April, Thursday 15th

Once again we went to Cusco and bought working materials and food supplies. It is great being able to help and it has turned into a whole day experience going to the community and see where they are at, each time we go there. This time we (Jusef, Jennifer, Maggie and myself, Milagros) bought hammers, wheelbarrows, measuring meters for construction and some other items the people from the community have asked us last time we came.

It is really nice to be focused in one community so that we can see the progress of what they are doing. We try to go once a week and now they are always expecting us with some offering. Today though, they were pretty busy. Because they have taken the decision of relocating the whole community to a safer area, they have been busy figuring out by themselves how the new town is going to look like. There are no engineering skills amongst them so they just meet and take decisions on the way. When we arrived at noon, men where taking measurements of the land and deciding where the main street was going to be.There is lots to be done so we unloaded the car, gave them some mandarines (which they loved), stay a little while, and let them work. We are probably attending their next community meeting at the end of the month and see if we can help in a long term building plan they have.

April, Friday 9th

In the Andes there is a life - principle people respect and live along with: AYNI. Meaning : giving back; retribution of some kind; exchange. It comes from the times of the incas, and the meaning is much more of what I can say here but basically it can be translated into “reciprocity”. Yesterday Jennifer and I had the opportunity to experience the AYNI people of Kallarayan wanted to give us.

Our friend Jusef was not available so we could only get to the community by taxi and with some clothes for the women. Since we had more time to visit, they took us to the community (not only the tents where they are now) and showed and explained more of their situation.

This is a community where all the people gather once a month to make decisions. They have just decided that the whole community will move to where the tents are. They have this year to build so that next rainy season will get them in a safer area. They showed us the small flow of water that turned into a big river in March and jeopardized the whole community. They told us about the water filtrations, the damaged fields, the sport center they were building and was cracked in the middle because of the water……., and their plans for the future. They are going to undo their houses and recover the tiles for the roof. Bricks of mud (adobe) they can build again. Here they are at 14,900 feet of altitude so they will have to build quick. Even though they are used to this altitude, winter is coming and the temperature will drop (and they are in tents!)
They prepared us meal. The AYNI, our gratitude they say, “nuestro cariño”. And we left till next week.

Easter – April, Friday 2nd (Kallarayan)

It has passed one month since the flood in Taray and the heavy rains that affected Taray, its communities, and other towns in the Sacred Valley. It has rained again but nothing compared to last month. Maybe the rainy season is coming to an end and now some long-term decisions must be taken.

Yesterday we went with Jennifer and Jusef to Cusco to buy shovels, picks and some food supplies for Kallarayan. Since our last visit they have found a water source and have started using it. They are planning to move permanently to the place where the tents have been located which is ten minutes from the actual community and still is community land.

Here in Cusco most of the land belongs to communities and not to individuals. The community decides who is going to work in a specific piece of land but the owner is the community as a whole. So many decisions are taken in assemblies by all of them. And now they have to decide where the people that have been affected by the rains –and are living in tents - are going to be located.

These people live basically from farming and use to stay in the community daily. They go to Pisaq market (or other markets) once in a while to sell their products and go back to the community. But yesterday there where no men there. The women and the children greet us, always with a smile and gratitude. They told us most of the men had gone to work in the fields or at the community. Others were playing soccer in a nearby town. Life goes on.

We bought 47 picks and shovels to help with the reconstruction. These people do not manage to much cash so it is difficult for them to access some basic supplies that are kind of expensive here and really necessary on a rebuilding plan. Again we bought food supplies that always welcome and make an intention of coming back next week with things for the children. The first time we came here there were 47 tents on site. Now there are 53. Almost 100 children altogether.

March, Wednesday 25th (Alonso's school in Taray)

There is a small school project that was working in Taray, Wiñaypaq . This school gives free education to many children of communities and has a clear orientation towards the respect of mother earth and living in communion with it. Their official web site is not updated but here we give you a link of the permaculture association that works with them and shows more photos of what the school was like before March 1rst when the river washed the complete school away.

http://permacultura-peru.blogspot.com/2010/03/proyecto-educativo-winaypaq-necesita-tu.html

Now they are in the process of putting together a place where they can continue the school in the community of Huandar because it is not safe to rebuild in Taray.

Before the flooding

After the flooding

We went today with Marcos to give them a small contribution for the process of rebuilding the school in Huandar. Next week they are going to start the building and we will be able to take some pictures and share them with you.

March, Thursday 18th (Kallarayan and Ccacacollo)

It has been a busy day today. We went to Cusco to buy food and school supplies to distribute amongst two communities from Taray: Kallarayan and Ccacacollo. It has been sunny and nice so perfect timing to visit them. Between these two communities there are almost 100 families in tents, each one with a committee elected by the community who is in charge of distributing the supplies that come from different organizations or private ones. Whatever comes to the community there is a person who writes down the donation in order to distribute it evenly amongst the people, and they are there, to check the process.

