Thursday, March 10, 2011

Sacred Valley Project




The Sacred Valley project is an NGO based in Ollantaytambo whose aim is to provide schooling and accommodation to girls aged between 11 and 17 whose access to education has been limited through location or lack of funds. Following a highly successful first year in Ollantaytambo providing schooling opportunities to 6 girls, Alex Ball expanded the reach of his work and acquired a new house for the same 6 girls, and 6 more, to live in!



Our first day of working in partnership with The Sacred Valley Project began in typical Peruvian fashion - 2 hours late - but once we got started we were given a brief tour of the house, 4 dormitories, a dining room, kitchen and a study room all situated around a central courtyard, it was off to work!! Our first task was to tidy up the general areas there was a lot of debris and rubbish lying around due to fact it had been a carpenters yard and we collected many sacks full of rubbish. Although the girls' parents had already visited the site and completed a lot of the work (part of their obligation to support the project their daughters have been chosen for), they had been unable to secure the roofing due to rain. So up the ladder went Team Sweden (Karl, Jonathan and Christian) and myself (not from Sweden) and managed to fix plastic to the ventilation shafts to ensure the girls did not get soaked when sleeping!! This involved 2 people holding ladders for the other 2 who were precariously balanced on the rungs and rafters, one holding the nail with the other banging it in with their other hands hanging on for dear life!!! However by the end of the day the roofing was secure and we rewarded ourselves with a well earned glass of chicha (fermented maize drink) with the locals.
                           

The second day we were finalising everything that the girls would need in order to live happily in the house. Hard manual labour was done in an attempt to level out the courtyard using pickaxes and shovels especially in front of the shower and toilet block, not helped by the puppy, Macho (so named because he'll be the only boy in the house), who insisted on playing with us every 2 seconds!! Following this we spent time shoring up the last remaining hole in the roof and putting together the last of the beds as well as sweeping and washing the floors. It was starting to look like a proper boarding house.



Day 3 started incredibly early with a trip to Urubamba at 6.30 to pick up the remaining mattresses, bedside cabinets and tables. First we picked up the truck following a combi ride and Karl, Johnathan and Christian hopped in the back as there was no room up front. Following a brief stop to pick up pigs, who shared the back of the truck with Team Sweden, we ended up in Urubamba where we breakfasted on lomo saltado (sauteed beef) and moved on to pick up the furniture. This time Karl, Jonathan and Christian shared the ride back with all of the furniture as we travelled along the road, half of which had collapsed into the river the day before, and we unloaded and stored all of the material away in the house in Ollantaytambo. Afterwards we further attempted to clear the courtyard, which was surprisingly big and called an end to it after a long day! The girls moved in on Sunday and are very happy with their accommodation thanks in part to MySmallHelp.

Matteo Lewent (MSH Volunteer)

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