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Our History.jpg)
_small.jpg) In
the 1990's, Manfred Mönnighoff, a German entrepreneur developed what he called the Peace Villages Concept, the first known
Non-Profit Franchise Concept. Mönnighoff who left
his successful business career behind to become
a social activist with the
intention of helping to create and promote a "Culture of Peace"
by putting his professional skills to work as a volunteer for
small grassroots NGO's in Asia, Central and South America.
In 1995 he founded the Peace Villages Foundation (PVF) and in 1998
he started his first humanitarian project in Merida, Venezuela. The work in Merida
focused on children rights. Efforts were made to integrate
street children and at risk youth into a more stable
environment, and at times, into foster families.
With the aim of creating
an official organization in Venezuela, Mönnighoff then promoted the cause
of defending children rights 1999 in Europe for nearly a year.
Thanks to significant fundraising and donor support as well as
the collocation of his own life savings, Mönnighoff succeeded
in 2001 in forming the constitution for
a volunteer-based NGO group in Caracas, Venezuela called Fundación Aldeas de Paz.
More about us
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What makes us unique
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Peace Villages concept
Through the initiative of a group of professionals and community
leaders, Aldeas
de Paz (ADP) responded to economic, social and cultural problems in
the impoverished and violent neighborhoods which form part of
the huge "Barrios Unidos de Petare" sector, located on the
north-western hills surrounding Caracas. His development und
humanitarian projects focused on the plied of young people in
very often extremely challenging situations like street
children, pregnant young adolescents, children who do not go to
school and unemployed at risk youth en general. The focus was on
empowering young people through direct assistants, education and
job training. Successful work was done for more
than a year, but due to
drastically increased violence and decreased public security (especially after the coup of 2002) a
decision was made to leave the programs in the hand of local church communities
and relocate Aldeas de Paz to
Santa Elena de Uairén,
a gold and diamonds mining town located in the heart of the
remote La Gran Sabana National Park on the border with Brazil.
Our future
│ Publications &
Testimonies
For over five
years now, Aldeas de Paz has been based in Santa Elena, focusing its energy on
cultural and social programs in the Gran Sabana region. ADP
works to empower young people by offering them alternative
educational opportunities and training as well as supporting and
educating parents. Thanks to the efforts of long
and short-term volunteers, Aldeas de Paz has made a very positive impact on the
wider Santa Elena community!
"Service is to put your skills and qualities to work and
share them with others so they get empowered to become
selfsufficient
and even sometimes prosperous in spirits and
material which helps them to let go and become servicable
themself"
Manfred Mönnighoff, Founder
PVF
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