Sunday, September 28, 2008

Perup update















Peruap update

Concerts of
17th and 27th September 2008
Acknowledgements

We would like to thank everybody who helped us to organise the last two concerts.
Peruap was very proud to present musicians of the highest quality. We are very grateful to Chano Diaz, Andres Prado and Paco Palomino who gave a fantastic concert on 17th September. As on previous occasions we were delighted to hear their music, a superb blend of Peruvian coastal and Andean rhythms.
In the second concert, on 27th September, Andres Prado along with well known figures from the world of jazz in the UK, Steve Waterman, Mario Castronari and David Barry gave an outstanding performance. We were very pleased to have the opportunity to present musicians of such talent and international renown.
Our thanks to everybody who collaborated in the organisation of these two concerts – Nino, Paloma, Gustavo Pezzia, Rosa Bond, Gloria, Carlos, Gregorio, Sonia, Petronila, Carlos Diaz, Express News, Chilli and Ginger, Johnny Rodriguez and the Latin Palace.
Community projects in Peru

We are planning to continue supporting the Women’s Centre in Chiara village in Andahuaylas, Apurimac. We have also received a request to help a school in San Andres, Pisco with educational material. This is an area that was badly damaged by the earthquake in 2007. With the help of Amistad group in Callao we are also intending to continue supporting Pachacutec shanty town in Callao. Another infants school has asked for help with the construction of a new fence for the school.
Our next fundraising event
Peruap would like to invite you to our next and final fund raising event of 2008 which will take place on Saturday 1st November in celebration of El Dia de la Cancion Criolla (Day of Coastal Creole Music). There will be a live show featuring the trio Ayer y Hoy and more artistes. There will also be traditional food and drink. More information will be available shortly. Please contact us for further information.
Call us on 02086998731 or e mail us on info@peruapurimacproject.org
We are always very grateful to anyone who is able to help with the organisation of our events.
If anyone is interested in helping with paperwork for our project once or twice a month for a couple of hours please let us know – we will pay travel expenses.
Many thanks, Claudio and Jude
London September 2008


PERUAP

In Aid of Community Projects in Peru
http://www.peruapurimacproject.org/
Bulletin no 12
London 17 September 2008
News release September edition

We wish to inform you about our latest events and our last visit to Peru in January 2008. We take this opportunity once again to thank our friends who continue supporting us.
We had planned to visit the area affected by the strongest earthquake in decades which struck the southern coastal area of Peru on 16th August 2007, causing much destruction to Chincha, Pisco, Ica and other areas, affecting around 90,000 families. We were fortunate enough to be accompanied by a friend, Jorge Quispe, a lecturer in San Marcos University who grew up in the area and knows it well, guiding us round an area unknown to us and making our visit much easier. We were horrified to see the destruction with piles of rubble still at the sides of the roads, and in the city of Pisco which had taken the main force of the quake, how even many of the well built brick buildings had been badly damaged or destroyed. We saw the remains of the church which fell down during a service causing many deaths. We decided to visit El Carmen and San Andres with donations raised from a concert given by Rosa Límaco and her son Chano Díaz Límaco and from a collection made during a party organised by Latinos of Richmond plus other money raised.

Our next Fundraising events
We are pleased to announce a concert of Peruvian music featuring the talented musicians Chano Diaz Limaco (charango and quena), Andres Prado ( guitar) and Victor Paco Palomino (guitar) on 17th September 2008 at 7pm at the Latin Palace . The concert will feature Andean and Afro-Peruvian music.
We are also organizing another fund raising concert for our project, again at the Latin Palace , featuring Andres Prado’s British-Peruvian jazz quartet with top British jazz players Steve Waterman (trumpet), Mario Castronari (bass) and David Barry (drums). This event will take place on Saturday 27th September 2008 at 7.30pm. This concert will be followed by a salsa party until late. During both events mentioned, typical Peruvian food will be available.
For more details about both concerts see our web page http://www.peruapurimacproject.org/ or contact 0208 699 8731/ 07854185741

