Get moving to help Peru

Last month, just half way through the rainy season and less than 2 weeks since the tragedy in Haiti, a 72-hour-period of torrential rains in Peru forced entire communities to evacuate their homes and villages due to massive flooding that washed out roads, collapsed houses and bridges and destroyed crops.

So far, over 12,000 people have been uprooted and/or severely impacted by the flooding in Peru’s Sacred Valley between Cusco and Machu Picchu.

While the government is working tirelessly to send supplies to the those that are most affected, however many communities have still not received outside support.

Answering the call to action, geotourism group Planeterra is mobilizing an onsite team to bring immediate aid to the Peruvian people, while asking concerned groups and individuals to make online donations at its Peru Flood Relief online help site.

Planeterra, a global non-profit dedicated to sustainable community development through travel, was founded in 2003 by Gap Adventures as a means of helping travelers committed to finding ways to give back to the people and places they visit.

Life interrupted

One of the communities severely impacted by the flooding is Ccaccaccollo, home to Planeterra’s women’s weaving cooperative, a community travelers visit as part of the organization’s Project Peru voluntourism adventure.

“Because indigenous communities such as Ccaccaccollo maintain a traditional way of life and are dedicated mainly to pastoral and agricultural activities, they are especially vulnerable to heavy rains and flooding,” said Richard G. Edwards, Director of Planeterra.

A company blog describes Ccaccaccollo’s main plaza, an area usually bustling with women demonstrating their craft and selling colorful textiles, as flooded out and empty. Market stalls, usually overflowing with locally produced hats, change purses, shawls and scarves, are instead filled with mud and rocks.

Making headway

Planeterra has already donated the funds necessary to fuel the equipment required to fix a main road and clear landslides. In addition, the organization is looking at ways tourism dollars might help by reworking itineraries to include some of the most impacted communities in future tour itineraries.

A donation goal of $25,000 has been set of which to date nearly $9,000 has been raised. Through a partnership with Gap Adventures that covers all of Planeterra’s administration costs, 100% of all donations will go directly to those in need.

An appeal has also gone out to anyone now in or planning to visit Cuzco. Donations of blankets, sleeping bags, warm clothes for children & adults, jackets, raincoats, tents & mattresses, dried food (rice, pasta, oatmeal, cans of tuna, sugar, salt, evaporated milk etc) and matches can be dropped off at: Hotel Tupac Yupanqui (Calle 236 San Agustin) in Cusco.

“Planeterra has committed to immediately provide the funds needed to help fix the road and clear the landslide. We will continue to help the recovery effort and are relying on support from our travelers, which will not only benefit Ccaccaccollo but many of the outlying communities as well,” explains Edwards.

For more information, visit www.planeterra.org.