Nhung Nguyen

INTRODUCTION

“Aldea Yanapay” is the combination of a Spanish word Aldea means community and a Quechua word Yanapay means “to help”. This is also the idea which is brought up to Yuri Valencia since 12 years ago in his garage.

Aldea Yanapay, Cusco, Peru is a self-sustaining community which aims to transmit to children, young people, and families and to society in general alternative ways of conscious education and growth. These ways are based on tolerance, love, spirituality and respect for the planet.

Aldea Yanapay social project works with volunteers from all around the world. They deliver their selfless love and affection to children and teenagers in Cusco, Sacred Valley, the cultural center, with different subjects such as marketing, economics, and psychology.

Aldea Yanapay maintains fixed costs thanks to a “solitary economy” a nice concept which allows us to have a Restaurant, and hostels in Cusco and The Sacred Valley. They also provide jobs for local families of the project and Cusco.

Aldea Yanapay project is a “School of dreamers” which aims to teach our pedagogy and philosophy of life. It’s a magical place where anybody can learn our pedagogy and create sustainable social projects. In other words, it means “realize your dreams”.

I myself experienced Aldea Yanapay during the week 15-22 December 2015. The organization itself has significantly attracted me, especially working with the children there. I always had to remind myself of taking the project into consideration as a case study rather than going with the feeling of surprise and empathy. One of the first impressions about Yanapay is the way of organization. For me, this is the reason helps to maintain the project during its 12- year operation.

THE JOURNEY OF YANAPAY

1. History

“The most beautiful thing about teaching is the being able to give opportunities”.

Yuri Valencia is a Peruvian, was born in the “better economic and social conditions” than almost all of his friends. His family is in the middle class of his hometown. When he was 17 years old, he had a chance to relocate to Switzerland, in order to get a better education. However, it did not happen.  But he had kept thinking about finding the real meanings of his life.

His greatest dream is to build an eco-village or an orphanage in one of the most economic difficult area in his country. But since that required a lot of money he decided to start with smaller things 12 years ago.

With the idea that “it was better to change things from inside the system”, Yuri decided to learn about the way the world works and is run, studying business administration, marketing. He had decided to start out in the area where I live, Cusco. Moreover, he also studied everything that has to do with tourism, which has been developed in his hometown

After 6 years of studying and working to earn money, he started all the legal processes with the support of Kati Elvira, after the time of preparation, he was a legal entity: The “Non-profit civil organization Aldea Yanapay” was born.

In 2004, he worked with the first group of children in his garage, taught them art as well as did a tutorial for them. By the next year, Yanapay attracted more than 160 children, who came every afternoon to receive an education. As a result, they had to move to a bigger place. Around the middle of 2005, thanks to Jared from Australia and Rodrigo’s supports, he started a volunteer program, with the very first web page of Yanapay.

At the end of 2005, the money that he had saved was running out, so Yuri started to make artwork and cards to sell in Nomade bar and Witches´Garden in Cusco, in order to make money to maintain the school. In the end of 2015, they created the Yanapay House, now namely Villa Magical, where, if volunteers want, they can stay, paying for their room and board. Since that time, Yanapay School is being maintained with the money from the interest of the guest house.

At the beginning of 2006, the Yanapay Village Restaurant and Café was created. The profit of the restaurant will be used for the next project. Besides, Yuri Valencia has come up with the ideas that each year he will create a project until he can make my dream of an orphanage come true.

Since the middle of 2015, Yanapay has established and operated the Ecovillage Yanapay Lamay in Scared Valley, Cusco, Peru. This is a place full of love and nature. A place where Pachamama (mother earth), Taita Inti (father sun), Yacumama (mother water) and all the gods Gather to smile and love. Lamay is a village 50 minutes away from Cusco. The Aldea school is a new project near the Apus (mountains) and next to a marvelous river. The volunteer stay in the hostel in Lamay:

There are a set of activities, equipment ad facilities, regardless of the Holistic center Yanapay: workshops and formations since October 2015; Orphanage Yanapay is motivating to establish; Volunteering Yanapay: schools, cooking and nutrition, agriculture and conscious transformation, construction and drawing; Hostel Yanapay including the guest house, bungalows and camping; and the School of dreamers: the programs teaching the community pedagogy since the beginning November 2015.

Until December 2015, there are about 50-150 children come and join to activities in Yanapay School 1 in Cusco and over 20 children in Yanapay 2 in Sacred Valley every day.

1. Mission, Vision, and Structure

According to Valencia, hurting a child physically, morally, mentally, and spiritually is something normal in a part of society where he lives, in part of a growing subculture. Moreover, it seems to him that, these days, for many people, the concept of progress and evolution is measured by the amount of money that a family or country has.

Mission: To provide opportunities for alternative ways of life with love, ethics, discipline and responsibility, which are based on the material, cultural and spiritual resources we can find in every being and in every community.

