Rural Yachaq Communities

Volunteering in the Rural Yachaq Communities — Experience the ancient agricultural techniques that are used in indigenous communities throughout the Sacred Valley and beyond. Visit a rural ayllu (community) to help in the fields with planting, sowing, or harvesting, depending on the time of the year. Led by local Quechua guides and translated into English, this immersive half-day volunteering experience takes you to a mountain village on the outskirts of the Sacred Valley. Here you will spend a half-day learning about different Andean crops, agricultural techniques, and the various rituals that take place within the agrarian calendar year. You will sow and harvest native products using the same ancient tools that the ancestors of the Inca have used for centuries. Continue on an interactive walking tour of the community, discovering traditional activities such as hand-weaving and fermenting corn to make chicha. The experience will be facilitated by a local guide who will help translate between English and Spanish/Quechua and includes a traditional Cuzqueño lunch.

Kusi Kawsay School

Kusi Kawsay is a Waldorf-inspired school situated on the outskirts of the Sacred Valley. Rooted in local Andean tradition, Kusi Kawsay aims to serve as an educational model which will inspire other indigenous schools to approach learning through a sensitive and stimulating environment while honoring and celebrating traditional ways of life. By supporting traditional cultural practices, children will embrace the ecological mindfulness of their ancestors, and help foster a balanced ecosystem. During this interactive half-day exchange, you will volunteer with students at the Kusi Kawsay school, helping with local projects, working side-by-side with local students in the organic garden, and learning about the Andean agrarian calendar (which their school calendar is based on), and all of the important rituals throughout the year. These include planting, harvesting, and the pilgrimage to the sacred ice (this is what Holly Wissler’s first documentary, Qoyllur Rit’i, is about). As a portion of the trip, there will be a donation per student made towards Kusi Kawsay, which will help sponsor poor students who cannot pay and have to walk 2 hours one-way to school from remote villages.

Exchange Q’ero Family

During this exclusive exchange, ethnomusicologist and Quechua cultural expert Holly Wissler will come to the Sacred Valley with a family from Q’eros, a highly traditional indigenous group that lives at 14,000 ft. above sea level in the remote Andes Mountains. During the exchange at a local chichería, Holly will provide contextual understanding for who the Q’eros are and shed light on the traditional Q’ero way of life. You will learn about the community’s unique cosmovision and how their ancient roots continue to resonate through their dress, music, textiles, and other aspects of their personal lives. Prior to the journey, you will be sent Holly’s documentary “Kusisqa Waqashayku,” which sheds light on deep-rooted Q’eros traditions and musical rituals. The proceeds from this documentary help support the Q’eros’ unique cultural customs and educate families about the unique customs of the indigenous family they are going to meet in Peru. After Holly’s presentation with the Q’eros, the kids will have room to play in the backyard while teens and young adults chat and play sapo over a cold glass of chicha de jora or chicha morada. If you would like, you can ask the Q’eros to make an offering to the mountain gods and mother earth, asking for support or guidance in a particular matter, or simply asking for a good journey! Since the Q’ero community is monolingual Quechua, all dialogue between you and the Q’eros (with Holly translating from English to Quechua).

Note: Only available June through August when Holly Wissler is available. You may also choose to extend your stay an extra night in Cusco for a Q’eros homestay and volunteer experience.

Nilda Callañaupa Álvarez

You will visit and tour of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco.and learn that in traditional Andean textile production, the small cochineal insect that lives on the native Nopal cactus can produce more than twenty hues of red, pink and purple.

A warrior for quechua women and cultural preservation, Nilda Callañaupa Álvarez has authored multiple books and has become one of South America’s leading voices in the movement to preserve ancient Andean weaving traditions. Nilda’s nonprofit works with more than 160 women in ten communities around the Cusco region.