Peros Cusco Emergency Appeal - Up to date news from Cusco http://peros.co.uk/mysmallhelp/

in partnership  with the founder of Mysmallhelp, Leander Hollings.

Mysmallhelp is now working in Cusco, Peru together with the Associacion Casa Hogar del Sol, Aldea Yanapay www.aldeayanapay.org and Desana Inc http://www.desanagiving.org/ to provide emergency aid to the thousands of people that have been affected by the recent floods and landslides.

Peros are keen to support Leander and the team working on the ground. This region of Peru have supplied coffee to Cafedirect for more than ten years. We were lucky enough to visit the region in the summer of 2008 with Cafedirect and saw then how lives had been rebuilt in Santa Teresa, following a devastating mud slide ten years before.

We will keep you updated from our friends in Peru who will provide updates on Peros Twitter and Facebook of progress. http://www.facebook.com/pages/PEROS-FAIRTRADE/80322014775?v=wall

It is difficult to measure exactly how many people have been directly and indirectly affected by the recent disaster. It has been quoted in Cusco local news that up to 10,000 people in the Cusco region have lost their homes. Whether or not these estimations are correct is irrelevant. What is clear, is that the recent disaster has resulted in the need for aid for uncountable people and your small help can really make a difference!

The floods have damaged thousands of acres of crop land, washed out about a dozen bridges and damaged several highways.

Below is a direct account of events from Leander January 31st 2010

On Saturday afternoon, I travelled to Paucarbamba with several volunteers and saw the remains of many houses by the river. The majority of the Paucarbamba community just outside Urubamba have been displaced as they have lost homes and all of their possessions.

We crossed the Paucarbamba bridge and walked down the rail line, which is the direct rail link between Cusco and Machu Picchu. It was impacted with mud. We carried food which we had purchased in Cusco and were met by about a hundred people in dirty sodden clothes sharing a small stable like building and a few tents. Some aid had arrived in the form of donated clothes and tents from other organizations but this clearly wasn’t enough.

We started to help them to prepare dinner on their outdoor stove. Although the community had just lost their homes they were in good spirits offering cooking tips to us and making jokes!

Our small help delivering food to this community was very much appreciated and needs to continue. They have asked us to go back with food each day and to deliver blankets and tents urgently.

 

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