Making a Difference

Casa Sana aims to put as much of your contribution as possible to work helping people in need. Casa Sana works hard to keep our overhead as low as possible and generate a strong return on investments made in marketing and fundraising. The money spent on fundraising and marketing is an essential investment to guarantee that we can secure funding for our vital work in the future and that we have the necessary planning and project management systems in place to ensure we are efficiently run in an accountable manner.

In general, individual contributions will be spent wherever the need is greatest in our programs in Peru, or to carry out vital research, advocacy, communications and support functions.

Because our projects use technologies that are appropriate and affordable for children living in some of Peru’s poorest villages a small amount really can make a difference to our work. While some of our projects are supported by large grants, Casa Sana depends upon many people giving small amounts of money, which together can enable whole communities to gain access to higher education and foster youth empowerment.

Casa Sana began in the heart of one woman moved by her sponsored children who live in small villages in Peru. In 2008 Madena Parsley went to Peru to meet her children. When she encountered the extreme poverty of Peru’s village children, she knew she had to do something more. In 2011, Madena and a team of incredible people established a program that empowers youth through community service, supports higher education, provides after school programs along with coaching, counseling and mentoring. That program is the foundation and core of Casa Sana.

During Casa Sana‘s research, we’ve found various approaches to breaking the cycle of poverty in children’s lives. We’ve discovered that changed circumstances rarely change people’s lives, while changed people inevitably change their circumstances. Community development is important work that addresses the external circumstances of poverty and is an important complement to our work. However, our primary focus is individual child development—an inside-out, bottom-up approach that recognizes the value and potential of each individual child. These children grow up to become positive influences in their own communities.