Read about Quechua Benefit’s educational programs for 2023, the latest Peru tour, new team members, the screening of Vicuña Salvation at EFFY, SLO and in 12 countries in South America, and other upcoming events.
GAW-Newsletter-7.3-8.5×11
Read about Xeina and her experience at McDaniel college, our donor spotlight for Amanda VandenBosch, the latest Peru tour, Quechua Benefit’s partnership with ONEHOPE, the screening of Vicuña Salvation in Graz, Austria, and other upcoming events.
GAW-Newsletter-7.2-8.5×11Congratulations to the Casa Chapi class of 2022! Read about our Vicuña Salvation premiere in Picotani and Arequipa. Celebrate our ribbon cutting of the first phase of our Picotani Water Project, read our donor spotlight, how the Holiday Bazaar went, and results of End of Year Giving!
GAW-Newsletter-7.1-8.5×11Your support makes Casa Chapi possible. Find out how to become part of the family and pledge your support for Casa Chapi here.
Quechua Benefit celebrates GivingTuesday by helping our students and their families. Join us and millions around the world by participating in the global generosity movement on November 29, 2022.
GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement, unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and their world.
GivingTuesday will kick off the generosity season this year by inspiring people to give back on November 29, 2022, and throughout the year.
Those who are interested in joining Quechua Benefit’s GivingTuesday initiative can DONATE HERE. Learn more about the GivingTuesday movement here.
Our goal is to raise $50,000 this year. Help us get there!
Corporate Matching
Did you know your company may have a corporate matching program? Quechua Benefit may be on it, if not, recommend us! Contact your company’s HR department to learn more about company matching programs. We would like to take a moment to thank our current corporate matching partners: Intel, Nike, Guidewire, United Health Group, State Farm, BD, R.W. Baird, TQL, and Velosio.
About Quechua Benefit
Quechua Benefit’s mission is to empower the Quechua people in the highlands of Peru through educational programs, medical care, efficient farming practices, and social justice programs. Our three pillars are education, economic empowerment, and preventative medicine.
Share Your Story
Head over to social media (or email us) and share why you support Quechua Benefit. With your permission, we’d like to share these stories as a way to connect supporters and strengthen our community. Be sure to tag us on socials, @QuechuaBenefit and use the hashtags, #GivingTuesday and #WhyIGive!
Ways to Help
- Donate
- Volunteer (in Peru or locally)
- Attend an Event
- Shop with Amazon Smile
- Spread the Word
Did you know your company may have a corporate matching program? Quechua Benefit may be on it, if not, recommend us! Contact your company’s HR department to learn more about company matching programs. We would like to take a moment to thank our current corporate matching partners: Intel, Guidewire, Nike, State Farm, UnitedHealth Group, BD, R.W. Baird, TQL, and Velosio.
Simon is a Norwegian student with an interest in Quechua culture. He documents his experiences and findings here.
I am a Norwegian student from Oslo, currently writing my bachelor thesis in Development Studies at the University of Oslo. My thesis concerns: Exploring and identifying essential factors to Peruvians of Quechua origin and their identity with or resistance to the Quechua culture.
Peruvians of Quechua origin either reject or uphold their Quechua identity. The main findings in this study demonstrate that cultural identity issues continue to persist, and are often inter-woven in complex structures affected by social, cultural and economic factors.
One of the most interesting findings is that gender should not be seen as an isolated factor but in conjunction with social mobility and rural-urban environments where males are less willing to uphold their cultural Quechua identity and females limitations in social mobility.
A female from Maca emphasized how connected she and the Maca community are with the preservation of their cultural identity by addressing the importance of wearing traditional clothes and arranging competitions rewarding young Peruvians who perform in their native Quechua language. In contrast, her male cousin visiting from Arequipa expressed his dislike for the sound of the Quechua language and his lack of association with its culture.
Among the main observations is that tourism may potentially function as a pull factor, helping communities to resist cultural degradation by providing possible economic gains through the preservation of traditions and language.
Religious differences also arose during interviews (Catholicism versus Andean spiritualism). These variances are worth further investigation regarding the manner in which they influence Peruvians of Quechua origin to reject or uphold their Quechua identity.
In short, my findings involved social mobility, gender, rural vs. urban residence, economic empowerment, tourism, hybridization of Quechua, and intellectual bilingual educational policy (IBE).
My Journey in Peru
I reached out to Quechua Benefit for the possibility of volunteering as an English teacher at Casa Chapi.
Dale, Quechua Benefit’s Executive Director, connected me with long time Quechua Benefit supporters Robert Els, Maria Belen Juares Del Carpio, Kathe Torres and Abel Santander. They were a huge help to me while conducting interviews in Arequipa, Canon del Colca, Cusco and The Sacred Valley.
The warm and welcoming people of Quechua origin gave me insight into their way of looking at the world, which left me humbled, and inspired. I believe the world would likely be a better place if their worldview was shared with more people.