On April 19, the Ordinary General Assembly of Members was held in Getafe (Madrid) of this Association, a member of the Augustinian Recollect International Solidarity Network ARCORES, whose primary purpose is to support the Hogar Santa Monica de Fortaleza.
About 35 members gathered last April 19 to celebrate the annual Assembly of the Association AyudaFortaleza, a member of ARCORES and whose primary purpose is to support the socio-educational project “Hogar Santa Monica,” which fights against exploitation, abandonment, violence, abuse, and violation of the rights of girls and adolescents in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza.
AyudaFortaleza currently has 258 members. In the year 2023, it obtained an income of 30,431.03 Euros, of which a total of 27,829.00 Euros (91.67%) was sent to the project in Brazil, after deducting the costs of organization, secretariat, and materials for the handicrafts.
The Assembly serves as an evaluation of what has been done during the year. Also, it was an opportunity for programming, implementation, and improvement of the activities to be carried out until the next annual Assembly.
In the internal order, a motion was approved to name “honorary members” those members of AyudaFortaleza who have passed away while they were members. In addition, a Eucharist will be organized every year in their memory.
The information channels within the Association will also be implemented, allowing messaging applications and e-mail to achieve maximum dissemination of communications and activities.
Concerning the external order, the 2023 activities report was presented and approved. It points out the importance that although there have been changes in the organizational structure of Hogar Santa Monica in Fortaleza, this has not produced significant changes for the beneficiaries, neither in the objectives set nor in the results achieved.
As for the task of AyudaFortaleza in Spain, 2023 is the first year of a complete return to normality with the pandemic entirely over. This is noticed in the scope of the resources obtained and the number of activities organized.
These included eight solidarity flea markets, participation in the Getafe City Hall Associations Fair, a solidarity meal for a hundred people, and a solidarity theater in collaboration with the TAC Theater Group.
For its part, the headquarters in Arnedo (La Rioja, SPAIN) also organized several street markets throughout that Autonomous Community and a solidarity puppet show.
Además el año 2023 se reanudaron las visitas de voluntarios a Fortaleza con una estancia de 20 días del secretario y una vocal de la Asociación.
In addition, in 2023, volunteer visits to Fortaleza were resumed with a 20-day stay by the secretary and a member of the Association.
The board of directors of the Association AyudaFortaleza is composed of:
- President: Manuel Recio
- Vice-president: Antonio Garcia
- Secretary: Miguel Francisco Hamelynck
- Treasurer: Beatriz Garcia-Cuerva
- Members: Saturnina Paniagua, Rosa Caceres, María Luz Brieva and María Isabel Gutierrez.
