Our Mission
La Vida raises funds for health and education projects throughout Latin America. The charity is registered in the UK and has been established to help disadvantaged people residing permanently in Latin America, in particular, by preserving and protecting health, relieving sickness, relieving poverty and advancing education.
About La Vida
La Vida was co-founded by Katy Vatis and Helen Ilsley following a business trip to Brazil in February 2006.
During this trip, they met Dr. Monica Nogueira, an orthopedic pediatric surgeon trying to raise US$50,000 to train Brazilian orthopedic surgeons the ‘Ponseti Technique‘ of treating Clubfoot.
The trustees registered La Vida as a UK charity by August 2006. After successfully raising over £27,500 in just over two months, we decided to look for other projects to support across Latin America.
Subsequently, we have found more projects in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru some of which we support on a continuous basis and some which are now complete.
Although La Vida is a relatively small charity, so far we have raised nearly £850,000 through sponsorship, our annual La Vida fundraising event, direct donations and partnerships with other foundations. The funding we have deployed will have directly impacted the lives of over 30,000 disadvantaged children and their families in Latin America.
Find more information about our partners and sponsors, our annual reports and our policy for grants .
Why La Vida?
- We focus exclusively on health and education –targeted support has a positive impact in some of the world’s poorest countries
- We have a rigorous governance process – we go to great lengths to ensure funds are properly allocated
- Everybody working for La Vida does so on a voluntary basis – at least 98% of donations go directly to the projects we support
Recent Projects
Education for the Children
Project Somos
Educate – community library
Fondo Guadalupe Musalem
Mano Vuelta
