Latin American countries are facing fast-paced COVID-19 outbreaks. In response to the crisis, One Young World Ambassadors have jumped into action devising innovative solutions and using their network to help others. The Ambassadors on this list are on the frontlines of this pandemic fighting to help their communities. Whether it be fighting misinformation from political leaders, or assisting children to continue their education, even when they can't be physically present in school, One Young World Ambassadors in Latin America have stepped up to the challenge.
Desde Greenfluidics y Salvando Latidos A.C. buscamos ayudar a quienes nos cuidan, invitamos a la sociedad en general y...
Posted by Greenfluidics on Monday, 18 May 2020
Carlos Madrigal and Adan Ramirez, Mexico
Dr. Carlos Madrigal raised $75,000 for the provision of medical equipment to protect healthcare personnel on the frontlines of the pandemic. In partnership with Adan Ramirez and his organisation - Green Fluidics - they designed an algorithm to determine how best to distribute the donations.
Orlando Anaya, Mexico
In partnership with SuuT KuXtal, a Mexican organization that builds sustainable items, and a local recycling facility, KM1 participated in the creation of recycled plastic to build protective masks for hospital personnel. To this date, they have built and donated close to one thousand units.
César Rafael Feerman Molina, Mexico
Bebequitin shared information during the quarantine to give people tools to reduce child abuse and domestic violence. In collaboration with various therepists, Cesar and his team have also implemented low-cost psychological and lactation counselling services, giving priority to health professionals and their families.
Cada Día Cuenta - COVID-19 Hackathon
The OYW Latin America Community launched a hackathon from 3 - 5 April, which aimed to devise solutions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 across the region.
3,600 people took part, including mentors, volunteers, and participants. Representing 18 different countries, the participants developed over 210 solutions.
Karen Lopez, Guatemala
RESI was formed by young volunteers in Guatemala to support Guatemalan families who are currently living in situations of vulnerability as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. RESI will support 2,000 families with monthly food baskets which will cover their nutritional needs from May to December.
Edith Soria, Mexico
Create Purpose is a bi-national nonprofit organisation which creates project-based programs and learning opportunities for children and teenagers. When the pandemic started, the organisation made its classes 100% virtual, equipping orphanages and shelters and computers and a stable internet connection. With support from the US Immigration Policy Center and a migrant shelter, Create Purpose have also bought their coding classes to asylum-seeking girls and teenagers.
Tabata Amaral de Pontes. Brazil
Although the Brazilian President has insisted that COVID-19 is a hoax, Tabata is using her platform within the government to unlock funding to support vulnerable populations, set up medical response facilities, educate the Brazilian community about the dangers of COVID-19 and encourage people to self-isolate.
Renan Ferreirinha Carneiro, Brazil
Renan and his coalition proposed a bill to allow public schools to be used as shelters for socially vulnerable people during the pandemic. In April, the bill passed, a measure which demonstrated that the government must be responsible for supplying food, minimum health & sanitary conditions, as well as medical care. The money to fund this program will come from the Poverty and Social Inequalities Fight State Fund.
Mauricio Durán Núñez, Colombia
In Colombia, there is a tremendous deficit of ICU beds. For that reason, Mauricio, along with his team at RB, industrial designers, and doctors, developed the TAS Capsule. Their objective is to produce at least 280 capsules; distributing 30 for appropriate patient transfer in ambulances and 250 to cover the lack of ICU beds. To help realise their vision, Mauricio and his team are in conversation with several national and governmental entities in Colombia and Ecuador.
Lucas Bravo, Colombia
The EDUCAMBIO foundation is feeding families in conditions in Cali, Colombia. Three hundred donors - partnered with EDUCAMBIO - are currently providing food for over 1,000 vulnerable families in Cali.
Ilana Milkes, Colombia
World Tech have set out to fill educational gaps created by quarantine in the form of technical education solutions. Starting March 30, for every educational kit purchased, World Tech will donate another kit to a child that lacks access to educational technology.
Debbie Marin, Colombia
Chocó Robotics School is making masks to donate to the Quibdó Hospital in Colombia. In Chocó, the health system is precarious and lacks the necessary equipment to face an outbreak of COVID-19.
Nasha Cuello, Argentina
AB inBev Argentina have transformed their facilities to distil 70% alcohol in order to donate 150,000 bottles of hand sanitiser to those that need it most. They are currently distributing to multiple provinces and towns to reach hospitals and civil society organisations.
