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Quechua Library
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Featuring articles for and about the Quechua Benefit
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Saints are rare. Few people are privileged to meet one face to face here on earth. Sainthood is determined after death through a process of beatification, where miracles attributed to the candidate are enumerated and scrutinized. Sister Antonia, who worked in humble obscurity unseen by most of the world, will probably never be considered by the earthly powers that attend to these matters. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she moved to Chivay in 1971 and worked among and on behalf of the poor. There came a time when the officials in town objected to Sister Antonia’s sharp push for social justice. Not to be discouraged, she picked up and moved one town down the Colca Valley to Yanque. She began tilling the gardens of the Conception Parish, living in the sacristy of the church on the town square. She felt a calling to feed the poor. She opened a soup kitchen in 1971. Her program has been in continuous operation ever since—feeding more than 8,736,000 meals and counting. Quechua Benefit believes this is a miracle and that Sister Antonia is a Saint.
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I received a phone call from the director of Quechua Benefit, Mr. Mike Safley, at 3:00 AM this morning to tell me that he had just been advised by Peru that there is some problem with the license the charity has been granted for the importation of donated medicines;…
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The plane circles once and floats through the thin air onto the tarmac. Out come fifteen gringos from as far away as Jordan and as close as Atlanta, Georgia. The youngest member of the mission is thirteen years old, but of everyone on that tarmac, she has spent the most time in Peru.
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Insight Peru
That debt is to the traditional owners of the alpaca, the indigenous tribes of South America, who for 6,000 years have been the exclusive custodians of this enchanting and beguiling animal, arguably the world’s oldest domesticated species. It is barely 20 years since that privilege was extended to the world at large, when the first shipment of alpacas left the shores of South America, bound for the New World. It is perhaps ironic that their initial destination was North America, from whence their ancestors had migrated just three million years previously.
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Quechua Benefit’s first medical mission, involving primarily physicians, began when Dr. Dwight Bailey and his wife, and registered nurse, Deborah approached Mario Pedroza at the 2009 Futurity Show and Sale. The Bailey’s are veterans of multiple missions to Africa, India, and South America. The proposed a similar mission to Peru.
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Rhonda Deschner is a pediatrician with a soft-spoken manner and a quick smile. Rhonda practiced medicine in Texas for twenty years before heading off to Peru on Quechua Benefit’s November Medical Mission.
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The team of Optometrists renamed the Ramsay AAA team, aka “RAAAT’s”, they will arrive in Peru in May 2010. Quechua Benefit will host the Aussies as part of their QB Ambassadors program. We will provide ground transportation, lodging and food. Dr Wilfredo Uscamayta, a Quechua Benefit board member in Peru, will obtain all of the government approvals necessary for the team to bring equipment, and medicine and the authority to operate. Dr Willy has arranged for the health clinic in Chivay to host the surgeons.
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Marilyn Nishitani sizes up the little girl from Musoq Runa who settles shyly onto the exam table. At twelve years of age, an orphan for most of those years, the little girl has never spoken to a gringo woman, let alone been poked and prodded—albeit with gentle concern.
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At seventeen years, Sean could never have imagined himself as a doctor committed to practicing in an under-served community and making medical missions to foreign countries.
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The lady sat ram rod straight in the chair, her royal blue skirt with hand embroidery depicting crimson hummingbirds, emerald green fish and golden rabbits; the white straw hat sitting perfectly squared a top long black braids. Her wind creased face was nut brown and her eyes were closed. She was old.
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After two years searching for land, one year designing the orphanage, and then waiting for permits that were supposed to be issued in March, Casa Chapi is under construction. Marcus Whitman , an alpaca breeder from Oregon, is managing the project on the ground.
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Suddenly the men in charge of the caravan heard a voice emanating from the statue crying, “Chaypi! Chaypi!,” others heard, “Chajachay! Chajachay!” and still others heard, “Chaj! Llallapi!” According to Quechua speakers these words are from the Aymara language and means “right here.”
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A long time ago (1709 to be exact) in a town not far from the Peruvian colonial city of Arequipa a committee of the men decided to move a statue of the Virgin Mary from a small town in the hills to a church in the city proper. The committee supervised the loading the image of Mary onto a cart pulled by donkeys. But after moving the statue only a few feet it became so heavy that the donkeys, strain as the might, were brought to a standstill.
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For twelve years Quechua Benefit has observed and identified the need: hunger, lack of shelter and available education, affordable medical and dental services, clothing—a never-ending flood of need. The charity has been looking for a successful model, a way to create hope, a permanent solution. The search led us to Jean Bouquet and his wife, Swiss educator Silvia Fischer, who operate a children's home called Allin Kawasi.
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Over the years, Julie and I have done business with Michell Co., S.A. purchasing everything from alpaca tops to top coats. We visited the Michell sorting sheds and spinning plant on our first trip to Peru in 1991.
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It was 4:30 A.M. as I sat in the back seat of the car staring out into the darkness, on my way to the airport, sister at side, preparing for one of those life-changing moments. "What do you think will be the greatest thing I take away from this trip" I asked my father. He smiled and raised his eyes to the rear-view mirror, giving me one of those looks and said, "I think you'll realize how fortunate you are." I was expecting an earth shattering response that would turn my world upside down.
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Quechua Benefit will begin construction of Casa Chapi in March of 2009. Bricks will be laid, timbers raised and soon a home will appear. The complex, when complete, will be 38,150 square feet.
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Many Peruvians share a belief that illness is due to factors beyond individual control. This is a major reason that prevention and health promotion are not highly valued. Helping to bridge the knowledge gap by explaining the connection between lifestyle choices and physical ailments and disease can be very empowering to patients.
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Peru knocks the wind out of me, the high altitude steals air from my lungs, bitter nights chill my bones, and I grow silent. I prepared myself for a country that was once the naval of the new world, with beautiful landscapes, fabulous food, and ancient textiles. Real images begin to wash away my rose tinted view and replace it with snapshots of orphaned children and poverty stricken villages
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The highlands of Peru are home to the vast majority of all the alpacas in the world. The Quechua Indians, who domesticated the vicuna more than five thousand years ago, are the source of the alpaca which now reside in the outside world
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