Quechua Benefit: An Expanding Mission
in the Andes
By Mike Safley
Quechua Benefit began in 1996 with a modest trip from Portland,
Oregon to Macusani, Peru. There were five team members; Dr. Mario
Pedroza, his wife Barrie, Russ Gratton, Mike Safley and Barb Lopez,
a dental assistant in Mario’s office. Don Julio Barreda organized
the trip and arranged for the team to see patients from six local
grade schools. The clinic was operated from the front room of Franklin
Tejada’s home in downtown Macusani. That first year the team saw
300 patients, delivered clothes for 500 children and school supplies
for six schools.
Quechua Benefit has returned to Peru every year since 1996 delivering
clothes, school supplies and dental assistance. The alpaca breeders
of the United States have made this possible with their kind and
generous donations. Fund raising has progressed from a few loyal
donors to the point today where more than 216 breeders have contributed,
many donating thousands of dollars.
WHY PERU?
The motivating principal of the Quechua Benefit charity is to provide
a vehicle for American Alpaca Breeders to express their thanks to
the Quechua Indians who have domesticated and cared for the alpaca
from more than 50 centuries. Simply put we have them to thank for
our industry and our opportunity to include alpacas in our lives.
Alpacas support many, many, U. S. owners in a comfortable life style.
Alpacas provide a profitable business opportunity for thousands of
families across the United States.
THE NEED
The Quechua, on the other hand, are dirt poor. Consider what the mayor
of Macusani had to say about Quechua Benefit and the people they serve
after the 2003 trip.
“We are the poorest of poor provinces, Carabya, in a forgotten corner
of Peru. We are at the end of the road and even our own government
does not remember we are here. But you have found us year after year
and we, and all the Peruvians in the highlands, thank you for your
kindness.”
The math behind the charity is simple. For every $1.00 contributed
approximately $10.00 worth of assistance is delivered. In 2002
we spent $25,622 on the annual trip and delivered goods and
services worth $238,000, (when billed at standard U. S. dental
rates). Quechua Benefit’s team treated 1046 people. Each of these
patients received: a dental procedure, a blanket, rubber soled sneakers
or rubber boots, a toothbrush and a toy; the cost $24.50, per
person. Each team member volunteers their time, flies economy and
sleeps two or three to a room.
THE NEW AND EXPANDED MISSION
The annual mission has grown from a small team with one dentist to
a larger group with 3 dentists. The charity owns all of the dental
equipment and miscellaneous support supplies necessary to extend the
number of days that it operates in Peru. The equipment is currently
stored in Peru at the Michell company office. We intend to expand
our mission, providing dental care to 6 new towns and to institute
a new initiative: The delivery of meals to families and children who
are currently undernourished.
Quechua Benefit has expanded their fund raising capacity.
Just this year the Rotary Club of Carrol Creek, Maryland led by
Scott Grove of New Market, Maryland raised $5,000.00 and received
a matching grant for $5,000 from the National Chapter of the
Rotary Club. They have donated this money to support a mobile dental
office that will move from town to town in the Altiplano delivering
assistance to those who have none. As alpaca breeders learn of the
charity’s activities their generosity continues to grow.
Quechua Benefit has made the decision to enlarge their operations
from 3 towns to 9 and from 12 days a year to 135. This will be made
possible by continuing donations from alpaca breeders which will
fund the time and effort of Dr. Willie; at the cost of $22,000.000
per year. Dr. Willie is a Peruvian dentist of Quechua descent. He
and his Peruvian team will treat more than 6,000 patients a year.
The new program will also provide fluoride treatments which will
be administered in the grade schools of all the towns on our expanded
schedule. The success of this program will be tracked with the implementation
of the DMFS (decaying, missing and filled surfaces) and DMFT (decayed,
missing and filled teeth) exams. The scores will document information
on the dental health of the children in the program. The fluoride
treatments, which will be supervised by Dr. Willie and administered
by the school teachers, will have a permanent effect on the dental
well being of thousands of Quechua children.
The schools that have the best overall results for dental health
amongst the students will win computers for their classrooms. Computers
are the number one request by the teachers from the schools that
the charity visits each year.
“DR. WILLIE”
In November of 2001, Mario Pedroza took a walk around the Colca town,
Yanque, to rest for a few minutes between the 100 or so patients he
would see that day. In the far corner of the square he saw a sign
for a dental office. The dentist, Dr. Wilfredo Uscamayta, was not
in the office but Mario left his card.
Upon Dr. Pedroza’s return to the United States there was an email
in his inbox. Dr. Willie, as he prefers to be called, had emailed
to inquire about Mario’s presence in the Colca Valley. They exchanged
emails and Mario learned that Willie had been active with the Red
Cross in Peru and that he wanted to volunteer his services to Quechua
Benefit. He also found out that Dr. Willie had operated a mobile
dental office, out of his Volkswagen bus, to assist the Quechua
Indians of the Colca Valley who have no access to dental services.
Wilfredo Uscamayta Condori or “Dr. Willie” was born on the 13th
of May 1957, in the town of Chivay which lies in the Colca Valley
of Peru. He is a dentist and a Quechua Indian. His family has always
lived in the Colca and today he, his wife and three sons live close
by in Pedregal which lies between the valley and Arequipa.