Vision: To succeed in expanding Aldea Yanapay to further geographical areas and preserve its ideology and its desire to be a source of new possibilities.

Current structure

There are five main projects that Yanapay is utilizing, including the Villa magical hostel, Aldea Yanapay Cultural Centre, the Aldea Yanapay Restaurant, the Yanapay School I and II. Aldea Yanapay has been structured as followed.

(Source: Yanapay Description English version 2015)

III.     Operations of the Yanapay School

As in the marvelous Peter Pan story, our school is a place to remind us of the magic it represents to be a child. Thanks to an education based on deep love through the freedom to create, suggest and to care for one’s self. In our places, we encourage our pupils to develop their artistic talent/gift, their self-protection, and self-education instinct.

The school motivates them to feel as part of a universal family which includes the plants, the animals and all the gifts that Wachamama offers to us with love and solidarity.

The School work from March to December for the morning (8:30am-12pm) or the afternoon (2:50pm-7pm). The vacation cycles last from January to February only by the morning from 8:50 am to 1 pm. Art and expression/inter-culture/conscious computer science, Games, Music, Quechua, Love circles, and Mystical ceremonies are some of our classes.

Volunteers

The volunteering is an act of love and not a touristic activity. Yanapay disagrees with the “volunteering-tourism”, the act which consists of mercantilism or commercializing the poverty, the necessity and the suffering of the people and of the places.

To be a volunteer, you just have to write us to begin the wonderful process of this spiritual experience which consists of motivating this inner instinct we all have to serve the world and the planet.

According to the availability, the volunteer can choose between the two projects: Aldea Yanapay Project Cusco city or Eco Aldea Sacred Valley. The language is not an obstacle. The program is planned to receive 20% of our team speaking only a basic Spanish.

Activities of the school

Art and Expression: Part of the objectives is to create an environment of tranquility where the student can work on developing their creativity and the professor can create a structured lesson during the process. It is important to remember that the majority of the schools that our children attend do not have art class and, according to many members of the society in which they live, art is superfluous and has no value.

Schedule: this class is from 8:30am-10:30 am in the morning with a break from 9:30 – 10 am and in the afternoon from 3 to 5 pm, with a break at 4 pm, which will last until 4:30 when the children return to the art class.

Games and Recreation: Playing is how human beings learn and recognize what their bodies and minds can do. To play is to connect with and relate to all that is around with human sense and abilities. The playground is an environment with different games which are divided into three groups

Tutoring and reading: The reading room is an important educational place for the children. The children we work with study in public schools, and, unfortunately, the majority of the schools are extremely deficient. The poor quality of the schools comes from a lack of vocation from the teachers, lack of budgets, and lack of school authorities. For this reason, it is so important to help the children with the basic skills of reading and writing, not only in achievement but also in enjoyment. Therefore, in the Yanapay village, the “magic boxes” were created, to help us with the development of this area.

Library and homework: Library holds many different materials all aimed at helping the children accomplish their homework tasks in an efficient way. With the help of volunteers, the children will go to this room once they have cleaned their hands and faces.

Computer science: Objective of this area is that students learn the different advantages that the computer and the internet can give, this in a positive way. The way of teaching is experimental; the teacher should give the students different tasks based on what they already know. It is important that children get to know Word and PowerPoint as basic programs to work on their homework or to develop presentations. Every day, the students should use the internet or the searching machines to do some research on the topic of the day or the week. Every computer also offers more than 100 educational games, which the children can use the last 10 or 15 minutes of the class.

Area of Human Development and Psychology: In this area Yanapay work on the psychological and social assistant part of the project. Each member in the project has a psychological profile which is updated according to the psychologist’s decision. The department of psychology is responsible for the development of different workshops for the participants. Social assistance: This department is divided into two areas: Health and nutrition and Economy and family

1. Future Projects

There are some future projects that Yuri Valencia and his volunteers are pursuing:

Yanapay Village

The Yanapay Village is a place, a dream, where all forms of life could live in harmony. The only one philosophy will be love and from this love will come the understanding that is possible to live inspired by communion, respect, and tolerance between a human being and other species. The Yanapay Village will produce its own food, clothes and goods in general as much as possible. In this way, Yanapay will learn that is possible to live without consumerism. Thus, the making of this project and its operation in the real world will be an inspiration for the communities and town of our area, which we will give technical support.

The Orphanage

This will be the shelter for children without a home, giving them what their body, mind and soul need. Teaching them that is possible to live peacefully and with stability and most importantly that when you attain this on your own it is possible to then teach others.

The school

In the school will welcome not only our children but every child who lives in surrounding areas, for free. It will teach all the classes that the government mandates. But, it will also teach other topics of life, for example, art in all its forms, natural medicine, and everything that helps to create a link between humans and nature.

The Hostel

A place for all those who want to experience living, and living together, in a different way: the way of the Yanapay Village. Prices are reasonable, and different options are available. This is one of the economic principles the project is based upon. The visitors interact with the children, assist in the classes and workshops and take part in many other activities offered at the Aldea Village: agriculture or tailoring.

