Money and Stuff

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The Sacred Valley of the Inca is a region of the Peruvian Andes, and was an important Incan enclave. The valley is inhabited today by the descendants of the very same peoples who built an amazing, rich civilization centuries ago, a civilization whose remnants we can see today in extraordinary archaeological sites such as Machu Picchu and Qenko.

The valley is dotted with small, isolated villages, where poverty and malnutrition are the way

of life for most. Access to education in the region is difficult: children must walk hours each day to attend primary school, and secondary schools are only located in larger towns, too far for the children to reach by foot on a daily basis. That is why parents must obtain paid lodging and meals for their children if they wish for them to have a higher education.

The sadder part of this is that, when it comes to choosing the children of the household who will get a higher education, they choose to send the boys, which denies girls any type of secondary education.

This lack of available education for half of the population serves to reinforce a cycle of unemployment or forced manual labor for women, systematically perpetuating poverty in the region.

Since 2009 there is a non-profit group that fights for the right of the girls of Sacred Valley to

have to have access to higher education. The Sacred Valley Project has set out to build dormitory homes that offer both living quarters and regular meals for young women in the towns where there are high schools. Additionally, they have requested the direct involvement of local leaders to offer regular training workshops that will empower these young women, actively enabling their leadership roles in the communities where they live.

Their success has been staggering. They obtained a 501©3 designation in the US so that they operate as a proper non-profit, something that is not an easy task for a small organization like Sacred Valley Project. It allows taxpayers to make tax deductible donations

to their cause, something very desirable when it comes to fundraising. With the donations that they have received thus far, they’ve been able to open 6 dormitory homes with workshops, allowing them to provide education and workshops for close to many young Sacred Valley women. They have plans to continue growing because they understand that their efforts help raise the quality of life of all citizens of the region, and therefore, society itself.

They are always seek donations, volunteers and the general interest of people that may

speak of them to others, because there’s no better recommendation than those that come from people you know. That’s why today I wanted to tell you about this project. I find their efforts so absolutely deserving of praise and notice, that in telling you I hope to convince you to find out more about them, and tell others so that they may do the same.

If you wish to find out more about Sacred Valley Project, are interested in volunteering, want to make a donation or to participate in any of their fundraising events, please visit their official page (I am not entitled to promote third parties, but I will say they have an event in DC coming up very soon!). Their cause isn’t just worthy: it renews one’s beliefs that there are still people on this planet that genuinely care.