Today we went to Pumamarca, the community and school we are going to be working with for the next month. Pumamarca means area of the Puma (although we haven’t seen any) and is located in the mountain regions above Cusco, about 10km out of town. The community members survive on their agricultural products – fresh flowers, maize, potatoes and other vegetables, which they sell at local markets in Cusco. Families make on average around 10 to 15 soles a week (approximately six dollars) from their produce. Peru’s Challenge have been involved with this community since 2005.
Peru’s Challenge was started in 2003 by Jane (an Australian) and her partner Selvy (a Peruvian from Lima). Fifty-four percent of Peru’s population live below the extreme poverty line (49% live on less than $1.00 a day). They have no access to safe drinking water, electricity or medical support. Consequently, the charity aims to create basic opportunities for the children of Peru, including education, health, and a happy and safe environment. Ninety percent of the children Peru’s Challenge work with are severely malnourished. Since commencing their work, Jane and Selvy, along with numerous volunteers, have helped nearly 1000 families, and started to educate over 500 children in four different communities. They work in partnership with a community for a period of three to five years, decreasing their involvement over time and ultimately leaving behind a self sufficient community. Pumamarca is the current community Peru’s Challenge is involved with.
When we arrived at the school, Jane took us on a tour and showed us the various projects they have completed and explained what they still need to accomplish. It is very impressive what the dreams of two people have achieved. In just a couple of years they have increased the number of students from 13 to over 150. They have also created a workshop group (Talleres) for the local mothers to attend and learn craft skills. There are now 190 women who draw a small income from this. This gives the women confidence and in doing so hasreduced the incidence of domestic violence. These are just two of their many achievements.
Today was a special day for the community as it was the grand opening of the new kinder classrooms. Last months’ volunteers completed the project, so now the women from the Talleres group don’t have to share their room with the children. Having separate buildings also means the women can now come in and do their crafts whenever they like. To mark the occasion, the local community turned up in droves and put on a special celebration for us to show their appreciation for the work Peru’s Challenge has done. We were the honored guests even though it was the July volunteers who did the hard work – not that I minded.
The festivities started with the Peruvian national anthem (which indecently is very long). This was followed with the different year levels singing songs for us, including a performance by the kinder kids. I was amazed at the confidence of the children who got up and sung in front of everyone.
Perhaps the highlight of everything for me was the traditional dance performed by some of the local men. The dance was supposed to be serious and I believe it was about harvesting, a guess from the sheaves of grain attached to the backs of the dancers. One part involved a guy acting very drunk, presumably on Chicha (corn beer) and getting whipped. There were only two steps, jumping on the left leg and then jumping on the right, yet a lot of them could not keep time. The women from the community found the whole thing hilarious and were apparently making jokes about it in Talleres that night.
After the performances, Jane and Selvy officially opened the classrooms by smashing a bottle of sweet smelling champagne with a hammer. Glass went everywhere for the kinder kids to later trample on! The slide was then opened for the kids who couldn’t get enough of it. We were then all given lovely bunches of flowers (grown locally) by the women who took great delight in tipping handfuls of confetti in our hair – I am still getting it out. Jane and Selvy were presented with an engraved plate/ plaque as a thank you. Toasts were then made all round.
To wrap everything up we feasted on trout and potatoes that were baked earlier in makeshift ovens constructed from dirt bricks and shaped into an igloo style design. Apparently kids as young as three know how to build these ovens which is very impressive as they require a certain skill to make, it is probably a gene they are born with. The food was delicious and very filling – a great way to end our first day at Pumamarca.
Later in the afternoon Jon and I had our first two hour Spanish lesson – not very exciting. We are supposed to learn our vocab by next class – not very likely.
Peru’s Challenge was started in 2003 by Jane (an Australian) and her partner Selvy (a Peruvian from Lima). Fifty-four percent of Peru’s population live below the extreme poverty line (49% live on less than $1.00 a day). They have no access to safe drinking water, electricity or medical support. Consequently, the charity aims to create basic opportunities for the children of Peru, including education, health, and a happy and safe environment. Ninety percent of the children Peru’s Challenge work with are severely malnourished. Since commencing their work, Jane and Selvy, along with numerous volunteers, have helped nearly 1000 families, and started to educate over 500 children in four different communities. They work in partnership with a community for a period of three to five years, decreasing their involvement over time and ultimately leaving behind a self sufficient community. Pumamarca is the current community Peru’s Challenge is involved with.
When we arrived at the school, Jane took us on a tour and showed us the various projects they have completed and explained what they still need to accomplish. It is very impressive what the dreams of two people have achieved. In just a couple of years they have increased the number of students from 13 to over 150. They have also created a workshop group (Talleres) for the local mothers to attend and learn craft skills. There are now 190 women who draw a small income from this. This gives the women confidence and in doing so hasreduced the incidence of domestic violence. These are just two of their many achievements.
Today was a special day for the community as it was the grand opening of the new kinder classrooms. Last months’ volunteers completed the project, so now the women from the Talleres group don’t have to share their room with the children. Having separate buildings also means the women can now come in and do their crafts whenever they like. To mark the occasion, the local community turned up in droves and put on a special celebration for us to show their appreciation for the work Peru’s Challenge has done. We were the honored guests even though it was the July volunteers who did the hard work – not that I minded.
The festivities started with the Peruvian national anthem (which indecently is very long). This was followed with the different year levels singing songs for us, including a performance by the kinder kids. I was amazed at the confidence of the children who got up and sung in front of everyone.
Perhaps the highlight of everything for me was the traditional dance performed by some of the local men. The dance was supposed to be serious and I believe it was about harvesting, a guess from the sheaves of grain attached to the backs of the dancers. One part involved a guy acting very drunk, presumably on Chicha (corn beer) and getting whipped. There were only two steps, jumping on the left leg and then jumping on the right, yet a lot of them could not keep time. The women from the community found the whole thing hilarious and were apparently making jokes about it in Talleres that night.
After the performances, Jane and Selvy officially opened the classrooms by smashing a bottle of sweet smelling champagne with a hammer. Glass went everywhere for the kinder kids to later trample on! The slide was then opened for the kids who couldn’t get enough of it. We were then all given lovely bunches of flowers (grown locally) by the women who took great delight in tipping handfuls of confetti in our hair – I am still getting it out. Jane and Selvy were presented with an engraved plate/ plaque as a thank you. Toasts were then made all round.
To wrap everything up we feasted on trout and potatoes that were baked earlier in makeshift ovens constructed from dirt bricks and shaped into an igloo style design. Apparently kids as young as three know how to build these ovens which is very impressive as they require a certain skill to make, it is probably a gene they are born with. The food was delicious and very filling – a great way to end our first day at Pumamarca.
Later in the afternoon Jon and I had our first two hour Spanish lesson – not very exciting. We are supposed to learn our vocab by next class – not very likely.
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