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Quechua Benefit, a non-profit tax-exempt organization in both the United States and Peru, is dedicated to providing relief to the Quechua People of the Peruvian alpaca farming regions. Quechua Benefit, operated entirely by volunteers, was founded in 1996 in response to a simple question from a Peruvian alpaca breeder to fellow breeders visiting from America: “Can you help?” The motivating principal of the Quechua Benefit charity has been to provide a vehicle for Alpaca Breeders to express their thanks to the Quechua Indians who have domesticated and cared for the alpaca from more than 50 centuries. Alpacas provide a profitable business opportunity for thousands of families across the United States and other countries and it is these families that have so generously helped the Quechua people for the last 12 years.
Our work has been very successful in Peru and has grown beyond what can be supported by the donations of the alpaca breeder community. Quechua Benefit is now reaching out to the international community to expand support for our projects in the Colca Valley region of Peru.
MISSION STATEMENT: Quechua Benefit operates in the highlands of Peru delivering dental care, clothing, medicine, shelter, food and sociological services to the Quechua population at large with a focus on children. The goal is to create sustainable solutions that nurture life skills and deliver hope for the future through education.
STATEMENT OF NEED: The Quechua Indians live in villages in the highlands of Peru; their world is one of high plains, a harsh environment and extreme poverty. At the root of Peru’s poverty are universal social conditions: unemployment, alcoholism, family violence and single mothers with few resources. Parents, if any, are often too poor to feed their children who go to bed hungry and wake up hungry. Forty percent of the Indian population in the highlands of Peru is undernourished and the mortality rate for children is also shockingly high: four out of ten do not reach ten years of age. All too often children are abandoned by parents who cannot feed them or become orphans when treatable diseases strike down parents with no access to medical help. Compounding these issues is a continuing lack of education. Many Quechua live in remote areas and many children are without access to schools. Without education, these children will have little economic opportunity as they become adults.
There are not many ways for the Quechua people to earn a living; raising alpacas and growing vegetables provides little more than a subsistence-level existence. In Peru there are no government traditions of social welfare for peasants in the highlands, no large charitable foundation and little means of delivering help to the poor. The newly found benefits of tourism do not reach the Quechua.
WORK-TO-DATE: For the past 12 years, the founders of Quechua Benefit have relied on the contributions of fellow alpaca breeders from the United States, Canada, England and Australia to send teams of volunteer dentists to the region, as well as provide truckloads of equipment, food and supplies. These efforts have served over 30,000 people in forty rural communities in the Andes Mountains and have delivered hope to the people of the Peruvian highlands.
The first team of volunteers went to Peru in 1996; there were only five members including 1 dentist and 1 dental assistant. That first year the team saw 300 patients from six local grade schools, delivered clothes for 500 children and school supplies for six schools. Quechua Benefit teams have returned to Peru every year since delivering clothes, school supplies and dental care.
The dental team has been the heart of the charity work. The annual mission has grown from that small team with one dentist visiting three towns to a larger group with three dentists visiting nine towns, seeing 1,800 patients over fifteen days. The charity owns all of the dental equipment and miscellaneous support supplies necessary for its work in Peru. Three years ago the charity hired Dr. Wilfredo Uscamayta (Dr. Willie), a Peruvian dentist of Quechua descent, to head a full time dental team which now treats 6,000 patients annually.
Quechua Benefit teams have provided free dental care to more than 40,000 people in over forty rural communities, aided earthquake victims in Ica, responded to bone cracking winter freezes with antibiotics and alpaca blankets, helped Sister Antonia, an 85 year-old Maryknoll nun, feed 800 people a day at the church in Yanque, built dormitories that house school children who live too far from school to attend, supported 26 girls at the Mosoq Runa orphanage in Macusani, helped deserving young adults attend college in Arequipa, supported two soup kitchens that feed 1,000 people a day and funded life-saving surgeries for the poorest of the poor.
Staffing Each of these programs is operated by nuns and priests affiliated with the Catholic Church. In the United States, Quechua Benefit has no paid staff — only a dedicated group of volunteers. In Peru, it employs Dr. Wilfredo Uscamayta Condori, a full-time dentist along with two assistants to operate a mobile dental facility that travels monthly from pueblo to pueblo.
Quechua Benefit fund raising capacity has progressed from Alpaca Breeders – where a few loyal individuals turned into 250 contributors, many donating thousands of dollars – to support from service clubs like the Rotary to private foundations. Having achieved so much with the help of these individuals and foundations, Quechua Benefit is now reaching out to the international community to increase the impact of the charity to provide a more permanent solution to the cycle of poverty faced by the children of the Quechua People.
