Awamaki Journal: A Blog About Textiles, Travel and the Sacred Valley – tagged "Community Education"

Sep 30, 2018

A New Culture

A New CultureBy Sara Swisher, Monitoring and Evaluations intern Before coming to Awamaki to complete a summer monitoring and evaluation internship in Ollantaytambo, Peru, I had never been outside the United States. I wasn’t sure what to expect but one of my goals was to learn about a new culture. I felt I really achieved my goal when I went on the volunteer weaving immersion in Patacancha, a Quechua community an hour away from Ollantaytambo. Patachanca is recognized as its own nation with its own court system, police force, and laws. Patachanca’s status is comparable to Native American reservations in...

Jun 27, 2018

Posed to Empower

Posed to EmpowerBy Elizabeth Salley, Marketing and Communications Intern “Okay, it´s time for affirmations! Find a partner!” Ginette Collin announces. The room becomes a flurry of movement as the artisans pair up and giggle. At first, some of the women are quiet, but within the next few minutes, the meeting...

Apr 23, 2018

New and Improved

New and ImprovedBy Gabriela Moncada, Marketing and Communications Intern When Awamaki began, our focus was on economic empowerment. Income in the hands of women, we believed, was the best way to enable them to lift their communities to prosperity. We still believe that, however; in the past few years, our...

Jan 09, 2018

On the Horizon

On the HorizonBy Meaghan Bogart, Tourism intern As 2017 drew to a close, buzz of graduation increased within the Songuillay cooperative. Over the past year, this cooperative, made up of forty two women, has been taking steps towards their independence from Awamaki. In September of 2017, Awamaki celebrated the first...

Dec 27, 2017

Setbacks that Launch Us Forward

“You’ll have to get out and walk from here the rest of the way,” our driver announced to the passengers on our small tour bus. Carrying all of our belongings for the weekend ahead, we began the near vertical hike up to the community of Huilloc Alto, tucked in a...

Oct 04, 2017

Graduating Class of 2017

This month, an important piece of our vision for the future actually happened. How often can you say that!? For three years we have been telling you about our goal of graduating our cooperatives as independent businesses, and we developed the Awamaki Impact Model as a way to encourage the...

May 19, 2015

Knitter trainings in Rumira

by Gillian Fitzpatrick, M&E Intern Awamaki’s most advanced knitting cooperative, the Virgen del Carmen knitting cooperative in Rumira, has been attending business training workshops. The workshops are designed to give the women the skills they need to graduate from our impact model program into their own autonomous organization. They will...

Nov 06, 2014

Teaching Outside the Box

By Vivian Smith, Community Education Coordinator If you picture our Spanish teachers in a classroom teaching grammar, you’d be dead wrong these days. As part of recent training workshops with local teacher Chrissie Ellison, the teachers have developed a dynamic 10-hour cultural immersion course tailored to incoming Awamaki volunteers...

Aug 16, 2012

Meet Jessie, a Community Education Volunteer

Meet Awamaki’s Volunteers Jessie from San Antonio, Texas Education and Weaving Project Volunteer A: What’s a typical day like at your volunteer placement? J: I take Spanish classes in the morning and then I teach English classes and computer classes. I also work two or three shifts a week in...

Aug 02, 2012

Meet Felicia, one of our Community Education Volunteers

Meet Awamaki’s Volunteers: Felicia from Washington D.C. Community Needs Assessment Volunteer A: How does your work with Awamaki relate to what you study at home? F: I am studying international development with a concentration in rural development and economic growth. Seeing that Awamaki is trying to reduce poverty through sustainable...

Jul 19, 2012

Meet Ingrid, our Volunteer Coordinator from Paraguay

Meet Awamaki’s Staff Ingrid from Asuncion, Paraguay Volunteer Coordinator A: What do you do as the volunteer coordinator? I: I answer questions from people who are interested in coming to volunteer here. I review volunteer applications and send them to the program coordinators. Then I send the future volunteers all...

Jul 12, 2012

Meet Carolyn, one of our Education Volunteers

Meet Awamaki’s Volunteers: Carolyn from Louisville, Kentucky Education Volunteer A: What do you do back in the US? C: I go to the University of Kentucky. I’m double majoring in Spanish and International Studies with a concentration in politics of the Middle East. A: Has your Spanish improved here? C:...

Jul 28, 2011

Fluoride Campaign

For the past 3 weeks, Carolyn and Kenneth have been implementing a fluoridation campaign on behalf of the Chillca clinic. Visiting students at three rural elementary schools – Kamicancha, Chillca, and Piscacucho – they have successfully completed a campaign that will protect the students’ teeth for 8-10 months. Going to...

Jul 07, 2011

Kids and Computers

My name is Suzanne Russell Parker and I am the Education Coordinator. I am from the States, but come by way of Australia. My husband and I are here in Peru for six months and will travel further to Patagonia in January and on to Nepal in February. Here is...

May 02, 2011

With the Help of Two Doctors, a Diagnostic Campaign Undertaken

By Sunshine Lickness, coordinator of Awamaki’s Health Program With a full team of volunteers and two doctors visiting, we set out to some communities not yet traversed by Awamaki Health. Wednesday and last Friday were days of exploration, consultations, and data collection. We went to three communities in all, Olmiron,...

Experience the Sacred Valley