Image: Camden Luxford
Recently, I returned to one of them, just outside of Ollantaytambo. It was wonderful to see the newly constructed houses going up in solid brick instead of adobe, and to see the children again, swinging from the shoulders of tall English volunteer Matt and racing into position for photos.
Construction is slow, though, and several families are still living in tents as they piece their lives back together. And the rains have begun again. Christmas here will be cold and wet.
I was in Ollantaytambo visiting a friend, Leander Hollings, who is one of the organisers of a Christmas Chocolatada for this community, among others. I’ll be joining them on the 20th and the 21st, to distribute hot chocolate, panatones and small gifts to the children. We’ll be travelling with clowns and musicians, and having watched Leander dashing back and forth between Cusco and Ollantaytambo under the weight of endless pairs of shoes and finger-puppets, slowly going mad trying to get quotes for hot chocolate for thousands, I can’t wait to see it all come together for her, for her volunteers, and for the communities we’ll be visiting.
There is, however, still a lot to be done, and a lot of money to be raised. Please, I would love it if you could find a few dollars or pounds or yen or reales or soles to buy a cup of hot chocolate for an Andean child this Christmas. You can donate over at JustGiving.com, and I can vouch that all the donations are going straight to a worthy cause.
Image: Camden Luxford
Alternatively, if you’re going to be in Cusco or the Sacred Valley during the next few weeks and would like to help out on the day, get in touch with me via the contact page and I’ll be happy to let you know the details.
And don’t forget to pop back here to see the photos of how it all came out on the day!
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