You Did It! Casa Chapi Graduates Head to College!

Please join us to create a scholarship fund for the final stretch of their education journey to break the cycle of poverty!

Let’s support them together.

Casa Chapi opened in 2011 to help the children of poor alpaca breeders receive an education and break the multigenerational cycle of poverty. Because of you, Casa Chapi has grown every year. In 2017 and 2019 we added homes in Arequipa for Casa Chapi graduates to continue their education at secondary school.

Now, several Casa Chapi graduates are ready for the next step: college. Thanks to your generosity, Isaac, Ronald, and Wilfredo now attend SENATI Technical Institute. Without you none of this would be possible.

Now THIS is impact!

In 2012, Xeina’s mother brought her to Casa Chapi to give her the opportunity for a better future. Xeina is Casa Chapi’s first US exchange student and will graduate high school in 2022. Xeina’s vibrant personality was evident when she enrolled at Casa Chapi. A few years later, when we asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she replied, “When I grow up, I want to be a doctor. A doctor of kids.” She toured with the Matsiko World Orphan Choir in 2014, learning a little English. Then she moved to Oregon and became part of the VandenBosch family.

You can help all of their dreams come true! When you give to Quechua Benefit’s Scholarship Program for Casa Chapi graduates, 100% of your donation will help their families break the cycle of poverty forever!

Mike Safley first met Xeina in 2012. She comes from an extremely poor farming family in Yanque, near Casa Chapi. Xeina’s vibrant personality was evident as soon as Mike met her.

Xeina attended Casa Chapi through the 6th grade and then traveled for two years with the Matsiko World Orphan Choir from 2014-16. After touring with the choir, Xeina became our first exchange student from Casa Chapi and moved to Oregon. She became part of Amanda and Vince VandenBosch’s family and began attending an elite private school. Quechua Benefit supporters and Cascades Academy families have provided scholarships for her to attend Cascades Academy, where she has earned straight A’s. Now she is a junior and will almost certainly receive a full-ride scholarship to a prestigious American university. She wants to be a physician.

You will appreciate Xeina’s Master Project Final that she recently completed, highlighting Quechua Benefit’s impact on her life. Your generous support of Quechua Benefit is being rewarded with changed lives like Xeina’s. Thank you for making a difference!

Xeina began living at Casa Chapi in 2012. Her irrepressible personality was immediately obvious. It soon became clear that she was smart and blessed with a curious mind.

Mike Safley was drawn to her when he heard her sing and saw how the other students looked up to her. When Mike asked her what she liked best about Casa Chapi, Xeina replied, “At Casa Chapi they love you even when you do something wrong.”

On a trip to Peru, Amanda VandenBosch made the comment to Mike that she would like to find a sister for her two boys. Xeina tells her own story from there:

“From the moment I got to the U.S., my whole life has changed. The changes started with not being worried about shelter, food, clothing, school supplies, and other things. Now I see the world from a whole new perspective.

“My school is the best! The teachers are so nice, and I learn a lot. I like the school’s extra activities. I’ve learned to ski and snowboard, and I have been a part of the cross-country team for two years. In my sophomore year my favorite classes were math and chemistry.

“In 2020 things changed for the worse. I experienced online schooling during COVID-19, but I love the in-person social interaction with my classmates and teachers. Now I am in the 11th grade.”

I cannot thank you all enough for everything you have done for me. My life has changed, and that is all due to all of you who have supported me.

When her brother graduated from high school in 2020, Xeina practiced for her own graduation that will happen in a few years!

Xeina has been blessed to be part of the VandenBosch family and attend Cascades Academy, where she has earned straight A’s. Thanks you to Quechua Benefit and the families of Cascades Academy who have provided scholarships for her. Xeina will graduate in 2022 and plans to become a physician.

Secondary students Isaac and Maria Fernanda in Caylloma are happy to get food and schoolbooks provided by your generosity.

The Covid-19 crisis has turned the world upside down. Peru has been especially hard hit. Schools will remain closed through the school year (December of 2020), travel and other activities are restricted, and new cases of the virus are still climbing.

After 25 years on the ground in Peru, Quechua Benefit is used to overcoming challenges. We are good at it. We intend to continue our mission to break the cycle of poverty in the highlands by meeting the needs of the Quechua people. They are the least among us, the poorest of the poor.

Because of the generosity of our loyal supporters like you, we are meeting the immediate needs of the families of our 150 Casa Chapi kids. Each of these families, like Saul and Luis’s family pictured here, have 4 to 12 members, to make a total of nearly 700 people.

  • We are delivering 30 days’ worth of food every 30 days to each family and will continue this mission until the country reopens.
  • The Casa Chapi teachers for grades 1-6 will begin delivering virtual lessons in July on iPads supplied by the Ministry of Education.
  • The high school students who attend private schools on scholarships will be receiving their lessons directly from the school they attend while living on the Casa Chapi campuses in Yanahuara.
  • Quechua Benefit is supplying each family that lives in very remote areas with a cell phone to stay in contact with their teachers.
  • We will continue to stay in touch with each family and be available to deliver medicines, warm clothes, books, and other essential supplies that are not currently within these families’ reach.

