Project Vamos Adelante
Vamos Adelante was founded by Nina Jörgensen as a private initiative. She moved to Antigua, Guatemala in 1989 and quickly realized that help was rarely available in the surrounding regions. In 1994, the first small school was built as a start for the organization.
Social Commitment
Project Vamos Adelante
“Vamos Adelante” is financed solely from private donations from Europe and North America. The organization is proud that only the absolutely necessary minimum of administrative costs are incurred and that close contact is maintained with the donors. The heart of “Vamos Adelante” is the local employees. They take care of the families in need of assistance. This includes the women who advise the families and schools on questions of health and hygiene, and check on the progress of the students. In addition, the organization also employs some teachers and helps independent schools get started. In the area of wellness, volunteer doctors support the work in its small clinic. Furthermore, younger people from the US and Europe work together on a voluntary basis in this project.
With stipends financed by Burmester, children from different villages receive school fees for an entire year, school materials, school uniforms and shoes as well as money for school field trips.
The population in this region mostly work seasonally during the harvest of sugar cane and coffee beans and is therefore without any income for long stretches. Due the lack of educational opportunities, illiteracy is widespread and the poverty fosters illness and malnutrition. Many children there come from extremely poor circumstances and often have problems with concentration due to poor nutrition or dealing with the aftermath of traumatic experiences. Vamos Adelante assists these children not only with regard to their academic performance, as they also endeavor to provide the children with basic assistance in terms of nutrition and hygiene along the way.
In April 2016 the organization “Vamos Adelante” successfully finished another project. With collected donations a school and a sports field were built in San Andreas Osuna, Guatemala. Parents, teachers and pupils were excited about the little preschool and more than 40 volunteers came to paint the building in brightly colors.
Many volunteers, teachers, parents and pupils came to the opening-ceremony at 25th of May 2016. The children were not only happy about the preschool but also the new playground. Dieter Burmester gets an own memorial tablet for his support: “In memorial of Dieter Burmester – This class rooms and the sports field have been built with the support of his family, friends and business partners.”
Project
Vamos Adelante
Nina Jörgensen and the Vamos Adelante team have been honored with several prestigious awards for their steady and disciplined work in Guatemala. In February 2008, Nina received an elite award from the German Government in recognition of her and her team’s dedication to outstanding humanitarian work. If you would like to know more about the organization, please visit their website: