"Visiting a local school was certainly an eye opener. The enthusiastic teachers and children were delightful, and very appreciative."

Christine Cieslowski—Columbia, Maryland

Pachar School
Pucruto School
Villa Marcelo Primary School
Las Palmas Primary School
Raqchi School
Yanamono Clinic

Partner since: 2000
Total donated: $198,095

Sacred Valley:

The small village of Pachar, Peru, is located in the Sacred Valley, in the ancient Inca center surrounding Cuzco. Here in the Peruvian highlands, local residents make adobe bricks and use oxen to plow their farmlands. The Pachar School here serves about 150 students ranging in age from six to 13 years old. These children have generally been taught together, as the school has lacked the funding to provide classrooms for different grade levels. A Grand Circle Foundation gift allowed an additional classroom to be built at the school to help focus the children's learning experience. Foundation funds have also helped provide classroom renovation, desks, and school supplies to schools in two nearby villages, the Pucruto School and the Villa Marcelo Primary School.

Chinchero

Just a short drive from the center of Chinchero, the community of Raqchi subsists on farming and the creation of traditional pottery—but an investment in the future of the 94 children who attend elementary school here can open up a world of new opportunities. A Foundation grant at the Raqchi School, our newest partner in Peru, will fund English and math courses during school vacation months. We also hope to renovate the school's dining area and purchase tables, chairs, and silverware.

Amazon Rainforest:

In the Amazon Rainforest, facilities are often basic and lacking supplies. Situated on the banks of the Marañon River, the Las Palmas Primary School is attended by children from several nearby communities. To date, the Foundation has built a new classroom and repaired the roof.

Also in Peru, we have for many years supported the Yanomono Clinic, an Amazonian healthcare facility. In 1990, Linnea J. Smith, M.D., exchanged a modern medical office in Wisconsin for a thatched-roof room with no electricity, plumbing, nursing help, funding, lab, or pharmacy, in the remote Amazon basin of northeastern Peru. Today, the Yanomono Medical Clinic is a six-room facility that treats up to 2,500 patients annually—most of whom arrive on foot or by dugout canoe. We are especially happy to help the clinic sponsor its much-needed Well Child Clinic, which allows the clinic to examine children free of charge and also helps increase participation in its vaccination program.

School in session:

In the Sacred Valley (Pachar, Villa Marcelo, Pucruto schools), March through July 25 and August 5 through January; in the Amazon (Las Palmas Primary School), mid-April through July 25 and August 5 through January.

Gifts to bring if you're visiting:

• Pens or pencils
• Small musical instruments
• Toys
• Spanish-language math, science, or geography books
• Maps
• T-shirts
• Jackets
• World maps
• Shoes
• Deflated soccer balls
• Athletic equipment
• Toothbrushes
• Illustrated English dictionaries
• Caps