After going on Project Suyana's trip to Peru, I find myself scanning the news for stories about humanitarian aid projects in Peru and about clean burning stoves around the world. Today a friend sent me a BBC News story about clean cook stoves which can be found here--http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24204668. Even though this is a short article, it's a good reminder that poor cooking conditions are still a huge problem around the world and projects like ours are helping.
This reminded me of an NPR story from October of last year. I encourage everyone to read or listen to it, found here--http://www.npr.org/2012/10/13/162719126/one-child-one-laptop-and-mixed-results-in-peru. The story discusses a project that gives children in rural Peru laptops, hoping that these will be helpful in a classroom setting. The author looks at this laptop project in Lacachi, a small community outside of Lake Titicaca (although I've never heard of Lacachi, the words used to describe the setting sound eerily similar to how I would describe Huanuscuro, the community where we work). Even though the children of Lacachi have laptops, some are broken or need software updates, some have disappeared, and none of the computers have internet access. This brings up a larger point--when aid groups start new projects, the organizers must be sure that the proper foundation is in place for the projects to be beneficial. They should also check up on the communities to make sure no problems arise months later, once the aid group has left the country.
A photo of Huanuscuro--probably similar to what Lacachi looks like
Project Suyana strives to create a lasting effect by returning to the same community every year and reevaluating the efficacy of our projects. When we arrive in Puno each summer, we examine our stoves from previous years before we begin building new ones. Have there been any problems with our stove design? Can we improve our old model? Are people even using these stoves? These are all questions we ask ourselves at the beginning of each trip.
Maybe you have stories to share with us. Have you read any new articles about humanitarian aid projects in Peru or clean burning stoves? Leave us links in the comment section!
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