We are a not-for-profit organization, founded in November 2013. We help disadvantaged people in Cusco build stable, prosperous futures for themselves. We provide travelers high quality services including Spanish classes, volunteer placements and homestay facilitation, while helping local people improve their lives.
Spanish School
Nativos’ first project, our Spanish school, remains at the heart of what we do. We are motivated by the shocking fact that almost three-quarters of Cusco’s poorest people are single mothers, unable to find a employment. Nativos’ founders wanted to help these women to get out of poverty. Through our NGO, we offer training and jobs to determined, talented women who are unable to afford the education on their own. With our help, they can put their new skills to use and earn a living wage for themselves and their families.
Tuition fees for Spanish lessons and classes go to pay our teachers, and some overhead expenses. Every teacher takes home a guaranteed minimum wage. Working for us provides our teachers new-found financial stability enabling them to provide better food, clothing, insurance and housing for their children, as well as send them to better schools.
While our Spanish school is a successful social enterprise, the support that we receive from sponsors and donors worldwide is vital to the ongoing training and support work that the Nativos NGO does, as well as to our future projects. If you are interested in making a donation, or helping out by offering materials, please see our Get Involved page on this website.
Nativos Corazon - Our new initiative
One of the greatest obstacles for a single mother in Cusco to rise out of poverty is the lack of child care. Without community support, she must be resourceful in earning money with her child alongside, which usually means selling cheap goods on the street. This type of work provides very low earnings and is not a safe environment for her children. It is also impossible to attend trade school or participate in programs for better job skills, like Nativos Spanish School, without safe care for their children. Thus Nativos Corazon is born.
We are raising funds to open a preschool center for young children (1 - 3 years old) of single mothers in poverty. The center will operate at no charge to the mothers, and provide professional care, age appropriate activities, much of the child’s daily nutrition needs, and some preventative medical care. This truly provides a head start not available to these children otherwise.
With the help of Nativos Corazon, these single mothers will be able to pursue education, job skill, and living-wage employment. This is transformative support that will boost the whole family into financial stability, changing their lives for years to come.