The Yanapay hospital

Within our means, the hospital will be a place that offers medical care for those who live in Aldea Yanapay and those surrounding them; the hospital will work with local, national and international volunteers.

The Magic Garden

Within the Yanapay Village, there will be a place that gives free rein to imagination and creativity. Trees talk among themselves and house fantastic creatures in their branches; magic wells, open spaces, and waterfalls will provide places for meditation. Here will also be the stables for those creatures that generously provide us with food and clothes, and our vegetable gardens, which will be thriving under the very magic of the place and the hands of our children. Of course, there will also be space for other activities.

ASSESSMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Advantages

Self-sustain economy: This is the first condition to maintain the operations of the project: a sustain finance resources. The head of the organization has soon known to create the daily profit to use for the non-profit activities. Therefore, the project has not only sustained but also expanded.

Well-organized operations: I was impressive by the professional ways of working of the project. I was offered a variety of information concerning the project aims, activities, and rules. Before coming to Yanapay, I received a handout which offered concrete and coherence information about volunteering in the school. Moreover, I was reminded to read the document before coming and working there. Furthermore, it is quite easy to follow the guidance because the necessities have been available in the documents. I observed that there are similar ways in the hostel and restaurant: well-organized, clear instruction and well-support for volunteers.

Student attracts: The number of the students is maintained year by year,Virginia- a volunteer has engaged with Yanapay Cusco four years said. The children who live near the schools and the children of the vendors in San Pedro market, located near the school, are the main students of the schools. There are over 50 students coming to the school in a day at the time of official school year. In the summer holiday, this number increases to approximately 150 students/day. Many of students in Scared Valley, who have been exposed to domestic violence or child abuse, come to Yanapay Lamay.

Social benefit: In my personal observation, the social benefit of Yanapay is not teaching the children something good. The main benefit is keeping them away from the street where social issues such as violence, child labor, and the drug can affect. The children can play and study in a warm, clean and safe environment, which can limit them exposing with the drawbacks of the tourism area.

Disadvantages

Short-term volunteers: Almost of volunteers are short-term. They can work from a week to six months. However, most of them are tourists, who want to do something good during the time they have a vacation. Some of them come to research Aldea Yanapay as the case study for their academic works. I have seen more than 10 volunteers saying goodbye to the school and students to finish their term of volunteering. It is great for the children to meet people from around the world. However, they soon have to learn to adapt with such changes. They have to learn to say goodbye with the volunteer who they have just got familiar with. Is this situation somehow affects to their way of reflection to short term relationship or commitment?

No skill volunteers: Most of the volunteers, as I observed, have no idea on what to do with the children in different ages. They tried to keep students concentrate on the game in the playing section or in the painting in the painting section. Moreover, volunteers tried to keep students activating inside of the assigned room rather than teach them something fruitful. Volunteers seem to not even to know some simple training games, which can help to teach students confident, group working, or some other simple skills. It is very difficult to train volunteers as well. Most of them will leave the project in a week or a month. Yanapay seems not to have the capacity to train all volunteers.

Non- concrete education curriculum: The previous disadvantage leads to the situation of non-concreted education curriculum. All of the activities have relied on the creativities of the volunteer. It goes back to the situation that volunteers trying to keep student inside a functional room rather than offering them some knowledge.

Recommendation

Self-assessment: After 12 years of operation, the leader of the project does not have any statistic on how many people benefited from the project. There, hence, no further assessment on how positive/negative the project affect the local community. Therefore, Yanapay need to do self- assessment, to evaluate which have been done and which have not.

Creating concrete- educational contents in the school: The leader should work with the educational experts and refer to the books of working with children. This would help to create concrete educational activities for children in Yanapay. It would be better than totally relying on the creativities of volunteers.

Training for volunteers: Creating concreted- educational contents in the school should be parallel with training some basic skills for volunteers. The volunteers take on the role of working with children. They work somehow as an educator so that training is necessary for them to understand what should be done and what should not in the group of children. Moreover, training will help them to be more confident in working with children in different groups of ages.

CONCLUSION

A week is quite short to have a comprehensive observation on all angles of Yanapay works. It seems to me that, there are many other questions need to be answered. However, I would like to give some primary conclusion as below:

+ Yanapay can be considered as a model of sustainable community development as well as sustainable volunteering tourism.

+ Yanapay shows it own success in working with children and bringing benefit to the grassroots community

+ Yanapay is worth to be further researched on the organization, ideologies, and the way of financial sustainability for a non-profit project.

I hope that I or other colleagues will have chance to continue my research on these issues.

REFERENCES

Valencia, Y. (2015). Aldea Yanapay methodologies (English version).

Valencia, Y. (2015). Aldea Yanapay description (English version).

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Facebook: Aldea Yanapay