Chamos Annual Report 2022 (English)

2022 Annual Report

ABOUT US

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to improve the well-being of underprivileged children and young people in Venezuela, by developing health and education programmes and building the capacity of our local partners.

Our vision is that children in Venezuela grow up with dignity and opportunities to achieve their potential.

MARIANA SIBLESZ DE ALVAREZ

Over the past years, Chamos has been working tirelessly to integrate a comprehensive Clean Water Programme across all our work. Through this, we aim to improve the access to clean and safe water, and subsequently the efficiency and sustainability of our programmes. I was so inspired to already see the impact of our efforts earlier this year, when I visited Caracas. There, I met Gladys, who works in the kitchen of one of our partner schools. Every day, she cooks hundreds of lunches for students and teachers, many of whom otherwise wouldn’t eat a main meal. Gladys told me that before the school received a water filter from Chamos, she had to boil water to purify it. I looked at her - a small woman, in her seventies, in a tiny kitchen - and at the huge pot she was showing me that she would boil the water in. It wasn’t hard to imagine how difficult, time-consuming and frankly dangerous it must have been for her, simply to get clean water to cook with every day.

Providing the school with something as simple as a water filter has not only ensured access to clean water for hundreds of students, but also made the entire school meals programme more efficient, transforming Gladys’ day-to-day life, and many others. This is what I find so exciting about what Chamos’ programmes have evolved into: we are not only facilitating the work of our partners but also finding and providing simple solutions to build their capacity in the long term; helping them to do what they do better, more effectively and efficiently.

During my time in Venezuela, I was encouraged to see some signs of improvement in the country’s economy, such as less product scarcity and increased economic activity. However inflation and the high cost of living remain significant challenges that continue to affect the Venezuelan people. Whilst it is important to nurture hope for the future, we must also

remember the severity of the situation that years of systematic collapse have left the country in. The deterioration of basic infrastructure and human capital caused by the crisis means that the road to recovery will be long and difficult - which is why investment in the longevity and sustainability of our partners’ programmes is so vital.

Thank you for joining us on our mission to build, empower and strive towards a better future - a future where children and young people in Venezuela have the tools to not only survive but thrive.

In gratitude,

Mariana Siblesz de Alvarez Chair, Chamos UK

ANDREINA PALMA

As I reflect on our activities, 2022 was a year of consolidation where we strengthened the organisational capacity of Chamos whilst continuing to build on our programmes to improve the well-being of underprivileged children in Venezuela. Education emerged as a key focus area for us in 2022, as we aimed to provide support to school-aged children who have been affected by the broken educational system compounded by school closures during the pandemic. In comparison to 2021, we significantly increased funding for education projects and initiatives, multiplying our efforts by five-fold. Our primary focus was on expanding educational programs, encouraging the return to classrooms, and providing afterschool curricular support.

The addition of our Fundraising and Marketing Manager to our Global Operations team has had a profound impact on our capabilities. This strategic recruitment has bolstered our operational capacity, enabling us to expand our programs, develop new initiatives, and work more efficiently. As a result, we have been able to extend our reach and make a greater impact on the lives of children in Venezuela. This expansion of our team is an essential step in our journey towards becoming a more mature and sustainable organisation.

2022 marked a significant milestone for us as we celebrated 15 years since the founding of Chamos. Over the years, we have successfully established Chamos as a reputable international charity, working in close collaboration with local leaders and NGOs driven by a common desire to support children in need in Venezuela. Through our collective efforts, we have strengthened our physical and digital presence, increased our visibility and broadened our international audience. Furthermore, we have improved our monitoring and evaluation processes for the

programmes and initiatives we support. This endeavour has provided us with a better ability to measure our impact, continuously adapt, and optimise our work effectively. With solid foundations in place, we are now ready to responsibly scale our operations, confidently stating to our donors that more resources are needed to multiply our impact.

Despite our growth and transformation as an organisation, our vision remains unwavering: to ensure that children in Venezuela grow up with dignity and have opportunities to fulfil their potential. We are committed to innovation and adaptability, constantly seeking ways to better serve our partners and beneficiaries. None of this would be possible without your unwavering support, and we sincerely appreciate your continued commitment to this remarkable journey. Thank you for being an integral part of Chamos and for helping us create a brighter future for the children of Venezuela.

Andreina Palma President, Chamos ES

OUR WORK IN 2022

2022 IMPACT

$197,000

We invested benefiting

8,627 children

We worked with

14 local partners

developing

6 programmes

and supporting in

21 states of Venezuela

6 initiatives

STRATEGIC OBJETIVES Programme

Development

We strive to identify, develop, and strengthen Chamos programmes, enhancing their robustness, accountability, and sustainability. We focus on developing with our partners health and education initiatives that align with our mission, enabling us to leave a lasting Chamos footprint.

Local empowerment

We provide financial support to local organisations that advance our mission, empowering those with experience and helping them to execute what they do best.

Value-add enhancements

We add value by building the long-term capacity of our partners and fostering links between organisations, suppliers, and individuals in the community, to facilitate knowledge sharing, and encourage innovation and collaboration.

Championing sustainability

Community ownership, training, and follow-up are all central to our programmatic strategy, with the aim of making our interventions sustainable in the long-term.

OUR WORK AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

By investing in education and health - two interconnected areas that are so key to children’s development - we contribute to the pursuit of several UN Sustainable Development Goals.

All our programmes contribute to long-term, sustainable poverty reduction by creating a foundation of good health and education that can be used to break the cycle of poverty.

We support nutritional recovery programmes, soup kitchens and school meals to ensure children have a sufficient and nutritious diet.

Achieving inclusive and quality education has always been central to our mission: we support schools and extracurricular programmes to provide opportunities to children across the country. Through our Clean Water Programme we provide infrastructure and training, and secure access to safe drinking water in schools and communities.

Our healthcare programmes provide resources, care and advice to children and their families, promoting good health during the most crucial stage of development.

VENEZUELAN CONTEXT IN 2022

Whilst Venezuela’s economic activity improved slightly in the first half of 2022, in reality, there was little progress for the people of Venezuela. For the most vulnerable - the elderly, young adults and children - the inequality gap continued to worsen.

The country’s inflation rates, and so prices for basic necessities, remained extremely high. According to Banco Central de Venezuela, Venezuela’s inflation rate in 2022 was 234% – one of the highest inflation rates in the world. Further, in the last quarter, Venezuela’s short-lived growth in economic activity slowed and is forecasted to decline well into 2023 - a serious risk for any possible future economic stability.

Despite a reduction of the poverty rate in 2022, according to ENCOVI (2022) 53 percent of the population still fell under extreme poverty – those earning less than $1.90/day. To survive with such dramatically low income , many people have been forced to seek alternative work which has led to the degradation and decrease in many essential - and once considered crucialprofessions such as teachers and university professors. It is estimated that such professions would need to work for two years to earn what they would have earnt in a single month, 20 years ago.

Further, for the elderly and the retired population, the rising inequality rates in 2022 had a severe impact on their quality of life and health. The measly amount of state pension available prevented them from affording the most basic of food or medicine without other means or charitable support, and continues to affect the most vulnerable in Venezuelan society today.

Teacher Salary Scale published on March 22, 2022 by El Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Educación:

Teacher Salary Category VI, 40 hours is Bs. 450.70 = $25.80.

Centro de Documentación y Análisis Social de la Federación Venezolana de Maestros CENDAS-FVM

Food Basket for a Family Bs. 5,651.58 = $323.50.

Official Exchange Rate of the Banco Central de Venezuela, December 2022: 17.47 Bs./$

$323 cost of monthly basic food basket salary of a teacher

$25

13x

number of salaries that a teacher needs to buy a basic basket of food

Venezuela has one of the

234% HIGHEST INFLATION RATE IN THE WORLD

-79%

ECONOMIC CONTRACTION

in Venezuela vs. economic contractions in historical crisis periods.

78%

FOOD

of households suffer from

INSECURITY

ENCOVI (2022): Condiciones de vida de los venezolanos

ECOANALITICA (2023)

Banco Central de Venezuela

IN NUMBERS

INFRASTRUCTURE

computers and routers for a computer lab

smartphone for 309 schools

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

years of Graphogame license for 30,000 children in the “Leo, Play, and Learn” program.

children inaugurate the OASIS park at their school students received a programming course

children begin the planning of a second OASIS

educational support spaces for 413 children outside of school hours

SCHOLARSHIPS

890 18 315 2 40 28 34 3 10 40

full tuition university scholarships

scholarships for young people with disabilities

sponsored youth to complete their high school education

OUR WORK

EDUCATION

The lack of action in a broken educational system for many years, combined with the closure of schools during the pandemic, has had concerning consequences: the return to in-person classes in Venezuela has seen a lower number of students in attendance. According to ENCOVI (2022), around 190,000 children have dropped out of school since the 2020-2021 period. As a result, we have focused our efforts on continuing and expanding educational programmes, encouraging the return to classrooms, and providing extracurricular support.

