Latin American Foundation for the Future (LAFF) works with partner organisations in Peru to help disadvantaged children build a better future for themselves. To do this LAFF enable marginalised young people to access education opportunities and vocational training, as well as support children’s homes through income-generation, cost reduction initiatives and capacity building for staff.
We believe that a child needs more than food, shelter and safety – they need the opportunity to develop their self-confidence and skill sets. LAFF supports children into adulthood by giving them a good education, life skills, employment skills and, most importantly, a sense of self-worth. This enables young people to not only get the most out of their own lives but also contribute to the world around them
We believe that issues facing marginalised children, both on the streets and in care, are varied, complex, and best understood by those who are closest to them. This is why we work through and support partners who understand those needs and can provide the help required. LAFF have been successfully working with children's homes in Peru since 2007 and our approach to supporting the homes to long term sustainability alongside helping the children directly is working really well. From small beginnings, working with a single home, we have grown and are now working with six homes to support street children, former street children, teenage mothers who have suffered domestic abuse or rural girls who have no access to education due to their remote location. LAFF believe in creating independence, not dependence. This is crucial in our approach to young people, and the organisations which support them. We also believe in sustainability, and aim to achieve it for those we help through educating, empowering and enabling.
We help our partner organisations by ensuring their self-sustainability. Our aim is to enable projects to be independent of outside help, by becoming more financially stable and therefore independent of external funding. This allows staff to overcome constant worries about financial support and instead concentrate on more important concerns such as the welfare and future of the children in their care.