Updates on the COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Fund
Solidarity and trust are the values that donors who contributed to the COVID Relief and Recovery Fund for Family showed us last April. Through this campaign, we raised $28,030.99, to exclusively alleviate the most pressing needs that our participants are experiencing due to the COVID-19 crisis. For most families, their main source of income comes […]
Challenges of remote learning: the experiences of entrepreneurs as caregivers and teachers
Remote learning was the response after classes in public and private schools were suspended due to the COVID-19 crisis back in March. Entrepreneurs with children did not feel comfortable leaving them at home during this time but they were also worried about how or how much their children will learn from home. As of August, […]
6 ways PV works to implements a trauma-informed care approach
Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) is an approach that has emerged to work with those who have gone through difficult or traumatizing situations. Through this approach, it is important to create an environment focused on an individual’s comfort. The goal of TIC is for participants to feel safe and secure. Author Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., says […]
What COVID-19 means for women entrepreneurs in the informal sector in El Salvador
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the global economy and El Salvador has been no exception to those effects. The application of measures to prevent and control the spread of the virus required the closure of shops, intense sanitary procedures, as well as the regulation of essential businesses that were required to stay open during the […]
Thank You! – 2020 Giving Day Reflections
Since July 2016, Programa Velasco (PV) has celebrated its annual Giving Day. Organized out of our headquarters in El Salvador but held online, Giving Day brings together supporters from various different countries and is our largest annual fundraising event each year. Through the years we have learned a great deal about how to best facilitate […]
The invisible effects in mental health that will show sooner than later
COVID-19 shook the health and economy of the modern world. Without an end in sight, there is more talk of a “new normal,” than returning to the life we had five months ago. It has become evident that we may have to live with the virus for many more months and, perhaps, even years. Encouragingly […]
Sandra’s empowerment lesson can’t be found on text books
Sandra is a woman, a mother and an entrepreneur, and although like many women in El Salvador, she has never attended formal school herself, she has taught us so much in her time with the Women’s Empowerment Project (WEP). Having worked since a very young age, Sandra has been making and selling pupusas and tortillas […]
Infographic: The concerning employment reality for +3M Salvadoran women
Because of social, economic and educational inequalities that persist in Salvadoran society today, not all women are able to obtain quality jobs that allow them to generate income and enjoy a decent life. This can be seen by looking at findings from the 2019 Household and Multiple Purposes Report of El Salvador, which states that […]
COVID-19, quarentine and the effects on entrepreneurs’ mental health
The measures taken to prevent the infection of COVID-19 within Salvadoran populations have been implemented since March, and have gradually caused the majority of business activities to remain on standby. When the entrepreneurs start with the Women’s Empowerment Project we work with the message that they take ownership of their role as an entrepreneur and […]
Our mental health research on ACEs is published
Promoting mental health is another holistic component to lifting up families and women entrepreneurs. To better understand the needs and previous experiences of those we serve, parents, women entrepreneurs, and youth completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) survey, which we also adapted to include questions about positive childhood experiences that build resilience and create protection. […]