Magis Americas

Advancing Education and Life Skills in Latin America and the Caribbean

Geographic Reach & Network

International Federation of Fe y Alegría (FIFyA -- www.feyalegria.org) is an association of local Fe y legría nonprofit organizations in 16 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that provide and promote high-quality education and training in livelihood skills for disadvantaged communities. In all, the schools and training centers in this network provide education to 1.3 million children, youth and adults in over 2000 locations. Annually, this network mobilizes over $250 million to support this work. Their goal is to enable the most impoverished and excluded sectors of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean to advance in their personal development and to be able to participate fully in their societies. Recognizing that the scope of this challenge far exceeds their capacities, this network wants to join in alliances and action partnerships with many other groups to expand the availability of such services to poor communities throughout the region.

Asociación de Universidades Confiadas a la Compañía de Jesús (AUSJAL -- www.ausjal.org) is an association of 29 Jesuit colleges and universities from 14 countries across the region. The network has identified as one of its priorities the various efforts and programs of their members in the arena of social change to enable poor communities to join the mainstreams of their countries, and it is fostering alliances with a wide range of other groups that are working towards this goal.

Individual Jesuit Provinces, which are part of the Conference of Latin American Provincials (CPAL) , and CPAL support numerous programs and projects in education and livelihood skills for poor communities under their "social sector" activities. These schools and related programs, often addressing the needs of the most vulnerable and suffering groups in society, provide services to many hundreds of communities. They need support to sustain and deepen their work, and they offer partners from other groups very highly respected and cost-effective ways of entering and working with the most marginalized communities.