Alpaca Collections | Giving Back

Alpaca Collections & QUECHUA BENEFIT Partnership

 

5% of our sales from October to December will be donated to Quechua Benefit. Your support makes a difference! Use the code "QUECHUA5" to get an extra 5% off on your order

Quechua Benefit is an organization dedicated to helping the Quechua people in the highlands of Peru. Quechua Benefit and its volunteers deliver medical, dental, and optical care; distribute warm clothing; provide shelter, food, and sociological services with an emphasis on children.

HOW QUECHUA BENEFIT CAME TO BE In 1996, world-renowned alpaca breeder Don Julio Barreda wondered: “is there was anything American alpaca breeders could do to help the poor Quechua children from his hometown of Macusani. The answer was yes, and the Quechua Benefit was born.

CASA CHAPI Casa Chapi Children’s Village was inspired and founded with the underprivileged children of Peruvian alpaca farmers in mind. Casa Chapi provides a nurturing refuge to children whose lives are often at the mercy of chaotic, unstable family life, to children who live in extreme poverty, or to children whose family home is so remote that attending school is impossible. The school at Casa Chapi is committed to providing children with their best opportunity to succeed. The school’s goals are to deliver high-quality on-site education through he formative primary school years; to offer culturally appropriate training in personal and spiritual values; to present teamwork and leadership opportunities within their peer group and the community; to gain proficiency in practical life skills, and to facilitate the continuation of higher education and transition to an appropriate secondary school.

MEDICAL MISSIONS

The difficulty of the Quechua people’s lives is reflected in the infant mortality figures reported by Jorge A. Flores-Ochoa in his book Pastoralists of the Andes. “26 percent of the infants born are dead before age one; 37.5 percent are dead before age five; 42 percent of all babies born are dead before they reach age ten.”

These dismal facts have not changed over time. Yet the Andean alpaca communities have persisted. Teams of volunteer doctors, dentists, surgeons, optometrists and caring alpaca breeders have been returning to Peru ever since that first mission in 1996. A typical team sees about 300 patients a day working from morning to night. They pull teeth, examine babies, and care for pregnant mothers. They hand out worm medicine, antibiotics, prenatal vitamin, and pain medicine. They strive to see everyone but that is often impossible.

It is easy to recite Quechua Benefit’s medical mission accomplishments over the years — 100,000 patients and counting have received free medical and dental treatments, all provided by volunteers. Quechua Benefit has accomplished a lot, all through the generosity and effort of hundreds of volunteers. All of this explains what and how, but not why. Over time we began to realize that LOVE is the most likely reason WHY.

 

ESPERANZA YARN

Quechua Benefit has been walking the highlands of Peru since 1996. Our mission has always been to find ways to help the Quechua pastoralists who shepherd alpacas in one of the most remote corners of the world. From the beginning, our focus has been on women and children. Today, after many years of passing through the Andean highlands, we see a path of hope appearing.

When a woman spins, she transforms weak individual strands of fiber into strong, resilient yarn, which holds infinite possibilities to create beauty and warmth for her family. When a woman purchases a skein of "Esperanza Yarn", she inspires hope in the hearts of impoverished women in the highlands of Peru by empowering and uplifting them with opportunity. Just like the individual threads of yarn, the creators and consumers of this product become inextricably woven together in a network of support, love, and strength.

100% of the profits from the sale of Esperanza yarn fund social programs for Quechua women and children in the highlands of Peru.

AlPACA BREED IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS

The ability to scientifically establish breeding values or EPD’s for the selection of alpacas in Peru will greatly accelerate the improvement of highland breeding stock.

 

The potential for the positive financial impact on the families of Corani is particularly significant. Today, the average family in the region makes $457.00 per year from fiber (50%), meat (40%), and breeding stock sales (10%). Each family makes about 65% of their total income from alpacas. Quechua Benefit has partnered with veterinarians, the Municipality of Corani, and Bear Creek Mining Co. to create a science-based breed improvement project. Together, we expect that the overall income of each family will increase by 30%, primarily from the sale of improved fiber and higher quality breeding stock. The breed improvement program in Corani is currently in its third year of operation. Quechua Benefit has begun negotiations to initiate a similar program in the Nunoa region of Peru.

87% of donations to Quechua Benefit go directly to programs in Peru. We are a volunteer organization; the directors of Quechua Benefit receive no compensation.

Learn more at www.quechuabenefit.org