Literacy in Lake Titicaca Peru: January 2011

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Nina Fogelman

Nina Fogelman, through her agency Ancient Summit Enterprises, has been instrumental in our literacy project. Nina is an American deeply committed to sharing the beauty of the Peruvian Andes and helping its people through her business. The Cacsi Community Elementary School has been one of the main beneficiaries of her involvement with our project. Nina and several of her friends provided funds to build bathrooms and a library (including books and much needed furniture) for the school. It is amazing to think that an elementary school may have no bathrooms but unfortunately that can be the case in very rural areas of the Andes, such as Cacsi.

Nina and friends have also contributed with books and furniture to elementary schools in the Urinsaya and Amantani Communities. Two additional libraries in other Amantani Communities are being planned with their support. We would like to give special thanks to Jim and Ed Malcolm, Dovie Horvitz, Kristin Hotti, Rick DeTurck, and their children Philip and Alex and to the Global Impact Volunteer Expeditions (GIVE) Foundation led by Frank and Agnes Shooster.

Thank you!

Nina has also started an education project in a community near Cusco city, Peru.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Eliana Pauca and socially-responsible tourism

Eliana Pauca is the founder of All Ways Travel, Titicaca, Peru, a travel agency in Puno, Peru dedicated to socially-responsible tourism. From her initial experiences as tour guide back in the early 1990s, Eliana saw the need to include Lake Titicaca native communities directly in the revenue earned by local tourism agencies to develop a sustainable local tourism industry. She realized that without participation of local communities in the revenue, tourism is not sustainable in the long run as native communities seek for alternative ways to make a living.

Eliana has dedicated a great deal of her time and resources to the Literacy in Lake Titicaca Project. It is through her innovative business ideas that Victor's dream of improved literacy and leadership in Lake Titicaca can be realized.

Victor Artemio Pauca

Our Story

Peru is a country very rich in culture. Our music, dance, textiles, and archeology are well-known around the world. Peruvians love to express their cultural heritage everywhere, at school functions, holidays, etc. However, in terms of literacy Peru is much further behind due to lack of government funding and the low quality of existing programs. Fine arts, philosophy, and other liberal arts in the high Andes receive very little attention. Currently, many children lack a true joy of reading and learning. This insufficiency in education is encouraging a generation of poorly trained professionals, technicians, and educated parents.

In the Literacy in Lake Titicaca project, our dream is to help change the lives of disadvantaged children in Lake Titicaca and its surroundings by promoting reading, theatre, and other activities. We do so by building libraries in public schools, bringing books to local communities, and working together with local people. We rely on donations made by visitors, companies and other individuals as well as on volunteers who come to work with the children in our libraries.

We hope that through this effort children in Lake Titicaca and its surroundings can become stronger students and benefit from more opportunities than previous generations.