The Summary of the Project Site

The location of our Peru project is situated in Cochamarca which is north of Lima about 3400m above sea level. It takes approximately 6-7 hours to get there from Lima. Because of the rainy season during the months January to March, the surrounding area is thick with vegetation.

However even with the rain, there is hardly any edible vegetation growing in the planting fields. The reason for this soil erosion is a major problem in Cochamarca. The local villagers have been logging the surrounding areas without any regard for the environment. This situation has only worsened over the years.

The crop levels are very low in the villages around Cochamarca. The local villagers have been a busing the use of fertilizers because of their insufficient knowledge and technology.

The local villagers get their daily water from the river by boiling it before use. There are no proper toilet facilities to be found. The poor sanitary conditions and practices (eating with dirty hands etc.) have resulted in frequent outbreaks of diseases among the villagers.

Faced with these problems, the villagers realized that outside help was needed to help them change their existing situation. Thus, this project plan was initiated with ICA Peru's expertise, professional skills and knowledge as well as the villagers' consensus for change.

The duration of this project will be 3 years. During the first year, the project will be put into practice in Cochamarca. In the 2nd year, the project will be expanded to include Cochamarca's neighboring village, Colcapumpa, and in the 3rd year, San Juan village.

This project will emphasize the conservation of the environment and on improving the farming techniques of the villagers. They will also be taught how to maximize their surrounding resources to create more income (via produce) to improve their living standards. This project involve 150 households directly and 117 households indirectly. (Each household consists of around 5 persons).

The Scene of the Valley

The way to Cochamarca runs through the middle of the valley. We have to be careful of the running time of public transportation because there is not enough width of the road to pass each other. When we are unlucky enough to encounter a loose bus, we have to pass it at the corner. Of course there is not guardrail.

Student of San Juan. We visited them when they were practicing marching to show in foundation ceremony of their school. The picture to the right is the central park of San Juan. The collocation of important facility around the park is a legacy of the colonial period.

The population of protestants is increasing in San Juan. On the other hand, the catholic church is almost abandoned. In the church an old bible was left opened. It was written in Latin. I imagine the people who attended the mass could not understand the ritual of a father.

The left picture is the way to cook the dish called Pachamanca. "Pacha" and "manca" mean earth and pot respectively. They put a chunk of meat and vegetables and cover them with hot stones to steam the ingredients. Each village has different taste. They are really delicious, but you can imagine when we are treated it in every village in a day.

Each village has a satellite phone and it is literally the "lifeline." We also rely on it during rainy season when we cannot visit the site.

In the village only females wear this kind of colorful costumes. Adult male wear stylish hats. The picture to the right is the children in Cochamarca. People in this region seem to be very fond of marching.

The picture left is a typical house in Colcapampa. It fits into the dry scenery. They would not be able to live there without irrigation canal which they have used since the time of Inca The last picture is Peru staff eating cuy dishes. Cuy (guinea pigs) is consumed in Andean region. ICA had a project of guinea pig farming in different region.