Newsletters from Peru

Every year on the 24th of June Cusco celebrates the festival of Inti Raymi. It is an Incan celebration known as the Festival of the Sun and honoured the Sun God. Inti Raymi was the most important festival of the Inca Empire Tawantinsuyo which based its religion on the cult of the Sun. On the 24th of June they celebrated the beginning of the Sun's New Year. Scientifically the solstice begins on the 21st of June, but according to the Pacha Unachaq, a sundial used by the Incas, the sun stays some days in the same place before rising on the 24th. This day was proclaimed by the high priest as the New Year: Inti Raymi!

Hi everyone,
First of all let me introduce myself...my name is Cliona Stenton, and as of 10^th April, I am working with Projects Abroad Peru as the new Social Manager.Originally I came to Peru for four months in 2001 as a Projects Abroad teaching volunteer. For the first few days as a volunteer I remember feeling that everything was very strange and really quite overwhelming. However, I soon came to love Peru, and realized that my experience of living and volunteering in such a beautiful part of the world is truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Next up we have a species that I have never seen up close before, always through a pair of binoculars which is never my favourite thing to do! Our Chestnut-eared Aracari has, like almost all our animals, come from someone in Puerto Maldonado as an unwanted pet. This means, like almost all the birds we receive, that the flight feathers have been cut, so we have to look after the animal until the feathers re-grow, which can take anywhere from 3 months (for small birds) to 1 year (for birds like Macaws). Fortunately we have the care for birds down to an art, so we usually have no problems at all keeping them healthy until release day and then we very rarely have a problem once they are released.

We are coming to the end of our two months in Urubamba and have agreed that it has been the most challenging but rewarding time of our lives. Arriving here knowing no Spanish was very difficult but before long we were in full swing of our school routine.

Along with all the dramas of February, we also managed to receive our first out-side expert, Hugo, a bat expert we met in Arequipa last year when we were at the Ecological Conference. Hugo was captivated by our working style and was very enthusiastic about coming to work with us to do research in to the species of bat we have inside the reserve.

One of the many rewarding experiences that Projects Abroad offers is the six week teacher training course. Kicking off in early January, teachers from Cusco and the surrounding area have the chance to attend English classes for four days a week, led by our team of enthusiastic volunteers in a school in Cusco. This project is not only aimed at improving the level of their own English, but it also gives the teachers a valuable certificate proving their attendance and dedication, (as long as they attend 80 %!)

Since 2005 Taricaya has been working hard in creating an accurate and up to date species list, which now includes 359 birds, 54 mammals, 42 amphibians, 54 reptiles and 105 species of butterfly. Various methods have been used to collect this data from mist-netting to manual capture. Where possible this list has the species name in English, however there are several species that only have scientific names.

Armed with the Christmas decorations made in the previous month and Christmas presents for the children, volunteers and staff celebrated with the children and parents. Afterwards we enjoyed a delicious lunch in popular hangout of Projects Abroad volunteers, the Muse. We will keep you informed about our next social… Volunteers with the final products from our Christmas decoration session at the end of November.

Christmas is celebrated in many different ways around the globe, so if you are spending Christmas in Peru, you will come across a number of new traditions and customs that you would not come across in your own country. The rural context of the arrival of the infant Christ allowed early Peruvians to identify immediately with the festivity of Christmas, which is highlighted by artisan creativity, a sense of aesthetics and the religious devotion of Andean settlers. However, Andean Christmas has taken on characteristics of its own by adding elements from each region.

The 5th of November is a day that Taricaya can never forget. We celebrated 6 years of working with Projects Abroad. Over the course of the last 6 years we have received aprox 600 volunteers.
Created around 40km of trails (Which need to be maintained every few months) Built 20 buildings, including 7 platforms – Including the highest Canopy walkway in South America.
Identified 56 species of mammal, 359 species of bird, 42 species of amphibian, 54 species of reptile and 105 species of butterfly.

In Teaching this month the “Minisaga writing competition” has started, look out for the winners in Decembers edition. In October Noah Prince-Goldberg and Michael Freeman have started providing afternoon English classes in IEMx Humberto Luna in Calca. The classes are available to all local people of any ages and they now have a regular following of 20 to 30 people. Well done guys! Also, after the great success of the singing last month, look out for a second recording session in the office.

This month we arranged Salsa lessons for all Projects Abroad volunteers on Tuesday 25th September in the Projects Abroad office. Profesor Cesar arrived at 4pm and began to teach the volunteers some salsa basics for them to practice on the dance floor in Cusco at the weekend. Some volunteers showed themselves to be salsa experts while others decided not to display their cases of two left feet! After the lesson we enjoyed drinks, snacks and pizza.

On August 15th at 18.41pm the coast of Peru was hit by an earthquake. The epicentre of the earthquake was in the town of Pisco. It was reported that the earthquake was 7.9 degrees on the Richter scale. Pisco, Ica and Chincha were in the zone most affected. The quake left hundreds dead and injured, while thousands have been left homeless in the Ica region, which is south of the capital Lima.