Living Heart: Support for Andean children and women in the areas of education, conservation, health,nutrition and sustainable development

The 76-year-old Brit who lost her heart in the Peruvian Andes

by Chris Olney,
The West Australian
...The driving force at Hearts is Sonia Newhouse, a 76 year old British woman who five years ago decided to cut her ties with the UK and travel to Peru. She arrived in Lima in 2002 with all her possessions packed into two suitcases.

“It was liberating,” she said. “I had no latchkey , no car. I had never been to Peru and I soon realised the first thing I needed to do was learn the language, so I enrolled in a Spanish School.”

Fellow students encouraged her to travel to Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas. After 2 years, altitude sickness (Cusco is 3450m above sea level) forced her to move to the Sacred Valley, which is a few hundred metres lower than Cusco. There she became involved with the women living in six villages which make up the community of Huaran.

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Background

While Sonia was living in Huaran, she got to know the women of the community.

In March 2007, Sonia Newhouse, of England, founded Hearts Café to raise awareness of the plight of the Andean children and women of the Sacred Valley. Along with anonymous donations, all profits from the café go towards the projects in that area. Staff at the café are all people from the Sacred Valley, and they are very happy to be part of something that is helping people less fortunate themselves.

Previously Sonia had lived for 2 years in Huaran, amongst the poorest and largest indigenous farming community in the valley. The community consists of 6 villages, 3 in the highlands above and 3 along the valley of the Urubamba/Vilcanota river. While working for the men of the community helping them to convert their classic hacienda into a hostal, Sonia got to know the indigenous women well and to understand their culture. She soon became aware of the inequalities between the sexes as this is a very macho society. The poverty, unbalanced diet, illness, and lack of educational facilities, meant a lack of opportunities for the highland village children. The official language of Peru is Spanish yet the highland communities mainly speak only Quechua, which gives the children limited prospects of utilising the inadequate education that is available in the farming communities. Amazed at how poor these communities were, Sonia looked for a way in which she could get involved with them. She started working with senior respected women and got to understand their own needs and the needs for their children.

A woman from Huaran fetches water for cooking.

Thorough the generosity of customers to the café, Hearts Café have been able to support the work of five projects within the Sacred Valley. The communities include Huaran, Arin, Canchacancha, Rumira, and Sacara. Support ranges from health care, educational development, sexual health including contraception, nutritional advice and conservation.

As a desire to raise more money and awareness for these communities, Living Heart, an NGO was set up in August 2007 to work alongside the café. This allows money from overseas donations to legally enter Peru.

We have only been going since March 2007 and already we have achieved so much within the communities.. Through your generosity, we are able to help and support the vulnerable women and children of the Andes. Thank you so much for your support, you know who you are.