Trip Out
Every time I leave my little bedroom here in Trujillo, I am amazed at what I see.
Trujillo is in a desert region by an ocean and has somehow managed to have a decent agriculture industry. DanPer ( the company we work with) is a prime example. They own large portions of land around Trujillo dedicated to Asparagus and Artichokes.
In the case of Huanchaquito, most of the town works for one of the several ag companies in the area. DanPer even funds a small clinic in the area.
Now on to the work stuff.
This was the first day we have had a chance to go and visit the projects. Allessandra, Elena, and I met in the Ovalo Grau and headed out. One bus ride and one (bumpy/dirty) taxi ride later, we made it to Huanchaquito.
Huanchaquito Bajo
The Town
No paved roads. No running water. Very limited electricity. DanPer funded clinic. nuff said.
Granja de Cuyes
The Granya de Cuyes (Guinea Pig Farm) was a project started in the beginning of SEED (3 years ago). For one reason or another, it has been a total failure. We lost all the funding money on food and constructing two different pens. No cuyes have been sold, no payments have been received, and now the guy wants out. We went out there today to check the situation out. Out of the S/. 18,000 ($6500) we gave him, all we have to show for it are 50 poorly cared for cuyes. Time to salvage what we can and write it off with a good lesson learned. Namely – fund projects with real assets because that’s the only real recourse we have.
Panaderia
The other project we have in Huanchaquito Bajo is a bakery. The bakery is about the complete opposite of the cuye farm. Four ladies have endured with this project over the past 3 years and are going to be paying off their loan in March. The loan was approved on part because Danper was planning on buying large amounts of bread from them for employees. When that didn’t happen, the associates decided that they would stay on track to pay off their loan by taking much less ‘salary’ home until the loan was paid off. Now that they are getting ready to pay off the loan, they are looking to hire with the extra money. These four ladies truly demonstrate the purpose for this program. They fill a great need, in the community they live in and are therefor not only providing a much needed service for the community, but enriching the lives of all that are involved.
The Way Back
Dale Out
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