We are asking for your help to complete all schools in Hapu Q’eros. First, we need to construct the final classroom of the high school. We must complete the fifth and final classroom before the end of 2020, when the Peruvian Ministry of Education will then assume full responsibility for educating the previously forgotten Q’ero youth -- permanently.
Throughout sixteen years working in Q’ero communities, we continually reflect on the future of the beautiful Q’ero culture. Will Q’ero culture and wisdom be eroded by the encroachment of cell phones, roads, employment, public education, and migration to cities? There are reasons to have hope that the deeper gifts of Q’ero culture and spirituality will persevere in spite of rapid changes.
The mountains called me back to Q'eros, and once again my heart prepared to trek the well-worn path of service in the remote Q’ero regions of Peru. The love I’ve developed for this challenging service-based travel is grounded in the excitement I feel while watching the Q’ero children explore educational experiences for the first time.
Today the 2019 HWF expedition team entered the remote Q’ero territories. For the next 10 days the small team will meet with Q'ero village elders, discuss joint projects, and provide training and services in three remote villages in the Andes Mountains of Peru.HWF board member Stacy Christensen (with hat) leads the expedition again this year, with a focus on service to Q’ero children and their families.
There are many efficient stoves on the world market. All are expensive. None address the unique situation of the Q’ero people. John Whitaker (Ivins, UT) of Whitaker Studio was inspired to develop a low-cost, easy-to-transport, fuel-efficient stove that can be assembled in the Q’ero villages with no tools. We call it the
Twenty years ago Santos crushed the bone in his thumb when he fell onto a rock. The injury became a festering wound, the bone was infected, yet he never received medical treatment. Though Santos suffered constant pain in the hand, he continued to cultivate potatoes to keep his family fed. He still manages to
Heart Walk Foundation hired obstetrician Karina Bello Pacco, and nurse Briggite Ivone Benavente Arape to serve Q’ero villagers in their remote Andean region for 2018. These two brave and dedicated women endure deprivations, hardships and risks to their safety so they can provide basic medical care to Q’ero villagers.
Help keep the Peruvian doctor and nurse in Q’eros through the coming year by making a donation on Giving Tuesday, November 27. Your gift will be DOUBLED by an Angel Donor. Donate online on November 27 or write “Tuesday” on your check.
A spiritual crisis led me to join the 2018 Heart Walk Foundation expedition to Peru. Earlier this year, I’d been struggling with school, work, and my perceived failures as a single parent. Everything that once gave my life meaning and purpose had become pedestrian. I needed to remove myself from bandaging my defeats with social media, Netflix, and online shopping binges and alter my perspective.
A small child walks gingerly over a rocky mountain field as he returns to his home after watching over his family’s alpaca herd. It's late afternoon on a cold [...]