Philanthropy Social Project
Peru Summit Adventures Philanthropy Social Project in Willoq Alto
Philanthropy Social Project by Peru Summit Adventures Foundation is a not-for-profit fund established in 2017 by Peru Summit Adventures founders Saida Espinoza and Carlos Borda. Set up to empower travelers to have a positive impact on the communities they visit, our foundation now supports an underprivileged community in the remote located in a remote place of the Sacred Valley whose name is Willoq Alto.
The Willoq Alto Women’s Weaving Co-op
The Community’s Critical Needs
In spite of the close location to Cusco, Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu, and the thousands of tourists that flock these sites every year, very few communities from the surrounding remote countrysides benefit from tourism. Especially the communities which are in the Sacred Valley close to the main urban places get the benefits from tourism because most of the travel companies are able to reach only this part of Cusco. While other remote communities don’t get any benefits. We’ve seen, we’ve noticed and we’ve decided to reach a proper remote community located in the highlands of the Sacred Valley. This indigenous community still maintains a traditional way of life and is dedicated mainly to agricultural activities, raising llama and alpacas, and weaving activities as their clothes are made by themselves. In order to create and provide work opportunities for members of this community, men from Willoq Alto are employed by Peru Summit Adventures to work as porters, muleteers, and cooks on the Inca Trail and other alternative trails. Through the development of the women’s weaving co-op, we are also providing a viable economic alternative for the women in order to leave the extreme poverty, which is still pretty high in the country.
Involving on the Community’s Needs
Since the last year 2017, Peru Summit Adventures has been working with the women from Willoq Alto community to develop a women’s weaving cooperative. Peru Summit Adventures groups are able to visit this community making a volunteer visit before their trips start or after making their trips. Here they meet the women and learn about all the stages of the weaving process like hand-spinning the wool, dying the wool using natural dyes and participating in a weaving demonstration, also the Peru Summit travellers learn about the local’s farming labor, they are able to go to the small farmlands, vegetable orchards, pick them up and prepare local delicious meals to share among with local women and children. Peru Summit Adventures has been being involved in the local community to recover the local traditions which have been forgotten in the time, consciencing children at this small community to keep the past alive, where they also perform a nice typical dance for travelers. Travellers are also given the opportunity to purchase high-quality textiles and souvenirs directly from the women who made them. Today, 20 women are part of the association, constantly learning new methods and techniques of production to make items that our travelers find useful for themselves and their trips, at the same time also keeping the traditional weaving methods, techniques to produce textiles made from llama and alpaca wool.
Impact on the Community’s Needs
This small group of women from the community of Willoq Alto approached Peru Summit Adventures to know whether there was some way they could benefit from tourism of Machu Picchu, Inca Trail, Salkantay Trek, Choquequirao Trek, Ausangate Trek, Amazon Rainforest Expeditions. Starting with five women, we visited their community to see and find a solution how they can work to receive our travelers, where they learned basic things of the tourism industry and social enterprise, we have also funded training programs to help bring back the weaving knowledge that had been lost over the previous generations. The women who have been with the project since the beginning have been reporting us, that now, their children are able to study at universities or institutes in Cusco, have access to a good health attention. The women have been able to contribute greatly to their families’ revenues. Here, the important factor with the income is the Education. Operating with the philosophy that education is the key and paramount in improving the standard of living in poor and indigenous communities, Peru Summit Adventures believes that education empowers young people with a valuable asset for the future. In turn, this helps developing the country reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development.
How can you involve in it too?
As a local 100% Peruvian company based in Cusco with not-for-profit entity, the main aim of the Peru Summit Adventures Foundation is to raise donations for education oriented, conservation oriented projects in underprivileged communities in Peru Summit Adventures destinations.
We match all donations dollar for dollar, even when you donate $1.
We cover all the administration costs, so your donations go directly to the project you are supporting.
With a visit to this community, you would be making a great difference, where you are able to buy some beautiful textiles from local women, what you have to do is cover your transportation costs only.
You can visit this community before your trip begins or after your trip ends.
Even the smallest contribution makes a huge difference, this is your chance to give back to the places you’ve visited and help improve the lives of others.
Responsible Travel
“Let’s make this world a better place for everyone and for everyone that lives in it! ”
The natural environments that we travel to are fragile and abundant with beautiful culture and traditions that are often reliant on tourism. We have a responsibility as travelers to minimise the impact of our presence, protect what is delicate, and leave a positive influence everywhere we can. Creating genuine and sustainable itineraries often translates to real costs, with a host of responsible travel practices that underpin our prices. As a locally owned and based Peruvian tour company, we integrate these practices into our in-country operations we are aiming for a style of travel that makes the world a better place for everyone, and for everyone that lives in it. Since our very first days as a tour operator, responsible business has been at the heart of what we do. Peru Summit Adventures is committed not just to treading lightly, but to making a real difference by helping and investing in local communities, education initiatives, environmental conservation projects. We are all about operating our trips in a responsible manner, incorporating principles of sustainable tourism, and development into the way we provide our travelers with real life experiences. These values are not more than just words, they are ingrained in the culture and philosophy of our crew, daily operations of Peru Summit Adventures trips and at our office too.
