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City/State: Cusco |
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Country: PERU
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| Global Volunteer Network |
PO Box 30-968
Lower Hutt
NEW ZEALAND
6001
Phone: (644) 920-1451
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Program description: |
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The Global Volunteer Network has created an opportunity for participants to hike to the ancient city of Machu Picchu while supporting an honorable yet needy orphanage which cares for orphaned and disadvantaged girls living outside of Cuzco.
Hogar de Mercedes de Jesus Molina Orphanage cares for 16 girls, providing them with shelter, food, education, healthcare and clothing. The orphanage was funded through a Catholic Church charities organization known as the Hogar de Cristo until a few years ago. Due to a lack of funding, the nuns who run the facility have had a difficult time maintaining the orphanage. The girls of the orphanage are either orphans or disadvantaged youth whose relatives do not have enough funds to support them. Many of the girls struggle with the emotional distress of having been abused prior to their entrance into the orphanage. In addition to sheltering the girls, the orphanage provides 80-90 children from a nearby village with lunch every day. In order to feed, cloth, teach, and house the children who need them, the orphanage desperately needs a sustainable source of income.
Global Volunteer Network has partnered with a small non-profit organization named Peruvian Hearts in its support of this needy Peruvian orphanage. Peruvian Hearts was founded by Ana Dodson when she was only 11 years old. Ana was adopted as a baby from Cuzco, Peru and has grown up in the state of Colorado in the United States. When she visited Peru in 2003 with her mother, she visited the Hogar de Mercedes de Jesus Molina. She was moved by the girls’ existence, as they were suffering from malnutrition and had never received visitors in their remote location in the hills outside of Cuzco. When Ana returned home she was determined to do something to help the orphanage. She started Peruvian Hearts as a "kids helping kids" organization.
Over the past two and a half years, Peruvian Hearts has concentrated on immediate nutrition and education needs for the orphanage. It also initiated a Vitamin Project which supplies multi-vitamins to 100 children daily. Many of the children are no longer malnourished and are doing better in school. This small non-profit has managed through the work of young people and donors throughout the United States to enable incredible progress at the orphanage, but the growing number of children there are still in remarkable need.
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General program information: |
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Program open to: Everyone
Age range: 18+
Travel to site: Independent Travel
Is opportunity more independant or group orientated: Group
No. in group: 24-30
Living arrangements on the program: Varies
How long does the program last?: 1-2 weeks
What are the dates of this program: The 2009 trek will take place between August 16-24 2009.
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Benefits and advantages of the program: |
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Machu Picchu is located in Peru, South America. During the journey there, participants will have the opportunity to see numerous famous historical sites including Sacsayhuaman, the Temple of the Sun, the Patallacta ruins, an ancient farming settlement, and Wiñaywayna. After a few days of sightseeing, our trekking partner will drive participants to the beginning of The Inca Trail. For the next three days participants will trek through the lush landscape of the Peruvian mountains. On the last day of the hike they will reach the Sun Gate and the entrance to Machu Picchu.
After a half day of exploring the citadel, participants will travel to the village of Aquas Calientes where they can bathe in thermal pools. That evening they will return to Cuzco by train to prepare for the second leg of their journey. The next morning they will be transported to a local residence where they will stay for the next two nights, providing them an opportunity to spend time with the girls of the orphanage who their funds have assisted. There is a possibility that the group will have an opportunity to take a hand in refurbishing the orphanage during these days, as well. The final day they will say goodbye to their new friends and return to Cuzco to catch connecting flights home.
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Cost or price of this program: |
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The cost of this trip is $3,600.00 USD.
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