When he learned that native Q’ero children live in constant cold in the highest villages in the Andes Mountains, eight-year-old Luke wanted to help and began to crochet hats to give warm relief to Q'ero children.
Last week Heart Walk Foundation donated 13,000 pounds of emergency food to 200 Q’ero households who had been isolated in their remote Andean villages for almost three months under Peru’s strict quarantine due to SARS-Cov-2.
Some of our supporters are wondering how the Q’ero people are faring in this pandemic. This is what we know at this time: as of today, there are 2561 persons in Peru known to be infected with CoVid-19.
Q'ero textiles are rooted in pre-Inka weaving traditions that use imagery as a form of visual language. When we look at a Q’ero weaving, we are viewing a narrative about the role of humans in the universe and the meaning of life.
Nilda Apasa lives with many obstacles. A few years after Nilda's father died, her mother moved away from the Q'ero region to live with her new husband. Nilda has been living alone in Hapu Q'ero village for several years. She is 14 years old.
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