The Pyramid Project

Orphanage Mission

“Forward (By Julio)"
Getting to the route problem

The underlying concept of the Orphanage mission is to give street orphans good homes and an education.  However, instead of the usual set-up of having a city based Orphanage building, equipped with staff and funded through charity, Virginia's vision is to create more natural community type centres that she has coined "Pyramid Villages"

Iquitos has acted like a big magnet in the past few generations and has attracted many people from their indigenous life in the jungle, to the life of the city.  In this scenario there will always be the winners and losers.  Sadly the losers have no governmental support in Iquitos and they end up living on the streets.  The saddest part of this is that in one generation they lose their connection with the jungle and cannot go back.  For example, they cannot even speak their parent's jungle language and they do not know the basics like which jungle foods to eat.  The brilliance of Virginia's vision is to create artificial jungle villages that welcome people back from the cities

This means that in these villages they can learn the ways of the jungle and in time a Pyramid Village will become a normal indigenous community which leans less and less on the financial support of the Pyramid Project

Orphanage Mission

(By Virginia Burg)

“Introduction"
Cultural Bridge

The Pyramid Project gives us an opportunity to create more projects which will be beneficial in creating a bridge between the knowledge in many different areas in western and indigenous cultures. It will also help to preserve some traditions which otherwise might be dying out.  After personally having spent years as an educator, creating language and communication programs, organizing and founding a private Kindergarten Nursery school as well as a business for teaching, we felt that the next logical step for the utmost use of our gained working knowledge would be in the area of education.  And after seeing the street children here our hearts knew that our work was leading us up to develop an orphanage program which could serve as schools as well as a general education centers

“Orphanage"
Pyramid Villages

We plan on starting small and growing according to the needs and budget.  Research has shown that a mixed age group as well as mixed genders similar to the “SOS Children’s Village” in Europe is a suitable model.  This would be in keeping with the social structures here and also enable woman to raise their own children within the Pyramid Villages.  Parents will be trained within our framework to take over a group of children and eventually a Pyramid Village.  Our first goal would be to create a model Pyramid Village with eight to ten Mothers each having six to eight children.  A second goal would be to find an economical project for each Pyramid Village which would give it and its member’s economical independency

“Buildings"
Including an outpatient clinic

Each village would be on a separate plot of land. The funding for this land as well as all buildings would be from the Matrimony Suite in the Pyramid Project.  Each family would have their own house.  The houses would be equipped with a central living room, toilet, showers and a tea kitchen.  Each village would have a dining hall, kitchen, laundry, school, play area and garden for medicinal plants as well as vegetables.  All families would be trained to work in all areas as well as learning to train others.  There would also be a house for guests who would be coming in to volunteer as teachers and/or doctors.  This house would also function as an office for the Pyramid Village and its administrator.  A small outpatient clinic would be available for the members of the community which would also serve as an educational center for local women in areas of health, hygiene and preventive medicine

“Sponsers and Support"
Donations of books welcomed 

Having built up a network of teachers for our private business in Europe, we hope to draw upon this knowledge to have a constant flow of educators as well as medical doctors who would be interested in working at least one year in the Pyramid Village.  This work would be in exchange for room, board and the possibility to participate in their own quest in the field of Shamanic medicine

We would also be actively seeking schools and kindergartens that would take over the role of Sponsors and support a specific Village with material needs such as donations of books, clothes, basic medical supplies and other useful items. Any financial donations would be more than welcome and would be used as a central fund for all Pyramid Villages.  Donations will also be used for tactical needs such as the building and maintenance of a dentist center, a needed correctional medical operation and a special educational fund.  Foreign families wishing to be sponsors would be asked to invite teenagers from the Pyramid Village to their live with them in their home and to enable them to spend one year studying abroad at their local high school

“Work Possibilities"
Westerners get shamanic training

The Pyramid Villages would not only give local people the possibility to be trained to work in specific areas but it would also give westerners the chance to live in a village setting and become acquainted with the indigenous culture.  The local artwork and language could be taught to them as well as being taught to the children in the Villages.  Working in conjunction with local Shamans, we would also offer the possibility to participate in shamanic ceremonies on a regular basis

“Clinic"
Alternative medicines

We already have the building of a clinic in the back of our heads and hope that one of the Pyramid Villages would take over the role of building this.  David and Rosy from Canada have already expressed an interest in taking over the clinic project.  The funding of this will be derived from a common contribution from all Pyramid Villages as well as channeling excess money from the Pyramid Project itself.  Rosy is presently in India studying Auyveda medicine which she will be able to share with us in the future.  We view the clinic as a meeting place for alternative medical practices such as western medicines, shamanic techniques, Chinese herbal remedies, and different massage therapies.  With the vast wealth of information and expertise many of our guests, as well as persons already working with us have, we can create a hotspot for alternative medicine that Iquitos has never had in the past

“Philosophy"
Sustainability and financial independence

However, it is to be noted that we do not view our projects as an unlimited free source for money, handouts or material needs.  We see these as catalysts for creating other projects.  The way we see it, each endeavor in itself, should be economically independent allowing for each Pyramid Village to sustain independency, growth and be able to create jobs either in the Pyramid Village itself or supporting its members so that they are capable of working and economically sustaining their own life as an adult.  We view ourselves as a bridge between cultures.  One which would support a walk between many different areas allowing a continuous exchange of knowledge which offers tools that the individuals can take, learn to use and thus be able to gain a social, economical and philosophical responsibility that would be necessary for sustaining its chosen path in life as well as one beneficial for its environment.  

We are non-denominational believing in a higher spirit and the general good in life