA’s hurricane relief fund is sponsoring a replacement bridge to carry pedestrians and cyclists to homes, villages, and a medical clinic on the other side of the river. Villagers have begun work on this large project. More generally, through various previous programs, village leadership and La Vegona’s two teachers have been actively engaged with IPA to strengthen quality of life and support continued prosperity for the village’s roughly 300 residents, including 30 school children. The Adopt-a-Village Program is the next step in that relationship.
Homes and shelters for farm animals
In this program sponsors of villages pledge each year, for three years, to provide school supplies and uniforms to kindergarten and primary school kids, materials for the teachers, secondary school scholarships, health insurance, and new books for the Mobile Library. Sponsors also agree to support up to $4,000 annually for community construction or other village infrastructure programs. The average annual Adopt-a-Village sponsorship is between $3,000 and $4,000 and La Vegona, with its 300 residents, would be in that range.
Sponsors are encouraged to visit sponsored villages, but this is not a requirement as IPA volunteers visit all affiliated villages every three months. Some sponsors are using social media to communicate with residents of the villages they sponsor.
Receiving supplies from IPA
The Adopt-a-Village Program complements other successful programs of the IPA, which support education and economic development throughout the region. Sponsorship and other gifts to the program are 100% tax-deductible, with 100% of the gift going to benefit villages, thanks to the U.S. and Honduran Rotary volunteers who administer the program and supervise the local contractors.
The Vegona School - a single classroom with multiple grades
We hope you will take a few minutes to learn more about this opportunity, the good work of the partnership of Rotarians in Copán and our District, and the daily life and resilience of some of the poorest residents of Central America.
If you would like to learn more about being a sponsor, information and forms can be found here. If you would like to speak with an IPA member, you may email Marty Pease.