The project ¿Qué se puede hacer con 1 euro? (What Can Be Done with €1?) is an initiative led by the NGO Ayuda en Acción (Help in Action) with the collaboration of the Hotel Bahía del Duque. It has met with great success thanks to the generous contributions of the Hotel’s guests. Its main objective is to give its members access to present and future opportunities, focusing on the most underprivileged communities in nine countries.
An initiative without borders
Through this charitable programme, guests who wish to collaborate agree to donate one euro, which is added to their bill at the end of their stay. The funds raised with our guests’ contributions allow us to sponsor 40 groups of children in Colombia, Bolivia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Honduras, Ethiopia and Uganda.
The Hotel’s director, Cristina de Juan, explains, “At Bahía del Duque, we are deeply involved in these kinds of initiatives. As a family-oriented hotel, we’re greatly concerned with all matters involving children and their well-being. Because of this deep commitment, some of our staff correspond regularly with the sponsored communities”.
On more than one occasion, the contributions of our guests have surpassed our collection goals, resulting in the donation of the remaining funds to Ayuda en Acción as a means of collaboration in diverse projects, such as Proyecto Los Andes (The Andes Project). In 2009, this led to two bridges in Ecuador, specifically on the Pungadahua and Punahua Rivers. The bridges helped improve transit between the local communities, which inhabit a subtropical Andes region. It also allowed the construction of a school cafeteria in Ecuador that was inaugurated as “Pichincha” and is located in Guaranda Canton, where 45 children of the Mulidiahuan community receive schooling and a more balanced diet as a result of the initiative.
Another project that was set in action was that of Boloso Sore (Ethiopia), which saw in 2016 the construction of three schools, with a total of 499 boys and girls enrolled. In 2017, the guests of Bahía del Duque helped Ayuda en Acción to set up six latrines, two for each school, which contributed to reducing the risk of infections and prevented the harassment of the girls, as well as lowering the truancy of the students of either gender.
More recently, we have collaborated with the project La regla de tres (the Rule of Three), which focuses on the education and rights of Ethiopian women.
A hotel with a commitment
At Bahía del Duque sustainability is part of our mission and inspires us to do our part to make a better world possible. We implement strategies that promote the well-being of our employees and environmental sustainability, and we collaborate actively in the development of local and international communities.
Decades of dedication to helping others
For over 40 years, Ayuda en Acción has helped eradicate poverty and inequality, contributing to the improvement of the nutrition, health, and education of over 2.5 million children and their families. At this time, the NGO is present in 18 countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia and has also led initiatives in Spain in recent years.