First visit to El Carmen in Chincha
After paying a short visit to Chincha Alta we went to the village of El Carmen which had been badly damaged by the earthquake. We met with Sra. Esperanza, who lives in the village and to whom we had sent a previous donation of toys for the children of the village for Christmas. She made us very welcome and showed us round El Carmen. It was very sad to see the destruction and to see people still living in tents and temporary huts in which they were baking in the heat of the day. They were also having to put up with rain, a rarity in the area and which reduced the sandy terrain on which the huts and tents were pitched into a mud bath, making living conditions even more unpleasant. The cathedral had been badly damaged and was the one thing that appeared to be being reconstructed.
El Carmen is well known for its Afro-Peruvian culture and music and Esperanza and some of the villagers gave us an impromptu concert of music from the cajón together with dancing and a bit of singing.
During our visit we decided with Esperanza that the way to help the most people was to provide them with foodstuffs, and went to the market where we bought 50 bags containing milk, rice, sugar and cooking oil. On our return to the village we distributed a bag each to the women of El Carmen. The people were complaining of the lack of aid and it seemed unacceptable to see people still living in these conditions 5 months after the earthquake with little hope of an improvement in their situation. They showed a certain amount of resignation, disappointment and sometimes anger towards the authorities, but we were overwhelmed by their warmth and humour.

Visit to San Andres and Pisco
We visited San Andres, also badly damaged by the earthquake and as it is right on the coast was also damaged by a tidal wave which came right up into some of the houses, necessitating the people to evacuate to higher ground. Jorge Quispe introduced us to his family who live in San Andres and who told us of their escape to higher ground – not easy for the many elderly people having to move quickly on foot – and of the resulting damage to the interior of their house and the huge job they had to clear up the disgusting mess left when the sea receded. They stressed that compared to some people they had got off lightly, their house having survived the quake, and that they had seen and been upset by the extent of the destruction of buildings in Pisco and of the effect on the people living in the shanty towns on the edge of San Andrés, which they had visited. When we told them of our donation of foodstuffs to the families in El Carmen they suggested that we do the same thing with the donation that we had for San Andres, so we bought another 50 bags of rice, sugar, cooking oil and milk and took it up to the shanty town. The people there were living in tents in very basic conditions with no sanitation and were initially suspicious when we arrived but when they realised we genuinely wanted to help and wanted nothing in return the families happily received their groceries and spoke to us of their appalling living conditions and the complete lack of official help.
We also visited the local priest in San Andres and the local primary school. Both the priest and the head teacher told us of their concerns about the damage suffered by the church and the school buildings and of their hopes for help to rebuild from the authorities or international bodies.

Visit to Pachacutec shanty town, Callao
We have previously visited and given donations to schools in Pachacutec, a huge shanty town situated in the arid sandy coastal area located in the district of Ventanilla. Last June we visited the parish church and talked to the choir about their need for more musical instruments and promised that we would give a donation to enable them to buy some. We were able to buy a guitar, four pan pipes and four quena pipes which they demonstrated for us in a little concert of music and singing in the presence of the priest and teacher. We remembered the talent of a young boy who played the guitar for us last year and it was lovely to listen to his playing again, this time on the new guitar.
Together with the group Amistad we also visited an infants school near the church and met the teacher and several neighbours whose children attend the school. Previous to our visit we had been asked to help construct a fence around the school. We were shown a new building donated by Peruvians living abroad, and the old building which was in very poor condition and unsafe – it was explained that the door to this building has to be opened by a child crawling through a hole in the bottom of the door and then opening it from the inside. We saw the school yard which was an unprepossessing stony sandy area inappropriate for tiny children to play in, and the fencing surrounding the yard consisted of pieces of corrugated iron and boards leaning at various angles and looking most unsafe, and the metal had sharp edges which could have hurt a child if it had fallen on him. As on other occasions the Amistad group has continued our work in Peru in our absence, and have used the donation provided by Agnes and Derek Grimsdell to buy a new fence for the school which has been completed.
As we were writing this report we received the news and photos from the Amistad group in Callao that a new fence has been built using pre-assembled panels of wood making the play area much safer for the children. The school have offered to send a letter telling us more about it. You can visit our web page to see the photos sent by Grupo Amistad, our partners in Peru .

