Happy Holidays,

A USAID operative in Lima, Peru, told Comunidad not long ago that we’ve made more of an impact at a grassroots level relatively speaking, than the US government could accomplish in the Comunidad communities, mired in all its red tape and bureaucracy.  This is because of all of you.

As a valued Comunidad friend and donor, we wanted to provide you with an end of year update.  As you may recall, we’ve been winding down support of our projects in Peru. With economic and political progress improving, the government has continued stepping in and taking over. They’re in a position to assume responsibility in the last of the three villages where we’ve been involved. The school year ends this month; our bank balance has been drawn down to an intentional, less than $800 balance, which is right where we planned to be at this juncture.

Board members Humberto Valdivia and Melanie Ebertz made a surprise end of the school year visit to the Paccha communities in November. They checked in on the 142 daily school lunches being provided and the three scholarship students finishing their studies in the next month. Jonathan and Yovanna, the other two scholarship students, are planning to continue, and Comunidad will assist them with their room and board needs next year.

As many of you are aware, a separate effort was funded by Comunidad late summer to build a much-needed bathroom for Patawasi’s high school students. That has been completed, but additional effort is needed by the community to make it functional. Progress is slow, but we are hopeful they will move forward.

The last stop we made on the trip was to Corozón de Ñaupas, a town we were closely involved with in starting their high school. It has been two years since we’ve been there and we were happy we stopped! We were at a fork in the Andean road when we spontaneously made the turn to Corozón.

Daniel, our past high school student is now the mayor, and is he getting things done! For example, 30 bicycles allocated for students who have a long distance walk to school – how perfect!  We’ve always hoped the graduate students would choose to stay or return to their small communities, and be part of the change they want to see happen. We’re pretty sure Daniel wouldn’t be the Mayor of Corozón without the support of Comunidad.

Here’s to all of you for helping them realize their progress; it has made a profound difference in their lives. Together we should all feel very proud; much has been accomplished. There are now enough educated young people to carry it forward and we’ll be cheering them on! 

Abrazos Fuertes!

Daniel (below with microphone), our past high school student, now the Mayor of Corazon de Ñaupas and successfully leading the community!