The children of Chaullacocha and Chupani - update
Trip Start
Apr 13, 2008
1
17
Trip End
Jun 03, 2008
Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
Saturday, August 29, 2009
"A few months ago Apus Peru made another excursion to several Andean communities, to check on how our projects were going. H., a friend of a ex client who was the impetus behind the 2007 'Revitalising Weaving Workshops' initiative joined our group for the excursion along with our 16 year old spanish-quechua translator G. (who is the brother of one of our drivers and a translator - G have an absolute ball as it was his last week of school holidays! )
“First we climbed out of the Patacancha Valley and onto Chaullacocha school. Our purpose in the Chaullacocha school was to distribute toothbrushes, combs, mirrors and other hygiene items that make up the hygiene program in the Chaullacocha school
Colgate Ad!
. This was a follow up from last year when one of our clients (Sarabanda) kindly donated hygiene items. We work closely with the teachers that the children use the soap and toothpaste during school time... and are not allowed to take the items home with them. This is because, as indigenous peoples, they tend to not value possessions so they get easily lost. It’s always great to talk to the teachers and find out what also is needed - in this case they would like lice (nits) treatment and bigger towels so that when the children wash (once weekly) they can dry themselves more rapidly. So thanks too to Sarabanda for getting the hygiene project started last year with her donation. “I've included some pictures of us distributing the toothbrushes, and oranges and there is a funny one 'the Colgate ad' which looks posed but isn't !
“From Chaullacocha we headed down the valley, accompanied by some tiny kids who were heading home from school... they were 9 and 7 and so tiny... and we got some good photos as we crossed streams and headed into the fog that shrouded Chupani.
“Next day in Chupani, we met up with weaving women that I hadn't seen for a year
Descending pass
. We didn't get a big turnout but I was pleased that most of the people that I had photos of (from the previous year) were there and I was able to give them pictures... they were delighted. The "project peru" team might remember an extremely photogenic pair of kids (one was posed up against a rock and the other amongst the ladies). they combined for a gorgeous photo, where you can see them looking at the photo from last year... G really got the art of translating on the second day (no mean feat for a young person) and I got a picture of him surrounded by the women before we began a 'Threads of Peru' purchasing session - injecting funds into the community... So from Chupani, we thought we had a three hour hike to the hot springs of Lares... think again.. it nearly took us six hours as we climbed over a high pass (my estimation about 4100m) - partially guided by a small group of kids - and then descended into Lares. absolutely spectacular scenery and incredibly remote as well!!!
So thank you to everyone who assists and supports the Apus Peru/ Threads of Peru projects - and who assist these communities in any way. "
Ariana -
Thank you for reading the above, please feel free to forward this Travelpod link to family and friends - And if you are interested in supporting this local community project or would like to take part in one of Apus Peru's expeditions and cultural tours - please go to
ttp://www.apus-peru.com/cultural_tours.htm
Sarabanda