We bought rice, noodles, oil, milk, sugar, oat meal and salt for the communal kitchen, as well as scissors, glue, markers, crayons, color pencils, paper and erasers for the school. Special thanks to our friend Jusef from Taray who is helping us (with his car and time) in the process of buying the stuff and taking it to the people. Today Alexandra, Yusef and I (Milagros) were in Cusco buying and later we went to distribute these and other donations he had received.

It is very sad to witness the conditions in which these people are living and still they are so grateful and with a smile in their faces. The people from Kallarayan are on the top of a mountain, nothing around but more mountains.

In Ccacacollo they have built some roof above the tents for protection.

March, Monday 15th (Pisaq)

It is moving to see how many people have responded to our call for helping Taray after these events. It is a pleasure to be a channel to canalize your support and I wish you all could be here delivering a bit of relief to this communities.

Sometimes it is hard to get to communities due to safety reasons. The road Pisaq - Cusco is really in bad shape and there is a big tractor picking up mudslides as soon as they happen so that cars can still go by. And to get to communities you have to travel this road.

Now things start getting “normal”. School term has started (even the big public school where the tents of the people of Taray are), Pisaq market is full on even though there is not much tourists; the bridge is being replaced; and we are getting used to having mud here and there. It has been announced that even Macchu Picchu will be open by April.

March, Wednesday 10th (kallarrayan)

Taray is a district that holds 13 communities. The main town is the one you can see in the news and in most internet links. Because of this, it is being helped the most. Few people show the situation of the communities, one reason probably being that they are far away from main roads and up into the mountains.

Nonetheless the weather conditions and landslides have happened all around the place. Today we went to Kallarayan, one of this small communities.

The rain and landslides have taken the house of 45 families (around 120 people) that are now living in the middle of nowhere, of course without water or electricity. (98 children without home.)

When things like this happens, people get organized. Here -as well as in other places- they have organized a communal kitchen (“olla comun”) where someone of the group cooks for all the rest. This is where they cook for all the people.

We bought oil, rice, oat meal, sugar and milk and gave it to them. We also have been able to inform about the situation of this special community to a bigger group of people concentrating funds (Fundacion Niños del Arcoiris and Movimiento Urubamba) to consider this community in their work.

Today, march 10th, we helped Fundacion Niños Arcoiris and Movimiento Urubamba to distribute donations they had for people in Taray town and they also went with some donations to Kallarayan including clothes, food and school materials (school term in Peru starts in March and it is usually a hard time for parents to have the money to buy materials and uniforms to send their kids to school, This year is specially hard for these families)

March, Saturday 6th (Alonso, Taray and Pisaq)

There is an average of 120 families affected by the flooding and landslides in Taray. Houses are pretty damaged and there is no electricity or drinkable water available. The town has been almost completely evacuated. They are spending the night in Pisaq and during the days they return to Taray to work on whatever is needed.

A small school was completely washed away by the river.

Because of the severity of the situation, basic needs are being covered by the Estate or private donations. Today, Red Cross International distributed clothes, food and blankets to the people gathered on the plaza.

On Wednesday 3 a small river - that used to be dry- in Pisaq flooded the main street and at least 7 people who were cleaning the river at the time, died.

The rainy season starts in December in Cusco and other highland areas of Peru. Landscape turns green all over the place and fields are covered with corn. In January unusual heavy rains started and some rivers flooded in the area of the Sacred Valley.

In Pisaq, the river broke the bridge and in Taray it damaged 17 houses. Other towns of the Sacred Valley where also affected such as Urubamba, Calca and others, including Macchu Picchu where people were evacuated by helicopter.

People were given tents to stay while the river came back to its normal flow. After a couple of days of the flooding, we went to Taray to see the situation and the ways we could help.

In direct coordination with the people, we bought some useful items and distributed them on the plaza.

In January we gave some items (food, blankets, flash lights) directly to the affected people and will continue to do so in the next weeks. If you are interested in helping us, it will be much appreciated. You can send a contribution to our account, and we will make sure to buy the necessary goods for our brothers and sisters in the next town and give the supplies directly to them. We will be keeping this site updated with photos and details of what is going on. Thank you all very much in advance. In tough times a community is especially necessary, and this is when it is very clear that we are all one.

For more information please contact Milagros Casaverde
mcdammert@gmail.com

People who have visited us know about Pisaq's beautiful mountains and amazing views, and have also the chance to connect with the culture and people. Even some friends choose to stay here for a longer period of time wondered by the peaceful environment and simple living. The Pisaq tribe is always changing and growing and lately had the chance to help as a community due to the latest events. (Special thanks to Aleksandra, Maggie, Monica and Linden.)

Many have asked us about the flooding of the river on January 25th; fortunately Pisaq was one of the least affected towns by these events (even though the river broke the bridge connecting the road to Cusco, which still needs to be repaired).

Our neighbors in Taray - the next town across the river- have not been that lucky. Due to the heavy rains and flooding of the river in January and once again in March with the addition of mudslides, almost 70% of the houses of this small town have been seriously damaged or completely destroyed. On March 1st, people left their houses in the middle of the night with just their clothes on to watch their houses and belongings flow with the water. Now they have no food, water or shelter of their own. On January there where 17 families affected by the flooding; today it is almost the whole town.