The following are Yanapana’s main activities:
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION NR 50786 AT MAYCHAYHUAYCCO (A LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOL)
Situated at more than 3,000 meters above sea level, this is a very remote elementary school. The school provides education to 22 children between the ages of 6 and 14 who are divided into 2 classes, one from 1st to 3rd grade and the other one from 4th to 6th grade. In some cases, the children must walk up to 3 hours to get to school and return home.
Their food intake is usually deficient in terms of both quality and quantity and therefore, they struggle to pay attention in class. Lunch, which they bring from home, does not contain enough nutrients. Their diet is often made up of potatoes, rice and noodles. Government food aid to the school is limited and does not satisfy minimum requirements. In the near future, the government will start providing rice, oil and canned food to the children but this does not effectively fight malnutrition. This school only has 2 teachers, who used to live in the classrooms in very difficult conditions. The school still has deficient toilets and there is no electricity. The kitchen is in a state of disrepair.
WHAT WE ARE DOING?
Together with the United Nations Women’s Guild of Vienna, Yanapana Peru has financed and executed the construction of a green house for organic farming, sheds for chickens and guinea pigs, a storage room and a bedroom for the teachers. We finance the planting of alfalfa (used to feed small animals like guinea pigs and rabbits) on a plot of land adjacent to the school specially set aside and prepared for this purpose. We help the school with training, management, tools and equipment. With this project, the school’s children will sustainably enhance and complement their food intake with nutritious vegetables, and teachers will enjoy the benefits of improved accommodation facilities. This is a pilot project named “Mis amigos los alimentos” (My friends: foods) that could be replicated in other remote Andean communities.
ASOCIACIÓN DE ARTESANAS LLANKASUNCHIS WIÑARINAPAQ TEJIDO DE PUNTO MOLLEPETA (HANDMADE TEXTILES)
The women that make up this association supported by Yanapana generally come from very poor backgrounds. They live in and around the small town of Mollepata, where they run a small store to showcase their products. Most customers are MLP clients that are about to embark on the Salkantay trail. The women dedicate most of their free time to knitting. When they are not herding their animals, planting seeds, helping with the harvest or doing their regular household chores, they knit, an activity that they clearly love. This is reflected in the variety of their products: colorful scarves, hats and gloves. Yanapana is deeply interested in fostering these women’s skills and is currently trying to help them improve the designs of their products in order to reach a wider market.
THE DONATION OF CLOTHES DURING PERIODS OF EXTREME COLD (CALLED “FRIAJE” IN LOCAL SPANISH)
Friaje is the severely cold weather in the Andean Highlands following the rainy season. We provide the poorest inhabitants with warm clothes, footwear and blankets.
ASOCIACIÓN ECOLÓGICA FLOR DE SAUCO MOLLEPATA (PRODUCTION OF A VARIETY OF JAMS AND HONEY)
Located at a distance of 90 km from Cusco and at more than 2,800 meters above sea level, the small town of Mollepata has a population of approximately 3,000 inhabitants.
In collaboration with the United Nations Women’s Guild of Vienna, Yanapana Peru lends its support to this women’s association in the town. Yanapana helped fund and implement the installation and management of a small workshop dedicated to the production of a variety of jams and honey that can be sold to tourists. They use local fruit, such as sauco and aguaymanto to produce their delicious jams. Their products are 100% natural and they use lemon pectin as a preservative. Furthermore, Yanapana supports the women with training, technical advice, equipment and tools.
Mountain Lodges of Peru is the association’s main customer. All the jams and the honey served at the company’s lodges along the Salkantay trail are produced by this association. The ten women making up the association either live in Mollepata or in remote communities surrounding the town. The additional income helps the women feed and educate their families. This is part of a long-term plan to help and empower local women, aiding them to become more productive and economically independent in the process. In the medium to long-term future, the association plans to offer premium organic products to other potential buyers (hotels, tourist operators, guest houses, etc.).
ASOCIACIÓN CIVIL APU SALKANTAY Y WARMICUNA DE MOLLEPATA (HANDMADE TEXTILES)
This group of women and men create beautiful fabrics using ancient and traditional weaving techniques using looms. They buy their freshly shorn alpaca and sheep’s wool, wash it and spin it manually. The spun wool is then dyed using a plethora of plants and naturally occurring dyes such as Cochinilla to produce colorful handmade pieces such as scarves, table cloths, wall hangings, ponchos, etc. Yanapana provides the association with a regular customer base in the shape of MLP clients about to embark on the Salkantay trail. It equally provides them with work tools and equipment as well as training workshops. The group is keen to maintain and even improve the already high quality of the fabrics on offer. In the short to medium term, the main goal is to help this group reach a wider customer base using a mix of innovative designs and ancient weaving skills.
ORGANIC COFFEE PRODUCTION
Coffee is grown all over the lush and verdant, tropical Santa Teresa district of the province of La Convención, which is where Lucmabamba, the very last of MLP’s lodges on the way to Machu Picchu, is located. Yanapana has helped to improve local inhabitants’ skills in order to produce good quality organic coffee and sell it as a gourmet product. In the vicinity of the lodge, tourists can visit a typical coffee farm where they get to observe the roasting process and buy the finished product. Yanapana wants to increase local artisanal production of roasted and packaged coffee for sale to customers and eventually for export to other parts of the country and even abroad.
THE CHILD SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM
Yanapana has put in place a child sponsorship program in order to help fund an individual child’s health, food, education and clothing needs. The children that receive this sort of aid are either orphans or have only one parent and usually attend a state school at Manchayhuaycco or Lucmabamba. We are planning to extend this program to other communities.
CANCER PREVENTION, DETECTION AND TREATMENT PROGRAM
We work with Cervicusco (NGO) and the local authorities in order to contribute to the prevention, detection and treatment of breast and cervical cancers. This program also offers general medical attention as well as blood pressure and glucose level exams. The program takes place once or twice a year in Mollepata. We are currently planning to extend it to other towns and communities along the Salkantay trail.
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