Reflections from our Executive Director

We don’t have the necessary antennas to get a television signal. The radio’s signal is terrible and our children aren’t able to understand the lessons. And, what can I say about the internet? There’s barely any signal at all.”

This is what the Mayor of Ccorca tells me over the phone. Ccorca is located at 21 kms. from Cusco, at an altitude of 3,600 meters above sea level. A car takes approximately 45 minutes to reach the community from the city. According to the most recent Census in 2017, around 26% of Ccorca’s families do not own a television in their homes and none of them have internet access.

Ccorca has 1 village, 8 communities and 4 smaller annex settlements. In total, the population is comprised of 2,246 people. None of the children and young people in these communities have been able to access the #AprendoEnCasa (#ILearnAtHome) platform provided by Peru’s Ministry of Education (MINEDU). This has not been out of a lack of interest, but rather because the Government rarely designs initiatives that includes the most vulnerable populations in the country. I know the reality of a small proportion of Cusco’s highlands and can’t even imagine what the situation is like for other vulnerable populations of Peru.

The situation with higher education in Cusco is not very different. A Technological and Productive Center (CETPRO) tells me that cooking, weaving and silversmith classes will be taught through Youtube and Whatsapp tutorials. Other professional institutes point out that their platforms will only be accessed through a computer. Out of our 107 young people, only 3 of them have a computer and only one has internet access. He, however, has to walk up a hill, at 4,500 meters above sea level, no matter if it rains, if it’s way too cold or if that means having to be under the scorching sun, just to connect his mobile phone to the internet. Every day, he runs the risk of not even being able to fully connect, and as a result, miss his lessons.

I’m scared and worried. The idea of not being able to access education simply because one lives in a rural area does not fit my concept of community, of empathy and of social justice. We have a commitment to the children and the young people of Ccorca, not just as an institution, but as a country. The situation COVID-19 places in front of us nudges us towards being generous and innovative.

As an organisation, at Amantani we are open to being a part of the solution, and offer our knowledge and energy to cooperate with the search of strategies that can help us navigate this crisis. There’s nothing more important than to see the smiles of the children and young people of Ccorca when they are able to access the education they’ve always dreamed of, but most importantly, the education they have a right to.