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MAY 2006 NEWSLETTER

This month our volunteers:

Assisted with our House Challenge program
Helped organised the school for a visit from Getaway
Survived an amazing trek to the Choquequirao Inca ruins
Practiced for the Inca Trail on the road to Pumamarca
Enjoyed a visit from Peregrine Adventure travellers
Accepted 103 members into the Pumamarca Parents Group
Organised a great Mothers Day celebration
Scared themselves a little while white-water rafting and visiting the Amazon

House Challenge program already making a difference

Over the last two months our Social Worker and volunteers have started up our House Challenge program. Two afternoons a week we visit families within the local Pumamarca community as a show of support for the families.

All the great work we do at the school gives the kids access to education, health, food, clothes, attention, love and fun. When they return home after school finishes, their life is the complete opposite.

The aim of the House Challenge program is to improve the home life of the kids and their families so it matches up to the time they have at school.

We also understand that to improve the quality of life of the kids, we have to work with the parents so that they too can work towards improving their lives and those of their children.

Photo (c) Jamie Hamill

It is hard to fathom the lack of any quality of life that these families have and the poor conditions they are living in. Most of the kids behave completely differently within their homes. They are shy, more reserved and do not talk. Parents often have illnesses that go untreated for months and have issues with alcohol and violence. Most houses do not have separate bedrooms so the whole family sleeps on the floor of the kitchen with their cows and chickens.

The ways in which we help range from providing a bed with sheets, blankets and pillows to paying for emergency medical assistance such as chemotherapy, blood tests and medicines. Our Social Worker is also a trained counselor and organises sessions for victims of domestic violence and alcoholism. Volunteers also help to renovate houses by building a toilet, digging a drain or fixing a leaking roof.

The House Challenge program is supported by the Volunteer Program so we are limited to how much we can do each month. Our volunteers sometimes find the visits difficult but are rewarded by the fact that they know they are directly helping these families and improving, even if by a little, their standards of living.

Australian travel program 'Getaway' visits Pumamarca

This month, Peru's Challenge was lucky enough to be visited by the Nine Network Australia travel program Getaway.

Getaway is Australia's longest-running and most popular holiday and travel television program. The show has been on air since 1992 and is currently broadcast on Thursday evenings at 7:30pm on the Nine Network. More than two million Australian viewers tune in to the one-hour program each week.

Presenter Jules Lund and the Getaway crew visited for just under two weeks to film stories on our volunteer travel program up at Pumamarca.

Filming included the Pumamarca fathers helping with construction work up at the school, Jules taking an art and sports class, taking the kids on an excursion to the local Inca ruins in Pumamarca, a house visit to one of our mothers that has cancer and the building of a kitchen from start to finish.

The stories will air in Australia over the next couple of months. Stay tuned for exact dates. We will also include a link to the Getaway website so people who are not in Australia can watch the stories.

A big thank you must go to all of the May volunteers for helping get everything prepared for the visit. You all worked so hard on getting the kitchen completed in just five days and helped organise everything to ensure that everything ran very smoothly for the Getaway crew.

We could not have made it such a success without you all.

Thank you also to Kate's parish -

St Peter's Parish in East Bentleigh, Australia for its very kind donation to help with the construction of the kitchen. We would not have been able to do it so quickly without this assistance.

A personal thanks to Karen, Supervising Producer at Getaway, for bringing the crew over to film our efforts at Pumamarca.

Thank you also for your gifts to the school - a big colourful play-parachute that is a great educational tool for kids.

Discovering the Last Inca Refuge - Choquequirao

While Getaway was with us in Peru we took the crew on a five day trek to the Inca ruins of Choquequirao.

Local inhabitants living on the banks of the Apurimac River (Peru's longest river) claim Choquequirao (meaning Golden Cradle in Quechua) was the refuge for the last Incas, who fled Cusco following the defeat of the last ruler of the Tawantinsuyu - Manco Inca. There they held out for nearly 40 years, from 1536 to 1572, staving off the Spaniards who had already taken Cusco the capital of the Inca empire.

American explorer Hiram Bingham studied the site in 1909. He was egged on by the local inhabitants who had promised he would find the lost capital of the Incas. This expedition was to launch Bingham on his search for the “Lost City” which would lead to his discovery of Machu Picchu in 1911, after ruling out the possibility it was Choquequirao.

Bingham claimed Machu Picchu – not Choquequirao – was the “Lost City”, which put and end to the enthusiasm for the exhausting expeditions by treasure seekers. The people of Apurimac continued to pass down their lore but the stampede of visitors headed to Machu Picchu. Access to Choquequirao remained as remote as it had been for centuries.

In the 1960’s, when it was clear that there was not enough evidence to claim Machu Picchu was the “Lost City” and that the sites themselves were more valuable than the legends, the Peruvian State intervened and began stripping the undergrowth from Choquequirao.

