Incawasi is a non-profit organization run by local and foreign volunteers in Cajamarca, Peru. It was founded in March 2005 by Margaret Lysaght und Kieran Farrell (Ireland), Susanne Grüner de Diaz (Germany) and Roger Diaz Guerra und Marco Leyva Paredes (Peru). Our aim is to improve and develop the educational, social and nutritional situation of children from disadvantaged areas in the city of Cajamarca. We currently care for 40 children between 6 and 15 years old.
Roger Díaz Guerra, Kieran Farrell, Marco Leyva Paredes, Marge Lysaght und Susanne Grüner de
Diaz (from left to right)
Cajamarca is a colonial city nestled in the Andean valleys of Peru . The city awakens every morning with the sun climbing over the surrounding mountains and signals the beginning of another day for the marginal urban population who live in severe poverty on the suburban slopes of Cajamarca.
Incawasi is a registered non-profit charity chartered in March 2005. It was set up by a team of Peruvian and European volunteers after the breakdown of a previous charity. Incawasi continued taking care of the children by accepting more children and improving the services provided. Incawasi's aim is to break the vicious cycle of poverty that encompasses a huge majority of the children of Peru by starting here in Cajamarca.
The founders of Incawasi were approached by many families in dire need of educational and health support which the local government does not provide. The Incawasi staff then visited the families in their homes. They talked with the parents and families about their lives, their needs and exactly what their children were doing during the days when not attending school. After some time, 40 children were chosen based on the families with the greatest need to attend our centre. For these 40 children, with the help of international sponsorships and donations, our centre provides all the materials needed for schooling (fees, uniforms, books, pens etc). We also provide any medical needs, doctors, dentistry, medicine or health insurance. As we are still a relatively new centre run by young international volunteers, every day is a fresh learning curve and always exciting. Our aim is to guide the children through first and secondary schooling.
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Nutrition
The children receive breakfast and a warm lunch Monday to Friday in the centre. We have a cook who prepares the meals with love. We also work with a nutritionist who drew up a specific nutritional plan for each child, and taught our staff the best possible way of preparing food to compensate the kid's deficiencies.
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Health
Incawasi has initiated an insurance program with Cajamarca Regional Hospital through which each child is covered by health insurance. This is often a benefit most parents cannot afford independently.
Each year, in July, the children have a general check-up with our professional doctor Gilmar Fidel Azañedo Quilcate. Every six months we also perform tests to check our children for parasites and anaemia. Besides, our doctor visits weekly to check on their state of health. This has resulted in a notable improvement in the general health of the children at Incawasi.
Dental health is also on the top of our lists of concerns. After their meals the children brush their teeth and regular dental check-ups are organized with the Cajamarcan Dental Centre every year in July. Upon the dentist's suggestion, we also carry out dental prevention, such as fluorisation, on a regular basis.
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Education
The centre ensures that each child is enrolled in school at the start of the school year. We also supply all the material for their educational needs: books, writing material and uniforms. The children receive classes at Incawasi. Here they get help with their homework or receive reinforcement in reading, writing and maths. The classes are coordinated by Erla Altamirano Sangay, our main teacher, so that each local and international volunteer has his or her small class of students.
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Social work
Social work is: familiy work, creating a network with other institutions but also the planning and implementation of different projects and workshops.
In the area of family work we visit the families regularly, to get a better idea of their individual situations. The aim of the contact with the families is to give optimal help to children and their families. Regularly we have meetings with the parents (mothers) at Incawasi, where we discuss different subjects or do workshops.
The contact with other institutions and organizations from Cajamarca is a further part of the social work. Meanwhile we have a network of different institutions and exercising areas who realize an exchange of their experiences.
A relatively new area of social work at Incawasi is the development of short term projects through which we want to improve our work.
Many of the children have poor living conditions, with no electricity, sanitation or running water, up to 6 people living in a single room and no regular meals.
Their clothing is often very worn, usually they wear the same clothes everyday. Their shoes are often broken, with holes and some are many sizes too small for the child's feet, soccer is best played barefoot!
Most of Incawasi's families do not have enough money to send their children to school or pay for the necessary supplies or school uniform. Incawasi, from received donations, bears the cost of the children's matriculation in order for them all to go to school.
At 4pm, Incawasi closes and most of the children go to their various jobs, for example; selling birds´ eggs, candies or fruit, singing in the street or as tourist guides at historically important places in Cajamarca.