Angela Cáceres, Colombia
Angela is promoting the campaign "Help us take care of those who take care of us". A donation of just 20 dollars will buy all of the materials required to make a protective suit for a health professional at the Erasmo Meoz hospital in Cucuta. The garments are made entirely by volunteers, ensuring that every single dollar that is donated goes towards the purchase of the necessary materials.
Juan Carlos Viloria Doria, Colombia
Juan is working on the Coalition for Venezuela in Colombia’s campaign to help Venezuelan migrants and refugees living in Colombia. The Coalition for Venezuela is helping to provide these communities with critical resources such as food, medicine, personal hygiene products and biosafety products.
Felipe Acosta and Camilò Mendez, Colombia
Dondoctor partnered with the Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá Hospital to create the "Qué no cunda el pánico" campaign to fight against misinformation surrounding COVID-19. They have launched a platform that provides accurate information and connects directly with the health system in Colombia.
Karen Carvajalino, Colombia
Biz Nation have released 15 classes on technology, marketing and productive education for free during the quarantine, available using the code APRENDOENCASA2020. Biz Nation is also working to create new customised courses for corporations who have their employees working from home.
Jonathan Puerta, Colombia
Jonathan and his team at TASKME are working to help small companies and startups respond effectively to COVID-19. They launched THE SKILLBOX PROJECT, a community of young volunteer professionals who make the most of their time in quarantine by helping entrepreneurs and small businesses develop web pages, e-commerce sites, marketing campaigns among other things.
Camila Fierro, Colombia
Camila and her team at Ya Tengo Donde Escribir are delivering bags of groceries to the kids they support through their work. The organisation creates educational materials with recycled notebooks and supports young students who don't have access to basic educational needs.
Jenifer Colpas, Colombia
“WASH for all, WASH for life”, an initiative founded and led by Jenifer Colpas, is directly supporting the most vulnerable people in Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean communities who were displaced by Colombia’s civil war. It provides access to drinking water, hand washing facilities and educational workshops to minimise the spread of the Covid-19 virus in these marginalised communities. The initiative will use the grant to reach an estimated 7,500 people with vital preventative intervention.
Mileidy Jiménez Sánchez, Colombia
Mileidy helped to deliver 350 face masks to homeless people, sex workers, street vendors and older adults.
Benjamin Bocio, Dominican Republic
Dr Selin Benjamin Bocio Richardson and his organisation FUMEBO arranged to donate face masks, face shields, protective googles, glove boxes, and disposable gowns to frontline healthcare workers to protect them from dangerous exposure to the virus. The organisation has also committed to supply and distribute ‘Vital Boxes’ of food and basic hygiene essentials amongst these rural communities, allowing them to remain safely in their homes. FUMEBO will use the grant to supply and distribute over 1,000 Vital Boxes to over 1,000 low-income households. On these missions, it will also distribute personal protective equipment to underfunded hospitals located in the southern Dominican Republic.
Julian Bautista, Colombia
SomosEnlace is a new initiative launched by La Otra Juventud, a Bogotá-based civil society organisation that works with digital media communications to strengthen democracy and youth empowerment in the capital and beyond. Supported by UNICEF Colombia, the project aims to create a network of information exchange among community media outlets and civil society organisations in 8 different regions in Colombia.
Estefanía Angel, Colombia
NomoWaste is raising money to purchase cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment for recyclers. This is vital work as it helps the works to keep their facilities cleans and prevents them from contracting COVID-19 from the materials that they sort.
Lylean Machado, Colombia
Lylean Machado has partnered with the GERMINARFORTALENCE to provide much-needed food and security to the most vulnerable families in Bogotá, including Afro-colombian families, victims of the armed conflict and people with disabilities.
Néstor Gómez, Colombia
Alimentación para Soacha (Food for Soacha) aims to assist the most vulnerable families in the municipality of Soacha by proving food and basic hygiene products. The project has already targeted more than 400 vulnerable families.
Colombia Cuida Colombia, National initiative
Colombia Cuida Colombia is a national alliance, connecting people and organisations to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in the most vulnerable populations. The initiative is a united front of more than 260 organisations around five key issue areas: communications & information, food security, health, education and employment & entrepreneurship. In April alone, Colombia Cuida Colombia raised enough money to provide 11,002,029 kilos of food to 1,268,432 people in 152 municipalities and cities.
Ambassador causes you can support:
Have some regional Ambassador news you'd like to share? Please email [email protected].
Follow One Young World's channels