However, the real magnificence of Choquequirao is still unveiled. Only thirty percent of the 1,810 hectares of the complex has been rescued from the thick vegetation which during the years has covered this real Inca jewel.

Arriving at Choquequirao is a demanding adventure which starts by a road trip from Cusco to the town of Cachora. The adventure to Choquequirao from Cachora is about a 60 kilometre round trip. It lasts five days in which you can walk and also ride a horse.

During the long hours riding a horse or walking you can discover huge mountains, frightening cliffs, perfect snow mountains and the strong canyon of the Apurimac River - one of the worlds’ deepest.

The traditional Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is becoming more expensive every year and very difficult to book spaces. The Choquequirao Inca Trail trek is a great alternative from which you can either return the way you came back to Cusco or continue to trek for another four or five days to reach Machu Picchu on another Inca Trail route.

The Choquequirao trek will feature on Getaway within the next couple of months.

The road to Pumamarca

The Pumamarca community is a 20 minute drive up from the volunteer houses. Each day our volunteers make the drive to and from the school in a combie van.

When feeling active, our volunteers sometimes decide to come back down from the projects either by walking or riding mountain bikes. Peru's Challenge has five mountain bikes that the volunteers can use any time they want.

Some of our volunteers have even started walking up to the project in practice for the Inca Trail.

The walk up takes about an hour and a half, depending on if the volunteers take the short-cuts - which can often end in long-cuts as they are steeper than the normal road. Believe me, a slight rise in the path makes a big difference at over 3600 metres above sea level.

On the way, the volunteers pass through a small village and walk past many fields filled with flowers and crops of vegetables and cereals.

More often than not, they will pass community members on their way to and from fields with their cattle and sheep and reply to a friendly 'Buenos Dias'.

Peregrine Adventure travellers visit Pumamarca

Thanks once again to Peregrine Adventures and your passengers for taking out time in your busy itineraries to come and visit our Pumamarca project.

Each Peregrine Adventures and Geckos passenger that passes through Cusco are given information on our projects and have the option to visit Pumamarca to see our great work on their free day in Cusco. Most passengers when they get home report back to the Peregrine Adventure offices that the visit was the highlight of their trip to South America.

This month, a group of five came to visit for a morning and brought the kids a great breakfast of fruit and jam rolls. They also donated a number of footballs to the school which the kids are already using.

We appreciate your continued support for our community projects.

Mothers Group turns into Parents Group

After just one month of starting up our afternoon classes for parents from the Pumamarca community, we have 103 parents registered.

This is an incredible achievement considering that these parents are giving up their valuable time in the afternoons to come to the classes. With our last project we started with 14 and it took more than eight months to get the members numbers up to over 60.

Our afternoon classes are open to all parents but we usually only get mothers. The Pumamarca group now consists of over 20 fathers which is a fantastic show of support for the work of Peru's Challenge. We have now changed the generic name from Mothers Group to the Pumamarca Parents Group.

We cannot accept any more members for the group as we need to focus on teaching each person new skills. The one room we have available is overflowing. We are in the process of building a new workshop at the school which will include room the weaving machines, space for all members to work on their designated task, a display area for completed work and a storeroom to hold all materials securely.

At this stage we have five different activities: ceramics, weaving, jewelry making, card making and the production of snails. We would like to start up classes in woodwork but before doing so we want to ensure than each group learns the five current skills on offer and produces products to a high quality before starting up more classes.

Currently, Peru's Challenge covers the cost of all materials. We are hoping to start up a regular tour from Cusco that includes a visit to the school where the Pumamarca Parents Group's products will be on display to be purchased. Funds raised will go towards buying materials for further production. All remaining profits will be saved. This will ensure that the Group becomes independent and manages to sustain itself without the support of Peru's Challenge.

The saved funds will then be spent collectively on whatever the Group decides is a worthwhile idea. It could be Christmas hampers for every member at the end of the year or a trip to Machu Picchu which none of them have had the opportunity to visit.

More than one million people visited Machu Picchu in 2005. Of this total, not many were locals due to the expense.

Thank you to Jeanette for donating funds to help us purchase two weaving machines for the Group.

A big thanks also to Jude for your fantastic teaching in ceramics and your simple ideas to build an effective clay firing kiln.

Kath, thank you for your work with the card making, they are beautiful and thank you also to Annabel for your assistance in the jewelry making - the designs are starting to look very good.

Pumamarca enjoys the best Mother's Day ever!

More than 60 mothers came to the school to celebrate Mother's Day this year. A great turn-out considering most mothers in rural Peru do not see a reason for celebrating being a mother.

Peru's Challenge organised for the best two mothers from each Grade that had helped their kids with their school work to be given a hamper full of food. We even organised for the fathers to attend the event and cook up a big BBQ with meat and potatoes for everyone to enjoy.

In the weeks leading up to the big event, our volunteers worked with the kids in art & craft classes to produce Mother's Day cards and other gifts.

