Project Village 5S, Pisac
Project Village 1R, Ollantaytambo
Project Village 1R is a village located close to the town of
Ollantaytambo. Recently Living Heart sent a team of
doctors to examine the children of the school. Every
child was deemed to be suffering from malnutrition. As
part of this health check, all the children were also
given anti-parasite medication to combat the parasites
that live in their water supply.
Living Heart has set up a breakfast program at the
school. Every morning, each child is provided with a hot
nutritious breakfast of hot cereal and milk. This is
sometimes the first meal of the day for the children and
is especially important, as many of them have to walk for
over an hour a day to get to school. This is often after
they have had to help their parents feed the animals and
look after their younger siblings.
One of the things Living Heart did when it first
started to work with this school was to get the water
supply to the toilet fixed. Up until then, there was no
water supply, so to fllush the toilet a bucket of water
which had to be carried to the school was used.
As part of the educational support, Living Heart
donated a large number of art supplies to the school.
Volunteer art teachers have since been brought in to
teach classes, and overall this has been an extremely
positive experience. For many of the children this was
the first time they had ever experienced working with
colour and were delighted to be given the opportunity.
Recently, Living Heart were also able to provide theatre
classes run by volunteers for the children. This has been
a huge success and has enabled the children to develop
their confidence and creative skills which in turn has
led to an improvement in their self esteem. To enable the
children to document these experiences we are looking for
old digital cameras and computers.
To educate the children on conservation and recycling,
an organic garden has been set up in the school grounds.
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| Through donations of seeds and
plants from Living Heart, children in Project Village 1R are
learning how to produce healthy and delicious
vegetables organically in the scholastic
garden. |
The Director of the school is an expert on traditional
medicinal plants so was very keen to move this project
forward. The children maintain the garden and are being
taught how to cultivate the plants organically. By
learning about the preparation of traditional medicines
the children are able to help preserve their cultural
heritage. Living Heart has donated the plants, seeds and
alcohol necessary for the preparation of tinctures and
liniments, the land was donated by the village and the
families provide natural fertilizer, which provides the
opportunity for some of the families within the village
to benefit from the production of healthy, organic
vegetables.
Project Village 2C , Huaran
This community sits at 4,200 meters above sea level
and is one of the poorest communities in the Sacred
Valley.
Living Heart currently works with members of the
community on a number of projects,iincluding clothing
donations and sexual health care for women. A group of
Doctors and Rita, the Director of the Family Planning
Clinic in Calca went to treat the children of this
community with anti-parasite medication. All of the
children were examined along with various members of the
community and gardia was found to be prevalent. These
were all treated for these. A new enterprise selling the
textiles (made with natural dyes) that the women in the
community have woven has been set up. We are currently
looking for outlets to sell these through.
Currently Living Heart receive donations of jackets
and warm items from tourists that travel through the
valley. These are collected up by Living Heart and
distributed by Justina, a native of Project Village 2C and her
team. This is an invaluable project, particulalry for the
children within the community as warm clothing is a
necessity, especially when the temperature drops
dramatically in the evening.
Through sexual health education, Living Heart is able
to work with local health professionals to advise the
women on ways to protect themselves. Currently an average
woman living in the Sacred Valley has her first child
between the ages of 14 and 16 years old, she can then go
on to have up to 8 more. For many of these children born
into these communities, they are often neglected through
lack of money and time and end up street begging. Living
Heart aims to educate women into protecting themselves
from unwanted pregnancies, which in turn may decrease the
number of children that are living on the streets. At
present, Living Heart works with a local woman in Calca
who runs the family planning clinic. Donations of the
patch as the most effective form of contraception for
women living in the Sacred Valley are needed.
Living Heart recently received a team of international
doctors into the community donated by ECOTREK .
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| A doctor examines one of the
children of Project Village 2C . |
Through examination of both children and adults many
cases of parasites were treated. Cases of giardia and
cataracts were discovered. The doctors were able to
distribute medicine for these to anyone that required it.
A project has been set up to help women utilize their
weaving skills. For many women in the community, weaving
is their livelihood. As part of a project to help women
grow towards self-sufficiency and independence, Living
Heart has made connections between the local women,
selling textiles and outlets in Cusco but we wait to see
the evidence of success.
Project Village 3H (2,800m)
Currently Living Hearts works with a pre-school in
Project Village 3H, providing valuable educational equipment,
activities and supplies along with breakfast for up to 20
children a day. For some this is their first meal of the
day.
Without this support the children would not receive
the invaluable educational support that the extra puzzles
and toys provide them with.
Project Village 4A
The junior school in Project Village 4A is another school that
Living Heart supports, providing education to over 100
children aged between 6-15 years old.
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| Children from the school in
Project Village 4A learn how to plant and care for fruit trees
as part of a reforestation program instituted by
Living Heart in cooperation with the families
from the community. |
For many of these children who live in the highlands,
it is a three hour walk each day to and from the village
school. As highland children their first language is
Quechua but as Spanish is the language spoken and taught
at school and the main language in South America, they
are often at a disadvantage before they have even started
school. Living Heart aims to give these children the
chance to learn Spanish before they start school so that
they can have the same opportunities to learn as their
peers.
As well as providing a nutritious breakfast every day,
Living Heart also donated educational material and art
material that assists the children in their learning.
This school is particularly interested in conservation,
so Living Heart have donated a number of fruit trees at
their request. The parents within this community are very
keen to teach their children how to cultivate and look
after these trees.
Project Village 5S, Pisac (32km north- east of Cusco)
This community is the final one that Living Heart
currently works with and is the poorest and most deprived
within the valley. There is evidence of malnutrition and
poor health amongst some of the children here.
The school currently has 105 students and at present
Living Heart donates educational material including
books, pencils, chalk and crayons. We also provide a
nutritional breakfast of hot cereal and milk every day to
each student. One of the main projects at the school is
the installation of a green house.
