Our
mission is to provide opportunities to children in Latin America through
education in Computer Science and Olympic sport values
In February of 2015, the Roberto
Carcelen Foundation opened the doors of a new educational laboratory in Lima,
Peru. The lab’s focus is to provide the children of Lima with a place where
they can acquire the tools they need to build a brighter future.
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Currently our educational lab
focuses on programs associated with computer science, English language
proficiency, leadership values and life lessons learned though the practice of
athletics. We believe that investing in the lives of these children will ensure
that we are helping to create a positive future for Latin America.
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We provide
free education on computer science.
Our students learn how to code and getting their hands on real projects.
Our group of developer trainers involve the students on practical problem
solving projects through programming.
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Our children are learning English as well! We have two great English native speakers that provide
English lessons.
- We
not only provide a technical curriculum in coding but we also assist with providing nourishment by ways of a
warm daily breakfast
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We provide
work opportunities for the older
teenagers to join the workforce as a web developer.
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Our U.S and Peru based mentors are leaders, CEO's,
athletes that connect with our students
via Skype twice a month to demonstrate the children that anything is
possible and we all care about them.
- This
is where our children will be working when finishing our program. Where
our students will have the
opportunity to provide (paid) services, but also provide company
culture and values that make great companies thrive.
Why We Need Your Support?
- Our 2016 program starts on September 2016. 31 Students have signed up and another 48 are in waiting list. We have opened an afternoon shift to serve those kids that work in the mornings. We are forecasting 100+ graduates by the end of the 2016 calendar year and our goal is to have 70% of them joining the workforce throughout 2016 and 2017 as web developers !
- Keep in mind that $297 funds our computer science program (read more below) per student for a full year! This is
$25 at month/per student!
Who Do We Help?
Since the start of the year, 90
children have been enrolled in our free education programs.
- 70% are girls.
- They come from extreme poor areas (Cantagallo and
others nearby)
- Our first group graduated last September, 60% of them
are now working for companies engaged with our mission. They are now
bringing revenue to their household empowering and helping their overall
realities.
Our Education Programs
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Code
to Work: Serves teenagers that have already finished
school and are in need of skills to join the work force. Their ages range
from 15 to 22 years old.
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Skills:
Front end and Backend programming backed by world class curriculum
provided by Udemy.
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Duration:
6 months/ daily
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Play
to grow: Serves children that are currently attending school or
work in the morning. Ages ranging from 8 to 15 years old.
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Skills:
Introduction to technology by developing their own games, using
Scratch, Robotzzle, Minecraft.
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Duration: 6
months/ weekends
Outreach Programs
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Mobile Lab: We bring our education to children
located in remote areas of Lima.
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Workshops: Technology and native language preservation. Most our
students migrated from remote rural areas, their primary language is not Spanish. We
partnered with The Idea Agency and the Office of human inclusion of Ministry of
Culture to bring awareness and practice to the importance of preserving
their own identity. As a result, our children are now coding and developing in
their own native languages in addition to Spanish.
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Outreach: Bringing Code.org program 'Hour of Code' to schools and
recreational events.
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Events: We partnered with Microsoft Peru to bring Developer Days.
Our students got to interact with other techies, attended seminars and
presented their prototypes.
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The
Challenging Context
In Latin American countries, the
vast majority of children in relative poverty also suffer from extreme degrees
of absolute deprivation, making the challenge of child poverty all the more
urgent. In fact, in all but three countries (Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay),
over half of all children below the relative poverty line live in families
which do not have sufficient income for a proper diet.
·
Latin America has the world's
highest levels of social inequality
·
91% of Children in poverty in Peru
do not have access to a college education.
·
Fewer than half the girls in the
developing world will never reach secondary school.
Barriers
o People from these communities are resistant and doubtful about accepting help. We had to find a way to break through this barrier.
o We decided to do onsite recruiting, Roberto Carcelen along with the team visited Cantagallo community and went door to door explaining the education opportunity and how it could break that multi-generational poverty cycle. It took time to gain their trust, but in the end it worked out, (certainly Roberto being an Olympic athlete helped). Our first group of graduates from Cantagallo was the best proof for them that our program works.
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Door
to door
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Our graduates helping with recruiting
o
We experienced high
drop out and class absence rates. After further investigation we found out
lack of food was the reason. Students aimed their efforts to find breakfast
instead of coming to class.
o
We decided to provide a
well-balanced breakfast to sustain their morning studies. Since then, the
dropout & absence rates is now zero!
o
Children that come to the academy
are shy by nature and hard to express their feelings and problems that affect
them.
With the help if our psychologists,
staff members and instructors we were able to cracked that barrier
and understand that high number of these students live in violent homes
and are often too frightened and embarrassed to speak out.
We identified this as critical point
that needed attention in order to stabilize emotionally these children,
overcoming that hurdle has helped our children to be more open and willing to
learn new skills. Our Psychologists have been supporting these students through
1:1 therapy that also involves their parents.
How Does the Money Work?
We have super low administrative
costs as we run a solid volunteer program through our corporate environment
network.
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Our self-sustain model:
- The
RCF will fund 100% of setup
and operations for their academies for the first year
- 50% for the first 6 months of the
following year and then each academy will fly on its own by a self-sustain/ blue print program
- The self-sustain will be possible
by creating partnerships with local corporations, sponsorship programs
and fees from job placements.
- Consulting services fees.
- Applying to local and
international grants
- Local Fundraisers and
crowdfunding
Plans to Grow?
Yes! We are opening RCF Academy in
Quito Ecuador, March 2017
About Roberto Carcelen
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At the age of 36, in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, Roberto Carcelen
learned how to ski for the first time. Only 3 years later, Roberto traveled to
Vancouver British Columbia to represent Peru as their first cross country
skier and Winter Olympian. In 2014 Roberto would travel to Sochi Russia
and compete a second time for his homeland of Peru. On his journey he
would face many challenges and struggles. These times of strife would teach
Roberto to embrace the values of perseverance, determination, and tenacity.
These core values were the source of his success and enabled Roberto to
reach goals that most would find unachievable.
“Will this journey of adversity and pain have a purpose? How can I turn my
struggles, doubts, failures, and victories along this Olympic voyage into story
of hope and perseverance for the people of my region?” These were the
thoughts that consumed my mind as I struggled through debilitating pain
crossing the finish line at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
The Roberto Carcelen Foundation was established in Seattle, Washington in
May 2014.