THE NEW PROJECT - CASA CHAPI: Donations of food and supplies and dental care help to meet some of the immediate needs of the Quechua People but fail to provide the lasting solutions required to bring real and meaningful change to the families suffering in this forgotten corner of the world. Sustainable solutions must be created to give youth the education and life skills required to break the cycle. In Spring 2009, Quechua Benefit will break ground on Casa Chapi, a sustainable children’s home that will initially provide 50 youth from the Colca Valley of Peru with a place to live while going to school and learning a trade that will provide themselves and their families a livelihood when they complete their education. Eventually 100 youth will call Casa Chapi home.
In Quechua, chapi means “here” and in Spanish casa means “home”. The search to create hope and a permanent solution to the identified needs of hunger and clothing, lack of shelter, education or medical and dental services, led Quechua Benefit to a children’s home called Allin Kawasy, located in Coaza. Allin Kawasy provides a home to children in need. The facility is largely self-sustaining through the sale of produce grown on site and trout from a fishery. There is produce grown in greenhouses and animals that help feed the children and staff. Children are immersed in cultural values that emphasize mutual respect, self sufficiency, self esteem and education. Each child is encouraged to embrace continuing education beyond high school and to learn a trade or profession. Youth continue to higher education are given financial support to help them transition to the outside world. Allin Kawasy staff and the children’s teachers and are trained by the founders, Jean and Silva. Allin Kawasy has been thriving for over 10 years.
Casa Chapi will adopt this proven model to create a facility that is equal parts home, school, sustainable farm and job training. Allin Kawasy’s founders have agreed to provide technical support and staff training. Once operational, Casa Chapi’s goal will be to become self sustaining. A dormitory will house 100 children. Produce from the gardens and greenhouses and animals raised onsite will generate cash flow. Tending the animals and gardens will teach job skills. Other trades such as carpentry will be taught in order to prepare youth for work. To support these efforts there will be a medical clinic, sports facility and staff housing. Since many of the children who will come to Casa Chapi are abandoned, the program model calls for cooperation with parents to continue familial relationships whenever possible. Quechua Benefit will evaluate their efforts and measure outcomes to ensure services are providing the desired results – number of children served, completion of school, number of youth entering a trade, receipt of counseling. Subjective measures of success – a child having a place to call home, being reunited with family, overcoming the cycle of violence and poverty – will be monitored through staff observation and written narratives. It is the hope of Quechua Benefit that the success of Casa Chapi will lead to the model being replicated throughout the region.
The land for Casa Chapi has been purchased. One of the founders of Quechua Benefit, a former building contractor, will oversee the construction design. Building plans are ready. A United States citizen who is fluent in Spanish and has experience working in developing countries will be in charge of the day-to-day construction project. Fundraising is underway. As the buildings go up, Quechua Benefit will work with local churches and schools to identify the first 50 children to call Casa Chapi home. The administrative team has already identified 400 potential residents. The first phase of the project – the living quarters for 50 children, kitchen-pantry and storage, dining room/study hall, staff quarters, visitors’ quarters, an administrative office, the library/computer room, laundry, shop building, sports facility, and garage – is targeted for completion by the end of 2009. The second phase will consist of living quarters for 50 more children, greenhouses, a barn, an all purpose room and medical clinic is targeted to begin construction in early 2010, with completion approximately 6 months afterwards. The complex, when complete, will be 38,150 square feet.
Casa Chapi has the support of the local community. Though a secular organization, Quechua Benefit works closely with the local clergy, who has endorsed the construction of the facility. With 12 years of history working in the region, Quechua Benefit counts local mayors, nuns and school teachers amongst its local partners. One of the major challenges of building a facility like Casa Chapi, and filling it with children once it is built, is gaining the support of the local people. Quechua Benefit is well-known in the region and highly respected for its work. With the support of the international community, Quechua Benefit can provide the care, stability and life skills needed to give these deserving children an opportunity for a brighter future. The future of these boys and girls will not be confined inside the walls of the new orphanage; it will lie in their optimism for life that is created by the nurturing and love they receive.
BUDGET OVERVIEW. The project will be built in 2 phases; the total project cost, including construction, furnishings and equipment, will be approximately $950,000. The first phase will cost approximately $650,000; the second phase $295,000. Quechua Benefit has raised $250,000 to date to be used to initiate construction and leverage additional funding. In addition to seeking new funding from private foundations sources, Quechua Benefit is asking individual donors and foundations to sponsor rooms, buildings or other facilities, based on their special interests, and the room they help build will feature their name and blessing.
Quechua Benefit Board of Directors
Dr. Mario Pedroza has practiced dentistry for many years and he began alpaca farming more than 12 years ago. On one of his many trips to Peru he was asked by Don Julio Barreda if he might be able to help the poor children of Macusani with their dental care. Mario organized the first Quechua Benefit trip to Peru in 1996 and has been back every year since. He continues to devote his time and energy to the charity and has expanded its mission in Peru until the present day when 6,000 patients are being cared for annually.
