Wayuu Taya Foundation with Founder Patricia Velásquez (Video 2014)

 

Wayuu Taya Foundation:  We are a 501(c)3 non governmental, nonprofit organization founded in 2002 to help improve the lives of Latin-American indigenous communities while maintaining and respecting their traditions, culture and beliefs.  The Wayúu Tayá Foundation (WT) was founded in 2002 by Venezuelan model and actress PatriciaVelásquez. Since its creation, WT has concentrated its efforts in assisting the Wayúu, an indigenous group of over 450,000 people located in the Guajira Peninsula of Northern Colombia and Northwest Venezuela.  Recently, WT expanded its work to the Amazon, supporting healthcare, income generation, and education initiatives benefiting members of the Jivi, Yanomami and Piaroa indigenous groups.

 

Commonly referred to as Guajiros, Wayuus are an Amerindian ethic group that have been able to avoid European acculturation over the centuries. The Guajira region is characterized by being very dry and arid, as well as extremely poor in most rural areas.

Following the tragic earthquake that ravaged Port Au Prince, the Wayúu Tayá Foundation has responded with the creation of the Help Haiti Hope initiative to assist with on going relief efforts.

Wayúu Tayá has successfully improved the lives of hundreds of indigenous children by providing education, school supplies, health care, and food; moreover, it has provided their mothers with employment and income-generating opportunities, as well as practical seminars.

Patricia Velásquez model/actress

In 2002, Patricia Velásquez founded the Wayúu Tayá Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to assisting the Wayúu, a Venezuelan indigenous group.^[5] In 2010, after the devastating Haiti earthquake, she had the Wayuú Tayá Foundation commission a special symbol of hope to raise money for the victims of the Haiti earthquake along with the slogan: Keep the "H" Close to Your Heart—Help Haiti Hope.^[6] She is fluent in English, French, Italian, and Spanish. ^{[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Vel%C3%A1squez}

For more information about Patricia Velasquez and the Wayuu Taya Foundation:  http://wayuutaya.net/