Precious resources

This was my speech for the opening of our fund raiser, La Chocolatada, Orgiva, Spain 2011. This was our fourth fund raiser for these special children in Peru.

I would love to talk to you for hours about the children I’ve met in Peru. Stories about their lives, but I’ll keep it short; I’ll just share one story. Our time is limited this morning.

Three young sisters walked 4 hours to Washi’s soup kitchen to get a free toothbrush each, and a tube of toothpaste.
Thousands were to be donated by an American company. Something went wrong with the arrangements, and the toothbrushes didn’t arrive in Ollantaytambo.

The little girls were very philosophical about this disappointment.
I bought them some fruit and chocolate, a bag of rice and some vegetables to take home to their mum, and we went for a little picnic before they began their long walk home.

When I asked the 12 year old what she wanted to do when she left school she told me with a huge smile:
“I’m going to be an astronaut !”

Her huge dream made my heart sing, and I thought if I can help her in any way, I will.

Life in the rainy season and when it snows is very hard for these little girls, and all the families in the Sacred Valley. Many children don't have shoes. Thousands of families in this part of Peru don't have electricity.

They don't have water in their primitive homes, and certainly they don't have bathrooms, like the villages of Las Alpujarras here in Spain, 50 years ago.

But what they do have is their faith in Pachamama, Mother Earth. Their belief in her goodness is all encompassing.

I’ve seen groups of young children in the high Andes making ceremonies to Pachamama, asking for fertility for their goats and sheep.

We can learn so much from these very spiritual people, in so many ways.

Today, before the raffle and the auction of promises, I’m asking you to be as generous as you can and help us put smiles on many little faces this Christmas.
Paskay.org has a custom of bringing hot chocolate, a sweet bread and a small gift to thousands of children living in remote villages in the Sacred Valley of Peru.

Please help us maintain this tradition.

What drives me to support Carlos in his work is that these children do not have equal access to resources.
But,
they have precious resources that are beyond our understanding.

This is not about us being rich and them being poor. No. It's about us showing them that we care.

Thank you for listening, have a lovely morning, and Happy Christmas to you all.

www.pathoftheheart.org
www.paskay.org