Dr. Willie made the Quechua Benefit trip in November 2002 and returned
for the 2003 trip. He is a tremendously productive dentist, fluent
in Quechua and Spanish. His presence immediately increased the productivity
of our 10 member team. On a daily basis, they saw more patients
as a result of his effort.
When our 2003 trip came to a close, Dr. Willie had some words of
inspiration for Quechua Benefit. He said, “The Quechua Benefit volunteers
from the United States are like angels that fell from the sky to
the Quechua speaking population of the Altiplano, where the worst
poverty is reflected in my Peru.” Willie is a God send to our mission.
FOOD PROGRAMS
The second Quechua Benefit initiative involves expanding two existing
soup kitchens or food programs which serve adults and children that
live in the communities that the Quechua Benefit serves. Hunger is
a reality in the Altiplano. Children grow up with a void in their
stomachs that is never quite full.
Sister Antonia Kayser is a 79 year old nun from Brooklyn, New York.
She and her assistant, Joan Toukig, are Marykoll Sisters of the
Catholic Church. Sister Antonia has been feeding 800 people a day
since 1983 from the courtyard of the church in Yanque, a small town
in the Colca Valley. Antonia and Joan do this five days a week,
year in year out. On Saturday they feed 400 more. If you were to
do the math you would find that, over the years, the Marykoll sisters
in Yanque have provided hungry men, women and children with 4,680,000
individual meals. Sister Antonia is famous in the Colca Valley.
Mike Safley and Cathryn Whitman had the opportunity to sit down
with Sister Antonia in November 2002. They had a simple question,
“How do you feed all of those people?” She had the gardener show
them the green houses where the vegetables were grown and she invited
Mike and Cathryn back at 5:00 am to witness the preparation and
distribution of the meals. It is a very simple operation. A dozen
huge black pots are filled with vegetables from the garden, a little
meat and water. After simmering for several hours the soup is ladled
out to the women and children in the line that have waited patiently
for the gate at the entry of the courtyard to open. They each bring
a piece of dry dung or a branch from a tree to fuel the cook fire;
it is their individual contribution to the effort. They have a notebook
which authorizes them to get a ration for each person in their family.
They sign in and their pail is filled. Everyone fades into the dawn.
Mike asked Sister Antonia how she had supported this program for
so many years. She replied, “God provides.” He asked how Quechua
Benefit might help and she said, “We could use a little more meat
for the soup and some seeds for our garden.” Quechua Benefit, with
your help, is going to assist Sister Antonia and Sister Joan in
2004, with a monthly stipend.
There is an orphanage in Macusani, Mosoq Runa, run by the Sisters
of the Cross. Quechua Benefit operates their dental clinic out of
the orphanage. They also have a food program for the children who
live outside the facility. They currently feed 50 children a day.
Their goal is to increase the number to 100 outside children a day.
These kids are the poorest of the poor; all very small and fragile.
With your help Quechua Benefit can make that commitment to the kid’s
health and well being.
As time goes by the Board of Directors intends to support food
distribution programs that are already operating and located in
the towns that the mobile dental clinic visits. Your donations can
make this possible.
LOCAL SUPPORT
The charity is supported on the ground, in Peru, by Michell CIA
the International Alpaca Association (IAA), and Grupo Inca. They
provide logistical assistance, transportation and lodging for the
team while they are in Peru, all at no charge. The mission could
not succeed without their generous support. We give special thanks
to Alonso Burgos, Ignacio Garaycochea, Sandra Carbajol and Juan
Pepper who schedule our lodging, arrange transport and store the
dental equipment.
FUND RAISING
The Internal Revenue Service has certified the Quechua Benefit
as a 509(a) (1) non-profit status charitable organization. The federal
ID number is 31-1682324. Every dollar that is donated to the charity
is tax deductible. The board of directors are not paid any consulting
or administrative fees, 100% of all donations go straight to the
delivery of goods and services to the Quechua people.
Last year Quechua Benefit raised $58,398.00. It now has representatives:
Wayne Jarvis in New York, Lindy Huber in Kentucky, Marta Moore and
Bonnie Ferrell in Colorado and Jack Armstrong in Washington State,
who are soliciting local affiliates to allow donations of stud services
and other items to their silent auction’s on behalf of Quechua Benefit.
In 2003, the Alpaca Western Extravaganza (AWE) breeders donated
goods and services that were purchased, by the event attendees,
at the not so silent auction, for a total of $44,868.00.
For our new initiatives to succeed Quechua Benefit needs your help
and donations. The Quechua Board of Directors has created a new
advisory board. Members of this board will be representatives of
their respective Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association, (AOBA)
affiliates. They will coordinate fund raising efforts at the affiliate
level.
If you would like to volunteer please call either Mario Pedroza
at 503-640-4717 or contact him by email at alpacaroza@aol.com,
or contact Mike Safley at 503-628-3110 or by email at mike@alpacas.com. If
you would like to volunteer your time to join the team on a visit
to Peru please contact your affiliate representative. We also need
an experienced grant writer to assist us in the process of applying
for institutional grants. We hope you are moved to write out a tax
deductible check made payable to Quechua Benefit and send it on
to the Quechua Benefit team. God bless you.
Reproduced with permission from:
Alpaca
Breeding Farm: Northwest Alpacas: raising suri and
huacaya alpacas for sale, alpaca investment, and alpaca business
plans for alpaca breeders and owners worldwide. Find more useful
information at the Alpaca
Library.
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