Peru Distribution Trip Diary

Hi everyone,

So I’ve been back in New Zealand for more than a week now but my mind is still far away in Peru! The Distribution Trip was such a special and inspiring trip, that I am sure I will be thinking about it for a long time. I wish that you could have all been on the trip with us, but I will try to share a little bit of what we experienced through this blog...

The 2011 Peru Distribution Team!

Day 1 – On the first day we had a welcome dinner at Yanapay Social Restaurant. This is a really unique restaurant because it directly supports a children’s project in Cusco and because many of the staff who work there used to attend the children’s project. It is also a really beautiful and magical place, because of the way it is decorated. If you ever go to Cusco, I really recommend that you go there for dinner or a delicious cocktail, and of course try on their hats! You can read more about the restaurant here.

Modeling the hats at Yanapay Social Restaurant

Day 2 – We started off the day  with orientation. Daniela, our Peruvian ESTC Ambassador, gave a great talk about Peruvian history, culture and gastronomy. We also watched some interesting videos as an introduction to what we would see over the next few days. The Girl Effect video was a great introduction to our afternoon, when we took part in the launch of the Peruvian Promise Program! Thanks to ESTC 2010 funds, we have granted over $9,000 to this program. The idea is that 16 girls are being given the opportunity to become leaders in their communities through educational scholarships, inspirational retreats, mentoring, and workshops. During the launch of the program, these 16 girls each spoke of their dreams for the future and what really struck me was how much thought had obviously gone into their choices – one girl dreamed of becoming tour guide so she could travel the world, another girl spoke of wanting to become a policewoman, others of going to university. It was such an inspiring day, and I have no doubt that these girls will go on to do great things for themselves and their families.

The Peruvian Promise Program Scholars

It was also really beautiful to spend time with the Dodson family and hear Ana Dodson speak. Ana is the Founder of our partner organization, Peruvian Hearts. She was born in Peru and was adopted by an American family when she was a baby. Her family took her on a trip back to Peru when she was 11 years old because they wanted her to embrace her heritage. Ana was so moved by the extreme poverty that she saw during her trip that on her return to the USA she founded Peruvian Hearts. Ana has since been a CNN hero and won numerous awards for her work to improve the lives of children in Peru.

Danny Dodson, Eliza Raymond, Judi Dodson and Ana Dodson

Day 3 - Next, we went to Huchuy Yachaq which is a community center located on the outskirts of the city of Cusco. The community suffers from a number of challenges relating to accessibility issues, lack of basic facilities, unstable housing, and social problems such as unemployment, informal employment, alcoholism and domestic violence. Through funds raised from Eat So They Can’s women’s empowerment cause, we are providing a $5,000 grant to set up a jewellery workshop for the mothers in the community.

Learning to weave at Huchuy Yachaq

In the morning, we met some of the mothers from the community and had the opportunity to buy some of the products they had made. A few people from our team also learnt the basics of weaving and jewellery-making from the mothers! This was a really great moment for me as it was obviously fun and also empowering for the mothers to be able to share their skills and knowledge with us. In the afternoon, we organized a small party for the whole community. A highlight was the raffle and also sharing hot chocolate and cake with the kids!

Showing off her new hat she won at the Huchuy Yachaq raffle!

Watch this space! Days 4-7 will be featured in next week's blog!

- Eliza