Yearly Archives: 2015

A Special Lunch

Posted on in From the Field

  In Patabamba, the air is scented with eucalyptus and munia, a mountain mint. We are about 3000 feet above the valley floor, 13000 feet above sea level, and across the valley the clouds disclose white, crisp, and mineralized Andean peaks. Between clouds, the sky is blue like a promise. The hills around us are […]

Happiness is…

Posted on in Cochirhuay From the Field

Happiness is riding in the back of a pick up truck with the kids from Pacopata! I was out in Paruro valley yesterday (5 hours from Cusco) visiting our projects. School was cancelled in Cochirhuay but that didn’t stop kids from walking for up to 90 minutes to come to our biblioteca project.  Seeing their […]

Ian’s Guide to Packing Light

Posted on in From the Field

  My work with Alma means I spend quite a bit of time traveling. The majority of the time these are one or two day trips to visit the communities we work in, throughout the Cusco region. However, we also have projects in the Peruvian Amazon, the Bolivian Amazon, and in La Paz. Wherever I […]

Strike Shuts Down Cusco

Posted on in From the Field

At the airport in Toronto we got news that Cusco had been shut down by a general strike: everything was closed and the roads were to be blocked for the next 2 days. President Ollanta decided to privatize the management of the archaeologic sites in Cusco province which upset everyone in this part of the […]

Ruben

Posted on in From the Field

*Ver abajo texto original en Español Ruben David Condori Yujra is 10 years old, in 5th grade in the educative unit “Urkupiña II”. His family is composed of 2 girls and 1 boy and he has a father and a mother. Unfortunately his dad was diagnosed with acute renal failure, classified as a handicap and […]

Reflection

Posted on in From the Field

“Our program director Ian Mcgroarty and his wife Maria de la Gracia (Gata) were in Toronto for five days last week for our annual Board of Directors strategy session. Because Ian is only here once a year, the 5 days cram meetings with supporters, advisors, a potential remote technology partner, a fundraising lunch and a […]

Paku

Posted on in From the Field

A few weeks ago I was heading to Huadhua to check in on the Biblioteca project. I was set to arrive much earlier than normal, so I decided to stop and enjoy the view of a nearby lake from which the community gets its name. I parked the truck and stepped out into the cool […]

Sirionó

Posted on in From the Field

I was in Bolivia last week, in part to check in on two of our new projects in the Bolivian Amazon. We are working with the Sirionó people to create textbooks in their native language, Sirionó, in their primary school in the village of Ibiato and their secondary school in Pata de Aguila. This year, […]

Luz from Sariry

Posted on in From the Field

*Ver abajo texto original en Español Luz E. Condori Huanca is a 6 year old attending first year elementary school. She has a family of four, her parents and her siblings. Luz is a calm girl who is eager to learn, she likes to take responsibility in her every day activities. She has started to learn how […]

Assembly in Huadhua

Posted on in From the Field Huadhua

The 2015 Biblioteca Project is, academically, the most complicated project we’ve implemented to date. We are not only reinforcing regular curriculum subjects outside of the classroom, but more importantly we are creating a space where students’ creative and critical thinking skills can flourish. Getting to the point where students are sufficiently comfortable, and teachers are […]

Children of Sariry

Posted on in From the Field Sariry - Bolivia

*Ver abajo texto original en Espanol Some of the youngest kids in the community, less than 6 years old, who attend the Sariry program, have parents who, out of economic necessity, have had to leave for other places in search of work, leaving the young children in the care of their grandmothers. When these kids […]