Fundacion Avanzar trains female entrepreneurs and provides support to teenagers and children at risk in Ecuador.
We are very proud to contribute to 6 of the 17
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Mission
Avanzar designs programs with the aim of supporting women from low-income backgrounds, enabling them to explore and develop their potential as entrepreneurs. These women can generate economic resources, create employment opportunities, and foster prosperity for themselves, their families, and communities. Additionally, Avanzar addresses essential areas that are often neglected by the government, such as the right to play for hospitalized children and sexual education for teenagers.
Programs for Women
Fostering Female Entrepreneurs
AVANZAR has developed educational programs catering to women with limited resources, focusing on practical areas like gastronomy, sewing, health, and beauty. These initiatives enable participants to undergo training in around six months and kickstart their own entrepreneurial endeavors. Operating in sectors highly sought after by both society and the job market, we ensure that these women can become economically productive individuals, irrespective of their educational background, age, or prior experience.
Programs for Hospitalized Children
AVANZAR has implemented a program aimed at children hospitalized at the Vicente Corral Moscoso Hospital in the city of Cuenca. This hospital handles severe cases that require extended stays, and its patients come from both urban and rural areas. AVANZAR provides comprehensive support to the children and their families during this period.
Personal Development for Adolescents
Thanks to the initiative of Melina Ammann, a dedicated Swiss volunteer, since 2021 AVANZAR operates a program for teenagers that welcomes girls aged 13–18 to workshops in which topics such as personal development, plans for the future, women's rights, etc. are discussed. The talks last for a week, during which the teenagers also learn how to make handicrafts, with the aim of sowing in them the seeds of work, financial independence, and entrepreneurship.
Volunteers
Our volunteers are students, friends, and friends of friends who
have decided to invest their time, knowledge, work, and effort to help us with our projects and therefore help those who are less privileged.
Interested in volunteering? Join Now!
+41 76 393 6502
News
Education for female entrepreneurs
Since 1999, we have been working to help women in precarious situations who want to work as entrepreneurs in order to support their families.
We offer comprehensive training programs for aspiring female entrepreneurs. In addition to practical lessons, our students receive training in finance, sales, marketing and other skills they need to build their businesses.
With a click on this you get an overview in figures of what we have achieved so far.
In 2023, high school senior Geraldine Beaud, traveled to Cuenca/Ecuador to work as a volunteer at Fundación Avanzar in order to do field research for her high school thesis on the topic of “The Impact of Micro Finance” (click link to read thesis paper).
The result of her field study shows that positive effects can be observed: All three women interviewed gained access to financial services, were able to build a business of their own and thus succeeded in escaping extreme poverty. While some points of criticism can be formulated, according to Geraldine - particularly in connection with the so-called displacement effect - Fundación Avanzar is a good example of how sustainable micro finance can be operated.
"It is only possible to advance when one looks far ahead.
One can only make progress by thinking big."
José Ortega y Gasset
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