What we do: education in Ccorca
Photo: Freddie Branson
The situation in Ccorca
The district of Ccorca, despite it 21km proximity to the south west of the province’s capital, Cusco, is more than an hour’s journey away due to the dire state of the mud track that connects them. It is the oldest and poorest district of Cusco, as well the amongst the poorest in Peru, with an 88% of malnourishment amongst children. The climate is very severe due to the altitude (between 3,125m and 4,402.5m) and during the winter temperatures drop to below -14°. Due to this, their options in terms of agriculture are very limited. It is comprised of eight communities, of which 6 are still without electricity.
Estimated population (2005) – 2,761
Life expectancy – 55 years
Official level of poverty – Extreme
Since 2007 we have collaborated in the district of Ccorca. Shocked by the poverty and neglect in this population, we started to work with the education of the district, bringing a special attention to the children of 3-5 years.
- Two Boarding Schools for girls
In the district of Ccorca, there are 848 children between the age of 12 and 16. These children should be at school but only 102 of them attend the districts secondary school.
The main cause of this dissertation is that there is only one secondary school for all the communities. And without internal transport, some students from the furthest communities are forced to walk between 1½ and 3 hours to get to school each morning.
On learning this in 2008, Amantani established a boarding school for 21 girls in an unused building provided by the community. They attend school during the morning until 13.30, when we support them with their homework and teach them practical skills, such as sewing and craftsmanship. This year the girls also started their own mini-business, producing and selling cleaning brushes. As well as teaching the girls basic business skills, this also makes the project more sustainable.
This year (2009) we have opened a second boarding school, also using a space offered by the community. It has a capacity of 22 girls and includes students of the community's primary school.
Freddie Branson’s British website, which supports the work in Ccorca: http://amantani.co.uk