Mike Safley worked to organize and fund Quechua Benefit since its inception, traveling to Peru with the crew since the first trip in 1996. Mike has traveled to Peru more than 30 times on behalf of Quechua Benefit. He has increased the fund raising effort by the Quechua Benefit volunteers to the point that it now supports Dr Willie full time in as many as 20 towns each year.
Dr. Wilfredo Uscamayta (Dr. Willie) is a Peruvian dentist of Quechua descent. Dr. Willy started working with Quechua Benefit full time in 2004. He travels to more then 40 villages in Peru and treats 6,000 patients annually. Before working with Quechua Benefit, Dr. Willy founded the first Red Cross chapter in Peru, located in the Colca Valley. Together, Dr. Mario Pedroza and Dr. Willy created a new program to promote dental health in the schools of towns throughout the Colca Valley. The program teaches the children to brush and floss and aids the teachers with distributing fluoride tablets. This program is long-term and provides hope of a permanent dental health solution.
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Revenues
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2007
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% of Total
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Donations
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$251,320
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100%
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| Operating Expenses |
2007
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% of Total
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| Banking Fees/ Wire Transfer |
$1,722.00
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3.81%
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| Local Dental Supplies |
$6,672.00
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14.76%
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| Peruvian Dentist Salary |
$15,470.00
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34.23%
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| Travel and Transportation |
$4,997.00
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11.06%
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| Disaster Relief, food programs and orphanages |
$16,333.00
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36.14%
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| Sub Total |
$45,194.00
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100.00%
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| Fundraising Expenses |
2007
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% of Total
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| Advertising & Marketing |
$2,176.00
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8.58%
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| Futurity Auction Expenses |
$23,170.00
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91.42%
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| Sub Total |
$25,346.00
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100%
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| TOTAL EXPENSES |
$70,540.00
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| NET CASH FLOW |
$179,780.00
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Explanatory Budget Notes and Fundraising:
Quechua Benefit currently has three primary sources of income: 1) An annual auction; 2) fundraising events at alpaca shows; and 3) donations by individual alpaca breeders. The organization has also attracted in kind and cash grants from other charitable organizations. Net cash flow has been saved to contribute to the purchase of land and initial construction costs for Casa Chapi. The Charity currently has more than $500,000 in the bank.
Quechua Benefit
Casa Chapi General Building Fund
Quechua Benefit has earmarked $250,000 for the Casa Chapi building fund. These funds are reserved solely for the construction of the orphanage. When you choose to donate directly to this building fund, you can be assured that your donation will also be used solely to construct the orphanage. Donors who contribute to the general Building Fund will be acknowledged on a special plaque in the central plaza of Casa Chapi.
Sports Facility - $3,000
A multi use sports court where girls can play volleyball and the boys can play soccer. The younger children will have a special play ground area with swings, slides and monkey bars. A donation to construct the sport court will create a lot of joy over many years.
Dining Room / Study Hall- $19,500
The dining room will be oversized and double as a study area providing a large family room type of space. This will be the orphanage great room where warm meals and homework help will be served up every day at Casa Chapi.
Garage- $12,000
The garage will house the orphanages pickup, equipment, bicycles and supplies. Put your name over the door with a generous contribution.
Kitchen / Pantry - $15,000
A large commercial kitchen will be the center of a nutritionally sound food program that will insure proper growth and vigor for the children of Casa Chapi. Your donation will benefit the children three times a day for years to come.
Laundry- $4,000
The kids will need a place to wash their clothes and bed linens. A laundry is a special luxury in a place where clothes are often washed in mountain streams.
Library / Computer Room - $15,000
The most requested resource by teachers and parents at the orphanages that Quechua Benefit supports is a library full of books and computers. Very few children in Peru have the luxury of a book to read. You can make it happen.
Living Quarters / Bathrooms - $100,000
The first residential building will house 50 students - 25 girls and 25 boys. There will be bathrooms and hot showers in each wing and a locker for each child to store their clothes and possessions. Your donation would be the corner stone of the orphanage and keep hundreds of children safe and sound for the next 30 years.
Administrative Office - $3,000
This facility will provide staff with space for administration work and a place to keep books and records. Put your name on the central office.
Shop Building - $11,250
This building will provide space for vocational training in carpentry, mechanics, metal work, sewing and knitting. This facility is a key component of teaching the children life skills that will help them get jobs and support families after they graduate from school.
Staff Quarters –$ 24,000
This space will consist of 3 small apartments for permanent staff members.
Visitors Building / Guest Bedrooms - $40,000
This small 3 bedroom casa will house visiting doctors, dentists, teachers and donors who want to see their dollars hard at work. Quechua Benefit intends to offer internships for visiting college students who volunteer to work at the orphanage and live in the visitor quarters. It will house a minimum of 6-8 people. The donor who builds the Casa can consider it their home away from home.
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