featured traveller
- Leslie OmanPeru travel chronicles #2: visiting the kids at the planeterra project
Buenos noches from Cuzco!
Cuzco is a gorgeous little city in a valley with many beautiful hand crafted stone buildings dating back to the Incas and beyond. The food was delicious, although the change finally caught up with my digestive system, likely because I got too confident and brushed my teeth with the tap water which was meant to be a no-no! The portions were generous so I got in the habit of wrapping up part of my meals and giving them to some of the many struggling street people. There are many people living in poverty who work so hard for what little they make.
Our time spent at La Casa de l
os hombres del Sol (the house of the people of the
sun), the Planterra-sponsored centre for at risk kids, was touching and it was
rewarding to help there if only for a couple of days. These wonderful kids are
generally from outskirt villages and their parents sell goods on the street
from early morning to late at night.
With the support of the Centre, the kids go to school and receive a warm
meal, help with their homework and training in multiple crafts & music. I helped with leather working (I now
have an entirely new appreciation for the care and effort that goes in to each
stitch, stamp and seam on their leather goods!), making cards (where my skills
cutting out paper hearts were in high demand!), piecing together a tile mosaic
and many others things. Something
that was pretty amazing was the interest the director and the leatherwork
teacher had in the vibrant hand-made shoulder bag I had. They measured it
carefully, analyzed the workmanship, drew out the embroidered design and had
much discussion about it. They
decided it would be their newest craft project to sell and hopefully make more
money for the Centre! As we left, the kids were sitting down for their meal and the director gave them the comic books and trading cards I brought which delighted them to no end. She held back a stash of comic books to give for special occasions in the future. They need so much and yet they are happy and do with so little - it's a positive loving and supportive environment for them and it was wonderful to be a little part of it.
The next day we headed out of town to a little village in the Sacred Valley where the trail porters and their families live. There's a Planterra-sponsored women's weaving cooperative and we would be helping with whatever needed doing while staying in the homes of the families themselves – very exciting!!
Continue Reading Leslie's Peru Travel Chronicles Go to #3 now
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Lady with an Eye for the Incan Weaving TraditionPeru Travel Chronicles #4: Machu Picchu!
Peru Travel Chronicles #3: Peru's Sacred Valley
Peru Travel Chronicles #2: Visiting the Kids at Planeterra' Project
Peru Travel Chronicles #1: Lima & Cuzco
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