Trip Report 2013

Please accept my apology for not getting the 2013 trip report out sooner. As I have done the past few years, I asked one of the new participants to give us her perspective of her experience.  Ginny, from Great Falls, Montana was kind enough to do so.

In addition to the schools we were able to visit, we also were able to leave enough supplies to give to some of the schools that are so far away and are inaccessible by car.  Luckily for us, there was going to be a big celebration in the town of Lares and these teachers were going to be there.  This was made possible by our trusted Peruvian friends, who were able to store and distribute the school supplies. They also are seeing that the desks and chairs for 2 schools are constructed and delivered.  Without all of you who have so faithfully supported us for the last ten years and our Peruvian friends who help us in country, this work would not be possible!

As always, I thank you,

Dinny

2013 Trip Report

This was my first time volunteering to help with The Becky Fund organization and my first trip to Peru. What a fantastic experience it was to invest time and energy in such a worthy organization Seven volunteers traveled with Dinny and our two Peruvian drivers to schools largely in remote mountain villages- often times to villages seldom visited by foreigners. We knew when the mountain road was especially treacherous as our driver paused and mode the sign of the cross before he continued carefully on! Participating with the project immersed us all directly into the Peruvian language, culture and customs. Should you volunteer, be sure to bone up on your Spanish language skills.

All of the monetary donations given to The Becky Fund are spent on providing school supplies and worthy school improvement projects. We delivered supplies to well over 3100 students and more than 160 teachers! The supplies purchased by The Becky Fund included notebooks, pencils, pens, markers, multipurpose paper, maps, inflatable balls, and motivational stickers. School improvement projects included upgrading a school kitchen (in this case the rudimentary kitchen consisted of an open fire with no venting of smoke to the outside posing a health hazard), windows for a school (it's COLD in the mountains of Peru and often times students don't have warm clothing and shoes!) and desks, tables, and chairs for students. The teacher of one very poor school asked for a carpet so his students would not have to sit on the dirt floor of the classroom. Instead- and better yet- The Becky Fund will hire a local carpenter to build tables and chairs for this classroom thereby supporting the school and the local economy! At the volunteers' own expense as well as donations by dentists and others, this year's volunteers also distributed toothbrushes, toothpaste, clothing, and toys. As a volunteer be prepared to do without many of  your own personal items to leave more room to fill your luggage with supplies for the kids!

What a thrill it was to see children glow with appreciation when they were handed their own school supplies (their response was often like the delight we see in the USA when a child gets an iPod)! After the pencils were distributed, the kids were very happy when we gave them the empty box! The teachers were truly grateful to get the badly needed items for their classrooms-items that many of them have to buy with their own money if their classroom is to have any at all. When we went to one very small school, the teacher remarked in Spanish "Oh! I thought you had forgotten us this year!" Clearly, The Becky Fund donations are greatly appreciated and well invested in Peru.

 The Becky Fund is all about emphasizing the importance of education to Peruvian students. At each school Dinny addressed the students and explained why they needed to study hard to learn skills necessary to help them have a better future.

I hope to be a volunteer for The Becky Fund again! While working with the project I saw Peru for the first time in no other way possible. I highly recommend The Becky Fund organization to donors and volunteers.

Ginny Jamruszka-Misner

Donation from Pearl Creek Elementary School

Many thanks to Pearl Creek Elementary School in Fairbanks, Alaska. They raised $1,500 for the Becky Fund through a penny drive and Mr. Brent's 4th-6th grade class donated another $500 for a total donation of $2,000.

 

 Representatives of The Pearl Creek Elementary Student Council and Mr. Brent's class

This very generous donation will allow The Becky Fund to bring school supplies to about 1,000 kids in about 40 schools.

May 2013 Trip

The 2013 trip to Peru has been scheduled for May 3–17th. Please contact us if you are interested in volunteering.

AASD Annual Report

Here is the annual report of the Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development. This groups continues to make a huge difference in the Sacred Valley.

2012 Trip Report

It was a lucky find stumbling across The Becky Fund blog through a series of links and after being thoroughly inspired by the life of Becky and the work being done in her memory I contacted Dinny and was sold. I met the group for the 2012 project in Cuzco- Alex and his wife Angela from Alaska and their kids Sophie and Elena, plus some other first-timers like me; the Bower family from New Mexico; Kristi, Max and their little ones Aly and Jack. And Dinny; in whom I saw from the first day the determination and compassion for which Becky was so admired. I was a little apprehensive on that first day; having traveled solo through Peru for 3 weeks I knew it would be a real change of scene, but it turned out to be one of my most rewarding experiences.

 

We spent the first day rounding up goods for the trip to The Sacred Valley and that’s when it first struck me that this was a serious operation. The vast quantity of books and stationary we were stacking and their numbers on paper made me instantly connect these materials to real people’s donations and I felt a sudden sense of responsibility to those donors.