OUR WORK TOOLS AND TRAININGS FOR SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES

Thousands of children in Venezuela have levels of reading, writing and maths far below what is expected for their age. In 2022, we supported initiatives providing tools to empower parents, teachers, and communities in supporting children to bridge the education gap.

Alongside Alimenta La Solidaridad, we trained 63 volunteers (mostly mothers) in the basics of education, teaching and learning. They used this, combined with seed funding provided by Chamos, to set up educational spaces in their communities, where they work with children after school on a daily basis to supplement their learning and help them achieve their potential. So far, we have opened 34 centres in under-resourced communities across Distrito Capital, Miranda, Lara, Zulia and Anzoátegui.

We were also delighted to be part of Leo, Juego y Aprendo, an exciting multistakeholder project led by Universidad Metropolitana, that has reached 30,000 children in 309 schools across 17 states. The project trained more than 1,720 teachers and parents, using innovative phonetic teaching methodology and technology, to give them the skills to teach children between 6 and 9 years old how to read and write. We participated by funding the licence for two years for the Graphogame app - a cutting-edge teaching and learning app - and provided 315 smartphones, enabling schools to use the app in their classrooms.

OUR WORK

THE OASIS PROJECT

In December 2021, we ran a fundraising campaign to raise money for the Oasis Project - to transform the school recreational area of the Nuestra Señora del Encuentro school in Petare, the biggest slum in Venezuela.

We wanted to create a fun and safe place, where children could play and access clean drinking water. Thanks to the incredible generosity of our supporters, we raised enough funds to make the first Oasis project a reality in May 2022 - and, in partnership with Trazando Espacios, we built and decorated the space with the very children that designed it.

OUR WORK

THE OASIS PROJECT

This playground - which was a barren stretch of land - is now a fun place for children to play, learn, and drink clean water. It is a significant accomplishment for many of them, who come from underprivileged backgrounds, as it serves as evidence that their aspirations can be achieved.

Following the success of our first Oasis, we began work on a second, running the first phase of the project in a new school: Abilo Reyes Ochoa in El Hatillo. A group of 28 students learned about participatory design and created models for the transformation of their spacewhich we will be constructing in early 2023!

“We have been wanting a park for eight years and we’ve been working on it for two. I can’t believe this is finally happening!”

- Carli, Nuestra Señora del Encuentro School, Petare

OUR WORK PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE

In 2022, we embarked on an exciting new partnership with Espacio Educa, to provide programming courses to high school-aged children in Petare - an area where opportunities and aspirations for children and young people are extremely limited.

Through this partnership, we set up a computer room with 18 computers and provided 40 high-school students with a scholarship to attend a weekly coding course. This has provided the students with valuable skills, as well as encouraged them to think about their future career prospects, presenting them with opportunities that would have otherwise not been available.

“I always thought that, as long as I had a good job and a relaxed life, I’d be fine. But now that I have the opportunity to do programming, I want to achieve more: study, complete the advanced course… Go further, the furthest I can go. For me and for my family.”

sonoridad, conocimiento y sobre todo, admiración.

- Keiner, beneficiary of the EDUCA programme.

OUR WORK OPPORTUNITIES AND ASPIRATIONS

In 2022, we continued to provide support to empower young people to unlock their full potential. The three students with Chamos scholarships are now in their final year at Universidad Metropolitana, and next year will graduate with a degree in engineering from one of the top universities in the country.

We also continued to support 40 high-school students with mentorship and scholarships through Queremos Graduarnos, to help young people graduate with life-long skills, and reduce school dropout rates.

Additionally, we began supporting Buena Voluntad, who provide training to young people with disabilities to support their progression to employment. Not only do they provide young people with technical and social skills to help them in the workplace, but they also work closely with employers to help them understand how to maximise the potential of the employees coming from the programme.

malnourished babies provided with nutritional recovery support

1261

OUR WORK

HEALTH

In 2022, we continued to invest in promoting the healthy development of children across Venezuela.

In addition to ongoing financial support and resources, we focused our efforts towards enhancing the capacity of key healthcare partners, with a focus on fostering long-term program efficiency and sustainability.

tins of baby formula medical consultations conducted in a rural community, providing medical care to 456 patients

SCHOOL MEALS

1288

In collaboration with Alimentando Futuros, and thanks to the incredible partnership with Guasa London, who generously allocated a portion of their monthly sales to support this initiative, We were able to sustain the provision of daily meals to 258 students and 22 teachers at a school in Caracas.

