La Casa de Panchita empowers 300 girls as young as 9 and 250 women to escape 14 hour workdays, avoid abuse, attend school, and earn a fair wage. We help girls stay in school and enjoy their childhood, giving them a chance to build a better future. We also train, tutor, and give legal advice to adult domestic workers and women wishing to access the labor market in Lima.
Half a million women and girls work as servants in Peru. Most come to Lima from rural poverty or shantytowns. The majority do not enjoy basic rights: schooling, a 6 day work week or minimum wage. Girls as young as 9 serve others to earn a meal. They care for young children, foregoing their own education. We allow girls the chance to reclaim their childhood through educational and recreational support. We also enable women to improve job skills, as they learn to negotiate better job conditions.
With access to school support, workshops aimed at making them aware of their rights and vocational training, 300 girls per year will have a chance to stay in school, complete their education and find better and qualified jobs. 250 skilled and informed adult domestic workers will have access to dignified employment and fair pay. They will take part in their own emancipation, improve the livelihood of their household and protect their children from child labor.
We are helping break through a heritage of poverty and servitude passed from mother to daughter because of a lack of opportunity and education. As they gain skills, confidence and understanding of their rights, the 550 girls and women we serve each year will pursue better education and secure better jobs. They in turn will educate other domestic workers, and parents of young girls. They will fight to ensure the rights of all domestic workers are respected.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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