The 2 weeks that followed were a whirlwind of long winding roads at often hair-raising heights (remember Kristi; if you don’t look it’s not really happening!) interspersed with visits to many schools in some of the most remote and impoverished areas I have seen, where the magic of The Becky Fund really became apparent. Through a million memorable moments, those that stick hard in my mind are the first sight of the children knowing our presence on the hills above their schools. They ran like their lives depended on it; in the thin, high air I was astounded and wanted to shout 'stop, we're not going anywhere!' Their beautifully garish traditional clothes running over the mountains contrasted their often harrowingly poor physical conditions. Many children wore clothes totally inadequate for the harsh cold climate; all wore ill-fitting leather sandals exposing cracked and infected feet. At the smaller schools we were able to distribute what clothes we had, giving every child a piece. Most memorable of all were the grins on their faces when they keenly accepted gifts of notebooks and pencils handed out enthusiastically by the kids in our group. It was heart-warming to see connections being made between the children from the Becky Fund and the kids from the schools despite their differences; as time passed Sophie, Elena, Aly and Jack were quick to deal out toys, stickers, hair accessories and giggles.

Of course there were some obligatory bust-ups. A broken down minibus on the one of the first days spelled trouble, but riding in the back on the open topped truck with everyone perched on boxes of pencils was a certain bonding experience. Potentially rabid dogs and sticker riots aside, the general running of the show was smooth, thanks largely to the unwavering kindness of our Peruvian hosts whose input was invaluable.

One of the most powerful reflections of the communities need for donations was the number of unannounced guests who graced the steps of our Calca home every evening. Each greeted Dinny like their beloved and accepted rolls of papers, soccer balls and pencils with hearty smiles and sincere hugs. It struck me that many of these teachers had come from far, walking for hours as they do to their schools every day. It’s impossible to make comparisons between our own social and professional norms and those in a less developed country, but I would be surprised if I found British teachers rushing up Mount Snowdon for gifts for their pupils. Their gratefulness was humbling. 

 

At the end of our Peruvian venture we had reached over 4000 children and 300 teachers, a great achievement. A number of schools received special assistance by means of specifically requested items including a propane tank, cook top, a mini-pharmacy, cooking utensils, bowls, cups, spoons, and sheets for a local hospital.

It’s too easy to leave such vivid sights like those children in poverty and return to our own lives of comfort, but it’s not without a sense of guilt that I do so. I always think and often say that if fate had chosen so I could well have been one of those children and be in that life now, as we all could be. So though we may not all have the opportunity to see in real life the grateful faces of those touched by these 2 weeks of distributions, I hope this reflection of my experience might portray the significance of these small acts of kindness and the appreciation of the children who benefited from them. I sincerely hope that kind donations will continue to allow The Becky Fund trips to keep bringing smiles to the faces (and socks to the feet!) of these children and eventually to the thousands beyond them who may one day be reached.

                                                         Katherine Allen

2012 Trip Dates

The 2012 Becky Fund trip to Peru is tentatively scheduled for April 13–27. Contact us for more information on volunteering.

Team Peru and The Becky Fund: A valuable relationship

I'm proud to present the summer 2011 report from Team Peru at The Monterey Institute of International Studies(MIIS).

Team Peru is a group of graduate students who work on current and potential development projects through The Becky Fund and the Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development. Students represent a variety of fields including; international environmental policy, public administration, international business, international policy studies, and translation and interpretation.

Students dedicate themselves to a project and travel to Peru for two months in the summer and one month in January. A unique level of involvement is added however, while the students are in Monterey during the semester. The team works together at MIIS to bring the projects into the classroom. In the fall of 2011 the Becky Fund and Andean Alliance have been represented in classes such as; program evaluation, organizational sustainability, and grant writing. An entire class of 30 students in the systems thinking course used Team Peru as the case study for the duration of the course. These courses offer an amount of analysis and actionable recommendations usually reserved for large multinational NGOs with huge budgets.

Team Peru is a unique student driven initiative that has added an extreme amount of value to The Becky Fund and the Andean Alliance, in 2011 we have benefitted from over 14,700 hours of professional volunteer service from these students.

Thanks Team Peru, and keep up the good work!

~aaron

Check out the project report here:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/69463769/Summer-2011-Report-Team-Peru-and-The-Andean-Alliance-For-Sustainable-Development#source:facebook

Check out my TEDx talk on Team Peru:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcjFDd7LXwY

Greenhouse Project Update

In June of 2010 The Becky Fund officially established its school greenhouse initiative in the schools of Pampacoral and Poques. The greenhouse project was designed and implemented by a group of graduate students from The Monterey Institute of International Studies. Our local agricultural technician, Ruben Human Quispe, spends three days a week working with students and teachers in the greenhouse. Ruben teaches sustainable techniques for growing vegetables. The first two projects were a huge success garnering attention from other organizations and the local government. In 2011 The Becky Fund partnered with the Lares government to build five more greenhouses. 

Ruben and the graduate students focus on the methods and model of teaching and incorporating sustainable practices into daily agricultural practices. The Becky Fund works side by side with the community in order to increase local ownership and ensure success.  In 2012, the Fund will be helping four communities maintain nine greenhouses. Ruben will be joined by two new technicians who will support four schools as they go from eating governement provided fortified bread to growing, cooking, and eating fresh organic vegetables several times a week. 

The Becky Fund has focused its agricultural projects in the Lares Valley, becoming a part of the community. As a member of this community we have begun giving back in other ways. The Becky Fund and partner organization the Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development have sponsored a local soccer team and have provided prizes for local school competitions. Students in Pampacoral were given the opportunity to document their lives with digital cameras and the whole community was invited to an exhibition of their work. Thanks to all our supporters and volunteers the Becky Fund is able to accomplish such things. We look forward to building our relationship with these communities growing more than just vegetables.

--

Aaron Ebner

Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development

Team Peru

The Becky Fund