Thank you to Jane for your fantastic photo frame idea, the kids were able to create their own photo frame and put in a picture of themselves to give to their mum. For most this was the first photo the family had of their son or daughter. The kids had a great time making them too with each grade asking when it was their turn to make the frames.

Jude also came up with the great idea to teach the kids how to bake a cake and give it to their mothers on Mother's Day.

Two days before, the kids mixed up the ingredients to a rainbow sponge cake which Jude then took down to the volunteer house to cook.

It then returned the next day to be finished with chocolate icing and smarties. Each of the mothers got a slice and were very proud of their kids.

Caroline and Tanya outdid themselves with the dancing. The Grade 5 & 6's worked hard with you to learn the dance moves before the event which paid off on the day.

You all looked great in your outfits and for a second, we thought you were local ladies when fighting over Sebastian as part of the dance!

Thank you for participating.

The biggest hit of the day was the football competition. Teams were made up of mothers and a token volunteer - not that any contributed much (lets blame it on the altitude...). The competition between the teams was fierce and elbows and kicks were common. No apologies were given and each goal was cheered loudly.

The Grade Two mothers won the competition after a penalty shoot-out and prizes (thanks to the volunteers) were given out to first, second and third place.

Whitewater rafting on the Urubamba River

There is always someone that has to fall out of the raft when our volunteers go rafting.

It makes the stories that much better when they return home.

This time it was Jude (Sorry Jude, I just had to put in the pick-butt photo!).

Four of our volunteers went rafting for the day on the Urubamba River and had a great time.

The Grade 3/4 rapids where just scary enough and provided lots of fun.

Jungle fever in Bolivia

Written by Kathryn, 30 years old from Australia.

After many fantastic tours with the Peru's Challenge package a jungle visit was calling me. So one Monday evening I set off on my way down to the Amazon Basin for some seriously hot incredible days!

My fellow volunteers assured me trip the down was easy just jump on a few crazy long bus rides and you'll end up in Rurrenbaque. My travels have definitely taught me that all brilliant adventures in South America begin with epic bus rides (smile).

First stop, the Canopy swing! Imagine travelling by steel cables through the trees starting 100 metres above the ground. After seven or so rounds I'm thinking I'd get the jist of the swing and relax. No way! Everytime promised a few skips of the old heartbeat, nervous shrieks and some serious laughs once my feet touched the platform.

The canopy tour is essential for anyone with a sense of adventure!

Next up, we were invited to stay with a village and experience their culture firsthand. The overnight program included delicious meals with the village people and the chance to experience how this small village operates to survive. So much to see and do... we visited the school, rice farm, pigfarm, sugarcane, made jewelry from seeds and even stepped up and weaved roofs from a palm leaves.

Onto the animals! All visits to the jungle promise the glimpse of the native animals and after a few magical days in Serere we were treated to exactly that. Serere is a private protected area with jungle lodges most travellers dream of finding. Literally, our lodges were a frame with netting from floor to ceiling in the middle of a seriously dense jungle!

Days started with jungle walks tracking howler monkeys, coming a little too up close and personal with spiders, looking down tapir burrows, dodging the largest ants in South America and sighting the most spectacular birdlife.

I must confess though, my heart was stolen on our first greeting by the two spider monkeys who are on the staff. After four months in South America staying in some seriously amazing places, nothing beats leaving the jungle with a spider monkey holding your hand by way of fare welling you from their forest!

Peru's Challenge will soon be including a trip to the Amazon as part of our three month volunteer package.

Thank you and goodbye

Thank you to the following volunteers that left us in May:

Jane, thank you for spending two months with us and for all your great ideas with our Sponsorship Strategy.

A big thank you to Kate for all of your efforts in the support raised for the kitchen project. Thank you for extending your stay to ensure this project was completed and for enjoying the Choquequirao trek with me.

Jude, we didn't want to say goodbye and neither did you. Thank you for your two months with us and for all the work you did with the kids and the Parents Group. We will see you here again some time soon.

Caroline, thanks for spending a month with us. Your dancing skills were great! Good luck with your internship this summer.

Good luck Salwa with your return to Jordan. If you need any assistance with setting up a project, please send me an email. Thank you for all your help with the hygiene program and work at the school.

Thank you to Kim for leaving home to spend a month with us. Thanks for your kind words and in all that you assisted with including the hygiene program.

Thank you Victoria for your work at the school and your suggestions for the Peru's Challenge flyer. Hopefully we will see you back here one day.

Tanya, thank you for using your holidays for returning to see our progress after a year and a half. Thank you again for your continued support. You know we would welcome you back anytime.

Last, but not least, Chico Malo (Mark). Thank you also for returning to help us with our work. The kids adored you and will miss you a lot as will we. You are a fantastic volunteer and did great work with the kids. Make sure you come back to visit.

Jane Gavel

President & Co-Founder

Peru's Challenge