Casa Mantay – Helping Adolescent Mothers & Babies

Casa Mantay is a privately funded non-profit organization that serves as a live-in training home for sexual abuse victims between the ages of 11 and 18 who wish to exercise the motherhood forced upon them. The beneficiaries of Mantay are all in a state of physical and social risk and are housed at the request of state entities (family court, Special Protection Unit of Peru’s Women’s Ministry). It is a safe space for them and their babies to live and grow up, where they can receive primary education, as well as learning personal, social, and career/crafting skills (i.e. how to make purses, wallets, bags, masks, and create beautiful floral arrangements) so that they can achieve financial independence and fully participate in society after they turn 18.

Casa Mantay has many needs. One being securing enough iron rich foods in order to provide the girls with all the nutrients they need to lead a healthy life.

Due to the high cost of meat and the many mouths to feed at Mantay, which includes the benefciaries and their children, as well as former beneficiaries who work in the Mantay workshops and their children, some of the girls have developed iron deficiency. We are hoping to secure funding to help address this problem.

Additionally, another priority is fixing their interior which is currently falling apart in some places. The building has not been painted in 20 years and needs urgent fixing so that the mothers and children living at Mantay can have a fruitful and safe environment to grow up in.

We would like to help raise some funds to help them cover the girls nutritional needs as well as get the supplies they need to fix up and re-paint the inside of the building (the bedrooms, classrooms, etc.!), and get paint for the outside of the building that can withstand Cusco's harsh weather.

With these updates we hope to make it an even more calming, joyful environment for the babies and their mothers to thrive and feel safe.

Learn more about Casa Mantay here: http://mantay.org/