Children of Chaullacocha, Peru
Photo of the Week - 12/09/2007
A focus on participative tourism by small agency Apus Peru Adventure Travel is having positive spin offs for communities in the high Andes.
Two years ago Australian Ariana Svenson joined with her Peruvian family to form a small trekking agency based in Cusco, Peru. They are now offering a range of treks and tours where visitors to Peru are able to immerse themselves in Peruvian culture and contribute to high Andes communities.
"As there are already many agencies offering the Inca Trail and City tours I was reluctant to offer these products," explains Ariana. "Instead, we focused on off the beaten track experiences, taking people on little known trails and routes. It has been well received by the sensitive visitor to Peru who wishes to have a closer look at Peruvian culture."
"I travelled around the world many years, seeing extreme poverty but never knowing quite what to do," explains Ariana Svenson. "Now, with our unique Community Projects and Volunteer program, I am beginning to feel that I can help in a small way".
"5 percent of the total trek price of each trek is contributed to our "community projects chest" - from this trust we allocate funds to different projects. Our main project is supporting a bilingual teacher in a community near Ollantaytambo, in the Sacred Valley. Here the families speak Quechua, the language of the Incas, and so the teacher of years 1 and 2 needs to be bilingual, something that the government hadn't supported to date".
"The first day I visited the school it was really bleak. Although it was dark and freezing, the children were enthusiastic about their books and recited poems to me in Quechua. It was an amazing moment. I feel that with a bilingual teacher they can begin to learn in Spanish and perhaps make improvements in their lives.
The teachers currently cook and sleep in the same draughty classroom where they teach so Apus Peru is working to build a room where they can live, so that by March 2008, the teachers will have a more comfortable place to sleep. The next project will be toilets for the school.
"Perhaps our most recent project is the most heart-warming. It is also indicative of the type of work that we want to do, making the linkages between foreign tourists and people that they can help. In August, a family from the United States - parents with their teenage boys - visited these communities as part of our Weavers Way trek. They were so moved by the experience that they decided they wanted to sell the weavings in the USA and then send back the proceeds of these sales to our Community Projects chest," explains Ariana.
As a result of this partnership, in November 2007 Apus Peru, in collaboration with NGO RUFADA, will be running workshops with women in high Andean communities. They are being taught about natural weaving and dying techniques as well as improving the quality of their work.
For more information about Apus Peru unique community projects and volunteer program, please contact Ariana Svenson, apusperu@westnet.com.au
Find out more about Places of Interest Near Cuzco.
Photo of the children of Chaullacocha is displayed with the kind permission of Ariana Svenson of Apus Peru
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