6617 school meals for children and teachers

In addition to enhancing children’s concentration, we have observed that the provision of a daily meal serves as a significant incentive for attendance, particularly for teachers. This breakfast alone costs a similar amount to what they would earn in an entire week. In a recent questionnaire carried out by our local partner amongst teachers and parents, over 90 percent said that the daily meal was one of the key reasons for school attendance.

OUR WORK

NUTRITIONAL RECOVERY

According to ENCOVI (2022) 78 percent of households in Venezuela have food insecurity. Malnutrition can have long-lasting, often fatal consequences, particularly for young children and babies as it can be seriously detrimental to physical and cognitive development.

Since 2019, we have been working with a nutritional recovery programme that supports malnourished babies during the crucial first year of their life. The programme provides powdered milk and water purification powder on a weekly basis, and babies are monitored closely, graduating from the programme once they have reached a healthy weight.

This year, as well as providing the resources for this programme, we worked closely with the paediatrician that runs it, to develop and improve impact measurement and reporting processes. We have been using this data to monitor, analyse and evaluate the impact of the intervention, with the aim of understanding how best to make it more effective and sustainable in 2023.

OUR WORK

RECURRING REMOTE HEALTHCARE INTERVENTION

Since 2018, we have been working with the local studentled organisation Proyecto Mayú - which runs trips to provide healthcare in remote, underserved communities across Venezuela. Whilst these trips are extremely valuable, we felt that their results were limited by their ad-hoc nature. We saw the potential for more sustainable impact if we could design a programme that returned to the same community on a planned basis to better understand the needs, tailor our interventions, and reliably measure our impact.

This year, we secured a grant that enabled us to commit to piloting this enhanced programme in the community of La Marroquina in Estado Yaracuy. After an initial research trip to meet community leaders and determine the most pressing needs, we began work with Proyecto Mayú to design a programme that would involve three trips, incorporating healthcare, clean water and educational workshops, to have a real impact in the community.

We ran the first of these in July 2022, accompanied by 43 volunteer medical students and doctors. During this visit, we achieved the following:

- We provided specialised medical and dental consultations to hundreds of members of the community.

- We installed a water filter in the local school, providing safe, clean drinking water to 250 students.

- We delivered talks on family planning, menstrual hygiene, and the importance of clean water.

- We carried out testing on the main water sources in the community, and interviewed over 300 members of the community to understand their water needs.

IN NUMBERS

OUR WORK

CLEAN WATER PROGRAMME

19 water filters

22,193

13 local partners organisations

water tanks P&G sachets of water purification powder

9

The lack of access to clean water remains a major problem for our partners and beneficiaries.

Our Clean Water Programme aims to address this issue by building the capacity of local organisations to improve water infrastructure, and to provide clean drinking water directly to children through a collaboration with Procter & Gamble Venezuela. Our programme recognises the importance of both short-term and long-term solutions to ensure everyone has access to clean water.

This programme is central to our programmatic strategy, offering a clear way to enhance the capacity of partners across our focus areas of education, health, nutrition, and community development.

25 partner centres

IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS AND FINDING SOLUTIONS

Our needs assessments identified two key water-related issues amongst our partners - problems that are seriously detrimental to their ability to carry out their programmes safely and effectively. Our programme focuses on providing efficient, long-term solutions to these problems - and thus building the capacity of our broad range of partners - from education and community development to health and nutrition.

The first problem is a lack of regular access to water: the majority of our partners receive water via pipes, or it is delivered by a truck, and the supply is irregular and unpredictable. To mitigate against this, we provide water tanks, which enable our partners to store water in large quantities on the occasions when it does arrive. This means that they have access to water during the (often long) periods when there is no direct supply, and it also enables them to plan.

The second problem is the quality of the water when it does arrive: it is always unsafe to drink, and often contains sediments, smells or tastes bad. This means that either it cannot be used safely, or partners must invest large amounts of time in purifying it - normally through boiling it, which often doesn’t get rid of the bad taste and smell. Our solution is to provide filters, which enable our partners to purify their water safely, effectively and efficiently which can then be used and consumed by both staff and beneficiaries.

CLEAN WATER FOR NUTRITIONAL RECOVERY

The other key pillar of our Clean Water Programme is the direct provision of water purification powder to children, thanks to our partnership with Procter & Gamble. We distribute the sachets through nutritional recovery programmes and soup kitchensinitiatives where we know that the provision of clean water will have a tangible impact on the effectiveness of the programme.