Click here to provide help for our families.

Students in Peru are nearing the end of their South American summer break and looking forward to starting a new school year in March. Children from first through twelfth grade come from various places and diverse backgrounds to create a learning community. What they all have in common is that your generosity is changing their futures by giving them a quality education at Casa Chapi. Their education will enable them to break the cycle of poverty and achieve their dreams.

Casa Chapi in Arequipa is expanding to a second house, making room for a new class. Fifteen seventh-grade girls are excited to go to school in Arequipa for the first time. The house still needs some work, and 100% of your generous gift will go toward creating a new home for the girls. Will you help us make their home comfortable and get their school year off to a great start? Your gifts can also be used to help your students in Chivay.

Click here to provide something on the list below for our students’ 2019 school year.

WISH LIST for our newly leased Casa Chapi House in Arequipa

ITEM QTY UNIT PRICE TOTAL
Oven 1 $300 $300
Desks 2 $90 $180
Chairs 20 $10 $200
Desktop Computer 9 $475 $4,275
Printer 1 $395 $395
Kitchen Equipment 1 $900 $900
Sewing Machine 2 $400 $800
Handcraft Supplies 1 $500 $500
TOTAL $7,550
Wish List for Casa Chapi Chivay
Classroom Projectors 4 $500 $2,000
Handcraft Supplies 1 $500 $500
School Supplies 1 $1,500 $1,500
Lithium Battery (replacing old lead one) 1 $4,000 $4,000
  TOTAL $9,000

Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Angie Kidd, pastor of Trinity Church United Methodist in Kendallville, Indiana, first encountered Quechua Benefit in 2007, but she did not visit the Colca Canyon until 2010 and 2011. Casa Chapi was under construction during her last visit seven years ago. It has been her dream to return to see it full of children. She tells the exciting story of her Mission in the Andes.

“When my church decided to explore a mission trip, I asked Mike Safley what we could do for Quechua Benefit. He said many Casa Chapi children have never seen the grandeur of the condors flying. Could we take the fifth graders on a field trip to Condor Cross? Would we also take sixth graders to see Arequipa before they go there to live and attend school? There are not enough hands to make these trips possible. They needed a group to dedicate their entire trip to the children and the teachers. We agreed without hesitation. To us, it sounded like a dream mission.  

After spending time in Arequipa, we pulled up to the gates of Casa Chapi. When the children began to wave out the windows of their classrooms, my heart was so full it could have burst. We loved knitting, reading, playing on the playground and soccer fields and being human jungle gyms for the kids who could not get enough hugs! If you visit, ask them about their Frisbees! That was a new and fun game for them.

The beauty of Condor Cross is breathtaking, it was even more breathtaking still to see the faces of the children as they saw their first condor rise just overhead. Later, we loved the kids’ beautiful presentation of their native stories. We all ate cake and celebrated being together, not wanting to let go of the moment. Four or five kids held tightly to every adult, and no one wanted to break away. I was the last one to get to the van, and one of the girls was still holding tightly to my hand. I finally had to pull my hand away. I am fairly certain a little part of my heart stayed in her hand.

Next, we gathered the sixth graders for their first trip to the city. No photo could capture their eyes as they took in the city on the walk to the mall. The malls are just like walking into a mall in the USA . . . except when you are holding the hand of a child who has never been out of the Canyon. The mall took on wonderland status. I heard three little girls exclaim, “Lindo!” (Beautiful!) Then they saw it! It was like nothing else they had ever seen before! People were stepping on it and rising into the air! They were uncertain about trying it at first, but then one by one they took their first steps on to the ESCALATOR!

At the bookstore each student and teacher chose a book of their very own. Back at the school, we all signed all their books, and then they read. Oh, if you could hear the sweet sound of fifteen children all reading aloud at the same time. It was like a little hive of sweet honeybees.

It doesn’t end there. Our team is holding an event to share our trip and the mission of Quechua Benefit. The Quechua Benefit mission and wish list of Casa Chapi will be the focus of our Christmas Transformation during Advent. We are dreaming of how to help other churches take trips  to build relationships with the children and teachers. We want every fifth-grade class to see the condors fly and every sixth-grade class to ride over the mountain into the magical world of Arequipa. Our team is developing suggestions for other groups. I do offer one word of caution. You must commit to living with a little part of your heart thousands of miles away.

Many thanks to Mike Safley, Dale Cantwell, Alejandro Tejeda, Carmen Aguilar Diaz and Leny Cary Choque for helping us arrange the Peru aspects of the trip. We are feeling so blessed.”