Heart Walk Foundation

EXPEDITION 2009

“Sixth Year in the Q’ero Villages” by Tim Eicher

Our trek into the Q’ero communities in May led us through four main sectores (hamlets). While the trip was only six days in the territory of the Hapu Q'ero, we were very productive in our meetings with three of the villages: Hapu, Cochemarka, and Yanaruma.

Six veterans of volunteer trips to Hapu returned to the villages: board members Tim Eicher, Penelope Eicher, Melanie Kimbel and Ken Boche; advisors Tom Nicas and Perry Suden; and friend of the Q’ero people, Alejandro Trevisan.

Our rented 4WD truck left us by the side of the rugged road at the mountain pass called Ritti Casa, at an elevation close to 16,000 feet. We descended 3000 feet into Hapu Grande, the most central location in the Hapu Territory, passing through the hamlet of Raq’chi. There we had the very special opportunity to sit with some of the eldest members of the Hapu Q’ero people. After observing the newly-built trout ponds, we hiked on to Hapu Grande in preparation for meetings the next day.

The grand assembly with the entire community started the next morning and continued into the late afternoon. We worked long with the Hapu people to form agreements on how to proceed with our many projects, including the development of Casa de Ayni in Huecco Uno, the trout farm projects, the food supplements for the needy in the community, the book project, the schools, and the support of sponsored children. We distributed childbirth kits and conducted trainings on childbirth hygiene for pregnant women and husbands. We trained many villagers how to prepare low-cost treatment of diarrhea and dehydration.

The next morning we continued down the canyon to Layamani, the lowest elevation of the Hapu Territory at just over 11,000 feet, to the confluence of the Hapu River and the Hapu Chico River. There we turned upstream, climbing back up to 13,500 feet, past vistas in the Andes that few non-Peruvians have seen. We reached Cochemarka village in a driving hailstorm and took refuge in the new one-room school building, built just last year.

We spent two crowded nights in the stone hut of our friend Francisco Apaza Gerillo, former president of Hapu. We met with the Cochemarka people outdoors in weather that alternated between full warm sunshine and thick fog that felt impregnated with ice crystals. We met with the grateful parents and children of the new little school, where reading and math are being taught for the first time.

Photos:

The following morning we began the climb past the seven pristine lakes of Cochemarka and over the high pass into Yanaruma hamlet.

This year, as the HWF budget thinned due to the difficult economic climate, we were compelled to decline funding all the new projects presented by the community leaders. Our focus is to continue the good work we've begun. In each hamlet we were received with warmth, understanding (mixed with little disappointment) and encouragement to keep working. We left our last meeting with a sense of renewed energy, as our friend Marcelino Huaman addressed us and the Yanaruma community. He thanked HWF for the commitment and consistency of visiting their homes every year for the last six years, and for the generosity of HWF friends in the United States. Our work together continues.

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