The impact of this programme so far has been incredible - by combining the health benefits associated with drinking clean water (particularly the reduction in gastrointestinal diseases and diarrhoea) with food, nutritional support, and supplements, we have seen babies and children recovering from states of malnutrition and retaining a healthy weight.

FUNDRAISING

FUNDRAISING PARTNERS AND AFFILIATIONS

This year, we were once again incredibly grateful to be supported by a range of amazing companies and organisations.

MERCADILLO SOLIDARIO

With the participation of over 1,000 people, 37 brands and sponsors, and coverage by five media outlets in Spain, we successfully carried out our Second Mercadillo Solidario in Madrid, which has become a benchmark event for fundraising for a good cause.

SOLIDARITY BIRTHDAY

Mónica decided to have a different kind of birthday and asked her friends and family to donate their gifts to Chamos. All options are valid when it’s for a good cause!

#GIVINGTUESDAY2022

On November 29th 2022, thanks to our wonderful supporters, ambassadors, and team, we raised over $60,000 for our education programme during our Giving Tuesday campaign.

AMAZING ATHLETES

Once again, superstar supporters across the world challenged themselves to raise money for Chamos this year. Teams of runners took on the Royal Parks Half Marathon and the Madrid Rock & Roll Marathon. Valentina Lesmes rode 100 miles in a night time bike race, and the unstoppable Vicente Behrens raised over $5,500 at the New York Marathon!

CHRISTMAS CAROLS

We were delighted to bring our communities together in December to get festive with our annual traditional Venezuelan carol service in both London and Madrid.

SOLIDARITY YOGA CLASS

Thanks to the spaces provided by Mastermind, we were able to organize a solidarity yoga class with Xochitl Correa from Juegos.

GAME NIGHT

Our lovely supporters joined us for canasta, canastón and dominoes evenings in both Madrid and London - enjoying games and good company for a good cause.

TEAM & FINANCIALS

FINANCIALS 2022

Since 2020, we have increased our annual revenue by 64 percent, which has allowed us to expand our impact in Venezuela. In 2022, we invested $192,000 in projects, with a special focus on educational programmes.

The results of Chamos UK and Chamos ES are reported to their respective entities, Charities Commission and Protectorado, in local currency. The annual accounts are independently audited by external auditors. For the purpose of this report, combined results are reported in USD using the average exchange rates for 2022 of 1.2368 USD/GBP and 1.0541 USD/EUR. The amounts of in-kind donations are based on market value estimates.

(Totals in thousands)

OUR TEAM

GLOBAL OPERATIONS TEAM

Chamos UK and Chamos Spain are two registered entities that separately fulfill their foundational obligations in their respective countries of registration. The programmes are managed by the global operations team and are jointly funded by both entities.

CHAMOS UK BOARD

FUNDRAISING & EVENTS COMMITTEE UK

GLOBAL OPS TEAM

GLOBAL OPS TEAM

Mariana Siblesz de Alvarez

Andreina Palma

Krizia Cincotti - Fundraising & Marketing

Emily Jones - Fundraising & Ops

Samuel Diaz - Programmes Manager

CHAMOS ES BOARD

FUNDRAISING & EVENTS COMMITTEE ES

CHAMOS TEAM OUR TEAM

CHAMOS UK CHAMOS SPAIN

TRUSTEES

Mariana Siblesz de Alvarez

Graciela Muci

Iberia West

Maria Antonieta Rodriguez

Andreina Palma

TEAM AND COLLABORATIONS

Patricia Merchan

Adriana Mendoza

Tamara Rodriguez

Marines Gomez

TRUSTEES

Andreina Palma

Ines Borberg

Irina Paz

Maryorie Guerrero

Daniela Oteyza

TEAM AND COLLABORATIONS

Maria Badiola

Bader Gonzalez

Pablo Grande

Nelly Hernandez

Estefania Cabezas

Euridice Bandres

Isabel Cristina Hernandez

*UK team celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Foundation.

Chamos UK

Registered charity number: 1123410

Chamos ES

NIF: G88520986

No. de Registro

Ministerio de Justicia: 2303JUS

@chamos_org

www.chamos.org

admin@chamos.org.uk

With thanks to Jonathan Lanza, Laury Volcan, Marienna Garcia-Gallo y Gustavo Bandres for their photography contributions to this report