Development – radrauschen

I was sitting in a kind of big classroom, when suddenly a young peruvian girl was coming up to me to give me a hug! I was overwhelmed by this cordially gesture and said to myself that all people on the world should have the same possibilities to develop in life!

Two weeks ago I visited the German development project „Kinderhilfe Cusco“ in Quiquijana, a small village 70 kilometers in the south of Cusco. I arrived at the „Albergue“ in the evening and received a warm welcome by the volunteers and the nuns. The time was an interesting experience for me. Helping children with their homework, teaching them english, playing soccer with them and get to know their backgrounds moved me and offered me a good variation in my current cycling life.

I spent three nights at that place to gain an impression about the work of the volunteers and the project as a whole. The project Kinderhilfe Cusco – Peru e.V. started in 1989 by supporting a lunch table in Cusco and from 2001 on a second one in Quiquijana. Cause of a missing infrastructure this involvement led to the construction of a youth center, which was opened in 2008. Besides offering a place to stay for up to 100 children, it’s a place for social and pedagogical education.

The main goal of the project is to fight the poverty and to help to improve the education and food situation. Over the years further support grew in the area of Cusco.
The children in Quiquijana come from tough family backgrounds, live in poor conditions and some of them wouldn’t even have the possibility to attend school, cause their homes are to far away to go this long way two times a day.
In the „Albergue“ in Quiquijana 6 volunteers work for one year to support one local teacher, a cook and three nuns of the sisterhood „Siervas de Christo Sacerdote“. The 4 girls and 2 boys just finished school and most of them found the project over weltwärts. They had a prepartion seminar as well as six weeks of a spanish language course in advance. Furthermore the local teacher seems to have a lot of experience and a good apprenticeship and therefor can support the young and motivated volunteers. This combination make sure that the children get a good support. Besides the time with the children, the daily schedule includes some hours of work in a nearby farm in the morning.

In two greenhouses vegetables are grown to supplement the daily meals for the children. A third greenhouse is in construction to plant roses, which will be sold to gain money for the facility.

More information you will find on the official page of the german development project.

So, why do I think this project is worth to support? For me some things are important to declare it a helpful and meaningful project:
– collaboration: decisions are taken together, the local people together with the donor
– local support: investments involve local enterprises, so that the money support the economic development of the region
– transparency: the use of the donations is transparent for members and supporters of the projects
– sustainability: to act in a sustainable way, help to self-help

In all of this topics the Kinderhilfe Cusco is doing very well and I was impressed by the effort of the founder Dr. Heinz Gravenkötter and the volunteers.

If you have any further questions about my experiences about this development projects, feel free to ask!
Three of the current volunteers share their experiences on their blogs, which will give you another insight about their work and the project jn general:
sarahserlebnisseinperu.jimdo.de (Blog of Sarah)
einjahrinperu.jimdo.com (Blog of Ronja and Leander)

Before my travel I had the idea to look for several development projects in Latin America along my way, visit them and attract attention for this kind of help. Projects, which really help the people in a sustainable matter, improving the life of people in difficult life situations.

Last week I visited a cultivation of Cacao in the secondary jungle around Tena in Ecuador, which is under the roof of Kallari.
Kallari chocolate is a local association, which started in 1997 and helps the local farmers to sell their product and give advices how to improve their cultivation.
With over 850 member families Kallari is an important stabilizer in this area. They support the life in the whole area in different manners and also families, which aren’t members receive their support.

The Cacao plants itself are part of a big eco-system of the jungle. Together with 80 other types of plants they crow under natural conditions. Due to the high diversity the soil provides all important nutrients in contrast to mono cultures.
We walked trough the forest and got a interesting introduction of all the plants, their use and some important details about crowing Cacao plants. The first time in my life I tasted the fruit pulp of a Cacao and got to learn the different taste of the red and yellow Cacao fruit.
We also had a look at the drying process and the place where Cacao beans got packed to be manufactured further. The chocolate itself is produced in other cities like Quito, but the plan of Kallari is to built a hall near Tena, which includes all the machines to fabricate the chocolate on their own.
Furthermore they also sell other products like Vanilla and hand-made art.

In contrast to industrial chocolate with Cacao from mono cultures, I can highly recommend this chocolate. With your purchase you support the idea of ecological cultivation and on top you increase the conditions of living in the area around Tena.
You will find their chocolate in some biological supermarkets or small organic shops.

Official Homepage
Kallari Chocolate Facebook