Gracias

Trip Start Apr 13, 2008
1
16
17
Trip End Jun 03, 2008


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Where I stayed
at home
(Sydney hotels)

Flag of Australia  , New South Wales,
Saturday, November 1, 2008

Here is a reposting of an email sent several weeks ago to my personal contacts; I have at last decided to post it on the Sarabanda travelblog:

Earlier this year I had the privilege of handing over $US200 (at a time when the Aussie dollar was in better shape) to one of the many great community projects in the Sacred Valley, near Cusco, Peru.

The donation, in lieu of my buying a swag of souvenirs for friends and extended  family, went to an isolated and impoverished Andean community located away from the usual Inca trail / tourist routes. This particular community has also suffered from being caught up in the government campaign against the Shining Path Maoist terrorist group a decade or so ago.

I discovered through mutual contacts that a Peruvian based NGO had built an ablutions block at the community school Children
Children
 . For the first time in their young lives, the children had safe sanitation - and for $200 we could buy some simple but needed hygiene items such as soap, towels and toothpaste.

Here are the photos of the children receiving the gifts - I won't name the community to protect their privacy - but I think this is a great investment.

I heard about this community project through the small Australian -Peruvian run adventure travel company company Apus Peru who organised my trek to the Qolloritty Pilgrimage in May this year. Sometime soon I will post an account of this experience.

Here's the link to the community project on the Apus Peru website and there are also links to their various treks.
http://www.apus-peru.com/chaullacocha_education.htm 

'Muchas gracias', particularly to Rachel, Jasmine, Hannah, Montanna and Melanie, from their new 'school mates' on the other side of the world    -

Sarabanda
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Comments

ariana75
ariana75 on Nov 24, 2008 at 09:56AM

thank you
thank you so much for your generosity! it's amazing how little money can go so far in a small community - its also a great way to give - directly to the projects rather than going through an organisation with 'fees' of some description. Imagine if every person that travelled didn't buy souvenirs and instead gave to the places they visited!

See
http://www.apus-peru.com/community_projects.htm

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