Fairs, Kallpa K'oj, Student Highlight
This Tuesday, we're highlighting:
- Festivals and Fairs
- Kallpa K'oj Corner
- Sponsor - Student Highlight, Raul Mamani
1. Festivals and Fairs
We're everywhere this weekend! With fairs in Vancouver AND Victoria, you'll have lots of opportunities to find us.
Sunday August 19th Victoria: Fibrations
Be sure to catch us at Fibrations This community-based celebration of all things fibre – whether it be knitting, weaving, felting, crocheting, spinning – will feature artists sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm for their craft through demonstrations, hands-on-activities and a market selling locally made fibre creations. The event goes from 10 am- 4pm.
Location: St Ann’s Academy, 835 Humboldt Street, Victoria, BC (map)
Sunday, August 19th Vancouver: Latin Summer Fest
This fun, family event put on by Latinos in Action, seeks to promote Latin culture in a one-day outdoor event in Vancouver each August, through its colourful spirit, arts, culture, and food. The morning starts with an international market and food pavilions surrounding an outdoor stage where artists dance Flamenco and play Cuban Rueda, complete with kids activity area. Last but not least, it’s entirely FREE! From 11 am- 7 pm.
Location: Trout Lake Park, Vancouver Directions
2. Kallpa K’oj Corner:
Kallpa K’oj- The term Kallpa K’oj means "to give back energy" in the indigenous language, Quechua.
Quechua weaving communities in the Peruvian Andes are often caught up in a cycle of poverty affected by geographic isolation, economic factors, and cultural discrimination. Often, youth from these communities who leave to seek out education in urban centres feel the need to leave their indigenous culture behind in order to transcend these difficult issues.
The Kallpa K’oj program works to address this dynamic by providing paths for students to connect their education with positive change and action in rural Andean Communities. Students are able to share their newfound skills with communities while gaining greater insight into their cultural heritage and developing a greater sense of belonging and empowerment.
Throughout the spring our students have been busy putting together a number of new Kallpa K’oj programs based on their unique skills and abilities. The Mosqoy team is aiming to present 3 Kallpa K’oj workshops per month. This isn’t an easy task, as many of our weaving communities are very remote, and are only accessible by foot. However, the surrounding scenery is amazing, and the rewards of reaching out to the communities are proving to be great.
Nutrition Workshops:
Mosqoy alumni Mosqoy Alumni Yolanda, Mariela & Yuzmila taught nutrition workshops in Cancha Cancha centered around the Andean staple food; the potato. In the high altitudes of the Peruvian Andes, the potato is one of the only crops that grow in abundance! Luckily, there are many varieties of potato in Cancha Cancha, and with some know-how about food combining, the nutritional value of the potato is greatly increased. The classes were a huge success, and we’re looking forward to carrying this nutrition program on in the future.
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| Nutrition Workshop |
Health Workshops:
Mosqoy nursing students: Dina and Noehmi, also travelled to Cancha Cancha, and used their skills to present workshops on family planning and nutrition to women in the community. Sex education isn’t something that is often discussed in Andean culture, but Dina and Noehmi did a wonderful job of presenting the material in an open and approachable way. The fact that the workshops were taught in the women’s indigenous language, Quechua, is invaluable.
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| Family Planning |
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| Another Family Planning |
3. SPONSOR - Student Highlight, Raul Mamani Melo
Our wonderful Mosqoy 5 students have been selected and are excited to start their studies in Cuzco. Every week we'll be featuring new students who still need help from sponsors to fund their education.
"I was born on April 21st, 1995, in the community of Huilloc.
I live with my parents and 2 brothers and a sister. I studied in my primary school 50617, in my community of Huilloc from 2001 to 2006. Then I started my secondary studies in Ollantaytambo District School in 2007, which I finished in the year 2011 in a satisfactory manner, because there was no secondary in my community. Now that I have finished my secondary studies I want to continue but my parents do not have enough money so that I would be able to study. I would like to study "tourism" to help my community by:
Bringing more tourists to my community so they know how we live, work crafts, agriculture and how we raise our animals. Thus my community brothers will know how to earn their money and sell to the tourists so that they will have money. In this way, they can provide education and good nutrition to their small children and be good citizens by keeping our culture and our language of Quechua.
By learning English, I can teach English to the rest of my brothers of my community and so that they can sell, in English, the products and crafts that were made in our community."
Would you or someone you know be interested in sponsoring Raul?
Click here for more information on student sponsorship.
Or email communications@mosqoy.org for more info.
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