Kim´s Story of Volunteering in Cusco with Loki this Week....

Lucre, Monday 12 July

We visited children in Lucre today. After handing out juice and milk to patient waiting lines of thirsty children we got down and dirty with the kids - drawing and colouring with crayons was great fun and lots of the children wanted pictures of capobera, not so easy to draw!

In the afternoon we played ball games, hula hoop, skipping and swinging the kids around - was awesome- the kids really appreciated having big people around to climb on and be swung about.
Today wasn´t just a rewarding experience but was also the most fun I have had in a long time.

Haurcarpay Tuesday 13 July
Today we went to a small village about 45 minutes outside of Cusco. The village had been severely damaged by the floods earlier in the year which resulted in the families moving into tents nearby their original village.  We brought juice and milk, paper, crayons and toys for the kids and had an amazing time playing with them. Although the majority of the playing area was inside a construction site, the kids couldn´t be happier just running and jumping on us and taking photos with our cameras (luckily all cameras made it out in one piece).  It was great to get out of Cusco for a day and embrace our inner child and see outside the touristy areas. Plus running after all the kids was a great way to build some endurance for the Inca Trail hike!!

Paurcarbumba, Thursday 15 July
We made our way from Loki hostel to the breathtaking views of the Sacred Valley - a sharpe contrast of such a beautiful setting, versus such a tradedy.  We have been helping, bringing food etc, however it was soon realised the moto ¨bring a man a fish he´ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he´ll eat for life¨ came into play. The plan to build a school to raise guinea pigs to sell (each family will receive 1 male and 9 female) hopefully bringing in an income of 200 soles.  This wishful thinking was made all the more prominent when sitting in the back of a truck, down a dirt track road and passing families in tents.  The local community are supportive - we get waves from the children as we pass and lunch was cooked for us by a local lady.
With one truck, we managed to move about 450 bricks (at 16-18kilos each!) and by the end of the day we had many grazes but also bigger muscles and we were covered in dust but hopefully this small contribution can help develop some of the families in their future.

Today was one of the most valuable days I´ve had in my time in South America.  When I first heard we´d be loading 400+ bricks onto a truck and unloading them, I was very daunted.  but knowing we were helping local families whose lives and homes had been destroyed in the floods made the heavy lifting worth it.  It was a great feeling when we lifted the last brick off the truck.  The beautiful scenery that we had all around us made it that bit more bearable.  Overall a great way to spend a day!