Peru's Challenge is a non-governmental organization that works with volunteers in Cuzco1 to create opportunities for children living in the Andes of Peru in South America. The Program was started by Jane Gavel (Australian) and Selvy Ugaz (Peruvian) when they were just 24 years old. Since October 2003, they have helped more than 1,000 families and started to educate over 500 children in four different communities. The Peru's Challenge Program supports local Peruvian charity Reto Peru (meaning Peru's Challenge) and is not affiliated with any other organisation. It is purely managed by Jane and Selvy from Peru.2
Contents
- Goals
- Introduction
- Project One Quilla Huata
- Project Two Pumamarca
- Project Three Huandar
- Picol
- Yutto
- San Martin
- References
Peru's Challenge have received worldwide recognition for their work and have been featured on the Australian hit travel show Getaway2 showcasing the work that they have completed and are undertaking in the rural communities of Cuzco. This national NGO won the ‘Highly Commended’ in the ‘Best Volunteer Organisation’ category of the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards in 2009.4 Amongst their global acknowledgment, local news networks5 have covered the work of previous volunteers as the work that Peru's Challenge has done and is doing in Peru has had a universal effect on anyone who participates. In addition to their work with communities, Peru's Challenge offers tours in their package in order for volunteers to experience the ancient wonders of Peru.
Goals
1. To create basic opportunities for the children of Peru:
Before starting any project, Peru's Challenge have lengthy discussions with all members of the community to ascertain what it is that they require for their children and how PC can work closely together to help them achieve this.
It is very important that the community feels they are working as a part of the team. The community are involved in all decisions and plans. This way, they learn to continue the great work that is done together. They become self-sustaining with the support of the relationship built with the Ministry of Education.
2. To provide an exceptional travel and volunteer experience:
Peru's Challenge is also very committed to providing an exceptional volunteer travel experience to all of participating volunteers. Volunteers are the lifeblood of the organisation. It is their invaluable assistance that makes the job of assisting local Peruvian communities possible. Being part of the Peru's Challenge volunteer team is about realising how easy it is to give Peruvian children more opportunities, while traveling and enjoying the absolute beauty of Peru, and making friendships with other volunteers from around the world.5
Introduction
Most of Reto Peru's work focuses in and around Cuzco in areas considered as some of the poorest in Peru. The population of communities assisted are essentially indigenous, of Quechua origin, uneducated and very malnourished.
The department of Cuzco is located in the southeast part of Peru. It covers an area of 70,000 km2, most of which is in the Andes Mountains, at an altitude of more than 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) above sea level.
Within the Cuzco department, 75 percent of its population live in a situation of poverty and 60 percent of the inhabitants have at least one unsatisfied basic need. Departmental levels of education and literacy are worse than the national average, with Cuzco among the worst in the country at 18%.
Although the region of Cuzco is one of the most popular tourist areas in all of South America (more than 1 million people visited Machu Picchu in 2006), none of the economic benefits and investment of tourism reach the local rural communities.
Project One - Quilla Huata
Date started: September, 2008
Quilla Huata, meaning “House of the Moon” in Quechua, is home to over 100 families, with an average of seven people per household.
Families rely solely on agricultural produce. Each family is in charge of looking after two or three plots of land which they work by hand. Produce is then sold down in the Cuzco markets (a two-hour walk away), which brings in an average wage of approximately US$5 per week.
Teenagers and young adults are leaving the community to find work in Cuzco and the nearby jungle. The majority are uneducated or underskilled and do not find work and therefore become homeless or run into problems by selling drugs or stealing.
The Quilla Huata School has been abandoned by the Department of Education and therefore children who do want to go to school walk one hour to the nearby community school in Pumamarca.
The children are severely malnourished and full of parasites. Houses are poorly equipped with no electricity, safe drinking water or toilets. Beds are usually a couple of blankets on the floor and cooking facilities are dismal with kitchen areas full of smoke.
Despite all this, the Quilla Huata community is made up of positive, happy people. They are full of hope and ideas and are dedicated to working side-by-side with Peru’s Challenge to ensure a better future for their children.
Project Two - Pumamarca
Date started: September, 2005
Pumamarca, meaning area of the Puma; is a small agricultural community located in the mountain region above Cuzco. The community members survive on their agricultural products – fresh flowers, maize, potatoes and other vegetables, which they sell at local markets in Cuzco.
The producers have access to plots that are farmed continuously year-round for maximum produce and are also continuously cutting down trees. Both these practices are causing erosion and a decrease in the fertility value of the land.
Producers rely on weekly local rural markets which, because of the region's isolation, appear as the main place for exchange and transactions. Because the community does not have any funds, the Department of Education in Peru does not support the local primary school, and it is left to fend for itself.
The benefit of non-agricultural activities is that they bring about a more stable and better time-distributed income stream. Women play an essential role in developing such activities, particularly small shops, cattle raising, flower markets and in the craft industry.
Project Three - Huandar
Date started: March, 2005
Approximately 200 families live in this community and the majority cannot afford for their children to go to the State primary school in Pisaq.
For the families that can, the biggest problem is that their children, mostly between the ages of seven and twelve, have to walk the five kilometres into Pisaq along a dirty and dusty road. This road is the main transport route for trucks from the Amazon jungle to Cuzco. Little kids are getting lost in the dust by one truck and then getting run over by the next. The result is devastating. Many have lost their lives or are bedridden for months with serious injuries.
Another problem for the community is their water supply. Approximately 1 km up the facing mountain from the village is an ancient Incan water drain that holds fresh water. This is the only fresh water accessible for the community but it takes approximately six hours to reach (due to the altitude of 3000 m and the sheer steepness of the Andes Mountains). This exhausting trip usually provides only two buckets of water.
Picol
Dates: October 2003 to October 2005.
Picol was primarily an agricultural area providing employment to the community of over 100 families. In the last ten years, much of the fertile land has been taken over by property developers pushing the Picol families off the land, forcing them to leave the area and into unemployment. This unemployment results in families using their children to beg and sell sweets and postcards to tourists, therefore not allowing them to attend school.
The other problem was that the Department of Education did not recognise this community as an area to support. Therefore, the school was not receiving teachers or materials.
In October 2005, Reto Peru met with the parents association of the school and it was decided that the school should be handed back to the Picol community.
Although it happened a lot earlier than anticipated, the people are very happy with the result. As always, the aim of any Reto Peru project is to give it back to the community when they feel they are ready to take over.
Reto Peru will continue to assist the community via the Mothers Group. They will also continue our House Challenge program and the regular visits from medical specialists.
How Reto Peru helped
Education:
Reconstructed the roof of the school.
Health and Wellbeing:
Social:
Yutto
Yutto is an agricultural community situation an hour's drive south of Cuzco. The community survives on selling agricultural products - maize, potatoes, etc.
The school at Yutto is different from most in that it organises two weekly sessions for students. During these two weeks, an agricultural specialist stays at the school to teach the kids all about their field of expertise i.e. growing and selling maize, or breeding and looking after cuy (guinea pig).
The community realises that the younger generation cannot keep moving into Cuzco to try to find work as the majority end up unemployed. They know that their livelihood is based around their agricultural success.
Reto Peru volunteers assisted as teachers in English, Art and Sport.
San Martin
San Martin is a great school for kids with special mental and physical needs. Because the school has such a great reputation, placements are hard to find. Over the last six months, we have helped register two girls into the school.
Volunteers regularly visit the school to keep an eye out for Roxanita and Luc Clara and to make sure they are enjoying the classes and doing their homework.