Birthdays are not celebrated within families due to a lack of money and the large size of the families. At Incawasi we show the children that their birthday is a special day taking them out for ice-cream.
School career: In Peru school lasts on average 11 years and after this university is encouraged. To fit the large number of students into the schools, the children go to school either in the morning or the afternoon, coming to Incawasi when they are not at school.
The founders
Marge Lysaght
Marge is a board member of Incawasi. She is working as an administrator. Marge lives in Ireland and continues with development activities abroad.
Susanne Grüner de Diaz
Susanne is the president of Incawasi. She is a psychologist and is a native to Germany. She also founded an organization in Germany that supports the development of the Incawasi centre in Cajamarca (more).
Roger Díaz Guerra
Roger is the accountant for Incawasi. He is a professional economist; therefore he deals with all the financial aspects of Incawasi. He is a native to Cajamarca.
Kieran Farrell
Kieran is one of the board members of Incawasi. He is a social scientist and raises funds from his native green island - Ireland.
Marco Leyva Paredes
Marco is the secretary of Incawasi. He is an attorney and helps the families of Incawasi in legal problems. Marco is a native to Cajamarca.
The working crew
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Erla Altamirano Sangay Erla is a professional teacher who came to work with us after studying secondary school education at the University of Cajamarca . She is an asset to the centre and coordinates the school classes of the children in our centre. She is the direct link to the schools that the children attend and works closely with the teachers to ensure the children are on top of their work and if they need any extra help. |
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Liliana Huaman Gonzales Liliana Huaman Gonzales is our social worker. Her main work is interacting with the families, and so she builds the bridge between Incawasi and the families of the children. As a professional family therapist she offers support to the families, and coordinates the health area of Incawasi. Liliana is also responsible for the search of other institutions and organizations to extend our network.
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Sebastiana Mendoza Guadaña Sebastiana is our chef who prepares breakfast and a hot lunch for the children everyday.
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Gilmar Fidel Azañedo Quilcate He's the doctor of the centre, and conducts frequent check ups with the children. He is always available for children's and volunteer's health problems or enquiries.
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Local and international volunteers
There are about 4-6 international volunteers each month in the centre and about five volunteers from Cajamarca. The volunteers from Cajamarca help for 2-4 hours a week.
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9.00 |
Morning Group arrives |
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9.30 |
Breakfast: the children receive milk and bread on arrival, so they have plenty of energy for what the morning has in store. |
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10–12 |
We help the children with their homework. |
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12 |
Lunch for the Morning Group. The children have a nutritious lunch before they leave Incawasi for national school. |
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12.30 |
Afternoon Group arrives and has lunch. The children have a nutritious lunch before starting their day in the centre. |
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2-4 |
We generally follow the same class plans in the afternoon. |
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4.00 |
Afternoon group receive milk and bread. Afternoon Group leave. |
Our aim is that a regular daily structure will benefit the children in many ways. It is also intended that the centre provides a body of trust and confidence to the children outside of their own families and home lives. It is essential to instill in the children the importance of education and to show them that knowledge can open doors for the future.
Day trips outside of the centre are organized on a regular basis to create more opportunities that are normally inaccessible to the children. Trips to the local sports park are always a favourite with the children.
The volunteers also arrange tours of local industry. We hope to inspire long-term aspirations in the children. A visit to the local newspaper proved interesting for both the volunteers and the children, resulting in an influx in the number of budding writers, photographers, publishers and editors among us!
Other excursions include trips to the local cinema or seaside. Trips like these are a luxury and keep the children talking for at least a week! With the help and kindness of local business people, we can give the children a chance to experience things that would normally be beyond their reach.
Incawasi is an association that completely finances itself. We gets no subsidies from the state. The survival of the association is guaranteed by only two sources, volunteers and Donations. Since the income depends completely on external factors the survival of the association is endangered. In order to counteract this financial situation, thus securing the future of Incawasi, it is important to find reliable external support.
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ECONOMIC OUTPUTS |
ECONOMIC INPUTS |
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Monthly rent and extra expenses |
Monthly contributions from the volunteers |
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Salaries |
Donations |
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Ingredients for the daily lunch |
Godparents |
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Activity and teaching materials |
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School matriculation, uniforms, supplies |
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Medicine |
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Organizational costs |
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