A new visit to Chiara, Andahuaylas
We were able to visit Chiara for the first time since 2003 (we visited previously in 2001, 2002 and 2003) and it was interesting to see the changes in this peasant community since our last visit. We met some members of the municipality and of the community council and also some youngsters who showed us their “Town Hall” in the main square. They have been provided with a small library and an internet café with 2 computers, something very surprising in such an isolated village in the Andes . For the first time this village has a radio service which is run in the village by a young man who is also in charge of the internet café. The radio reaches nearby villages transmitting local news and music. This is a positive change for the communities, linking them across the area. However the village and communities around still lack basic necessities such as a sewage system and running tap water and the nearest hospital is 4 hours away.
Our main interest was to meet the local women’s group which we did in the evening of our arrival when we received a warm welcome with food and accommodation. After listening to the progress of their activities they showed us the state of the building which our project helped them to construct, providing materials. This time they requested help from us to improved further the building which is located at the entrance to the village. We made a donation consisting of cement and plaster to cover the floor, ceiling and walls to make the interior look more healthy, inviting and user friendly. They cook using logs in the traditional way. They also showed us an old sewing machine which requires mending. They would like to make textiles but cannot afford to. We offered to donate an extra 500 soles after our return to London which we have sent to Peru just recently and we requested once again the help of the Amistad group in Callao who are finding a way to send the money to this very isolated area of Apurimac where wiring money to banks is still not possible. We will inform you of their success in a future bulletin.

Fund raising swim by Liz Kalinauckas at the Tooting Lido
On 9th February Liz Kalinauckas braved temperatures of 6 degrees in the Tooting Bec Lido swimming pool to do a sponsored swim in aid of the PeruApurimac Project. She did a 25 metre head up breast stroke swim wearing a woolly hat as recommended in 4 million litres of freezing cold water. It was a great day with swimmers from various parts of Europe but mainly from Finland where the competition is usually held and where water temperatures are even colder. Liz’s brave effort raised £120 for the project. You can see photos and video in our website.
Latest fund raising event 26th July 2008
On 26th July the Peru Apurimac Project held a fund raising event at the Inca Arch in Brixton. It was a successful occasion and we would like to thank all those who contributed, especially Baile Peru , Ayer y Hoy, Raices del Peru, Scissors dancer Jose Fernandez, Sofia Buchuck, Paloma Palomino, Vicky Cespedes and Alejandra Rodriguez. We would also like to thank Gustavo Pezzia DJ and Jessica Luong who presented the show and other volunteers Andrew, Paola, Talise, Sonia, Rosa, Gregorio and Eddie. Our special thanks to Carlos Diaz the Peruvian artist who donated a painting which was auctioned during the event. We raised £620 after costs.
A recent donation was made by Linda Matthews who sent a box containing nearly new baby clothes for distribution to babies of poor mothers in some hospitals in Lima . Grupo Amistad in Lima will be responsible for ensuring that the clothes are distributed. Our thanks to Linda for the gesture. We will keep you informed when we have photos of the donation.



About us
Peruap is a voluntary organisation that started in Dec 2001, with head quarters in London whose objective is to support small projects in shanty towns and Andean communities in the poor areas of Peru . Its support is principally directed towards the most impoverished sectors of Peruvian society, focusing in particular on children, senior citizens and women. It began its work in some villages of Andahuaylas, in Apurimac, a quechua region in southern Peru , hence the name of our organization, but has also lent help in other regions of Peru . Peruap aims to raise awareness of poverty in Peru in the UK . The funds it receives are through fund raising events carried out in London, as well as from generous donations from friends in the UK .
Please donate
Donations can be sent c/o the Treasurer Liz Kalinauckas made payable to Peru Apurimac Project to the address given below.
Volunteers
We would be grateful for anyone volunteering to help with organizing events or any other aspects of our activities. Contact us on the number given below.

Contact us
For more information about Peruap please contact us at: 53A Queenswood Road , London SE23 2QR .
Claudio Chipana
Liz Kalinauckas
Judith Grimsdell.
Telephone: 0208 699 8731
Email: http://uk.mc252.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=info@peruapurimacproject.org
Visit our website: http://www.peruapurimacproject.org/ Blog: http://peru-ap.blogspot.com/

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