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THE WORK WITH OUR CHILDREN:
Right now we are helping 60 poor children without adequate support here in Cusco. The majority of these children have parents that are unable to assist them with their homework or education due to illiteracy. Some of the children of our project are orphans and live in the homes of acquaintances in which they are usually treated as employees. Most of the children of our project simply don’t exist to their parents, who are often alcoholics, thieves or drug addicts.
All of our children find in our school a place to escape a world of indifference, violence, abuse, and maltreatment. We want to offer opportunities to study, to develop, and to one day live together in harmony. We want every one of the children to be able to say that life is not as bad as they had thought, and that there were hands to help, to protect, and to guide them in this world. We like to think of ourselves as being their parents, siblings, and friends.
Often the most important thing for these children is to receive a small token of praise or love, simply a pat on the back or head. When they have done something positive, this small sign of affection is enough to make them happy. For these purposes we have hands: to give and to receive.
When the project started it consisted of only four children and one teacher; now we have a lot of children, a lot of “parents”, and more importantly a lot of hearts and hands working together. We are proud of our accomplishments and work thus far. We are and forever will be the driving force behind the project, we are all learning from each other and this idea will never cease to exist. In these two and a half years the philosophy of the project has been integrated into the ancient ideals to be part of a group, to be a part of the work, and to live like siblings with the objective to improve our reality.
In the photos you will see the development of the project. Unfortunately you won’t be able to see our internal change, and you must look into our eyes and hear our stories to see that.
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OUR STATUS AS A SCHOOL“Yanapaq maki kuna” Alternative Certification
Through these projects the children and single uneducated mothers will have an opportunity to continue or begin their education. This program allows students to earn an official certificate for their studies equal to one they could earn in any school in Peru. This is important so they are able to continue their studies in another school or in the universities or institutes of top educational quality if they wish to pursue higher degrees.
According to the “DIRECCION REGIONAL DE EDUCACION DE CUSCO - PERÚ” (this is the institution that gives permission for new schools, supervises/evaluates the quality of education, and generally designates a school as “official” in Peru) our school is the only one in Cusco currently offering this type of alternative education. Because of this we believe we are an example for future groups and projects, in order that they too can imitate this project, helping the community as a whole. We are convinced our work will be successful, simply because we believe in this method of teaching.
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Helping hands Cusco - Peru
