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The faces
of the children in the community of Q'ero reflected
a tender happiness upon seeing their first school
and so it is that finally (and after several requests)
that their dream now has a place where they can
give it form, their sentiment is reflected in
the name they themselves chose for their school:“Munay
T'ika-- Beautiful Flower” showing the joy
that they feel at being able to go to a school
that is near to their homes and where they can
learn and express themselves in their native language
too…Quechua. |
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Children
from Our Munay T'ika School |
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Children
in the Inauguration of our Munay T'ika School
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The community
of Q'ero is unique and full of history and customs
that are purely Inka. Isolated form five centuries
of change and forgotten by the rest of the world
has not affected these noble dwellers of the heights
of the Andes, or “Children of the Apus”
as they call themselves; their particular territory
would appear like it is both part of the sky and
the earth, and no day passes without there being
a moment in which one confuses oneself with the
clouds because of the constant fog or "Phuyu"
which, in moment when one least expects it, disappears
and allows a view of glorious mountains painted
with snows that change their colors according
to how long it has been there; but this same terrain
often is a difficult barrier to cross, especially
for the children who were going to the only school
there in the community (Hatum Q’ero School);
it is difficult to imagine, even more difficult
to actually do a daily walk of three hours, going
down from 4,800mts/15,650ft, to a level of some
3,400mts/11,100ft and then in the afternoon to
try to return home, climbing back up to 4,800mts/15,650fts
again. For many of the children in the community
that was the only choice they had if they wanted
to go to school, and those who finally were able
to attend school only were able to do so by living
alone during the week in the hamlet where the
school was located, so that they would not have
to endure the long walk every day. |
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(Introduction
of year 200) With
smiles and songs our little school was inaugurated,
it is true that it was only a small room, that even
the windows reflect the bareness and lack of support
for this community, but inside, in the heart of the
school has much joy and happiness of 34 children who
with effort and dedication have put all their innocent
will into learning new things, which will serve them
by helping them to count the Llamas and Alpacas they
care for.
And they will finally be able to write their own names
or perhaps even write the history of the Q'ero people,
so rich and mysterious, with a philosophy which remains
in the spirit of each one of them, since it is also
an objective of the school to revive and re-value
the customs, dances, songs, clothing and ceremonies
of their ancestors the Inkas, these natural actions
which for them signify the difference between living
close to their gods, their Pachamama, Mother Earth,
or… living in sickness.
With great happiness I present the Project Munay T'ika,
the first little school for the preservation of customs
and traditions of the Q'ero, which will allow those
who live nearby a breath of the Gods, there in the
high Andean Mountains, allow them to have an option
to preserve their celebrated world through learning,
to have a place where they can express their own love
and their own history
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Richard Aguayo (ChacaRuna)
Director PumaPeru Foundation |
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