Amantani

Four and a half hours by boat from the Peruvian city of Puno, on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca is located the peaceful, agricultural island of Amantani. According to the islanders the island forms the shape of a frog and in Andean cosmology it symbolizes stability.

There, faraway from the modern world, Hijos del Sol, (Son of the Sun) has constructed their project building with donations from many European friends. Since May 1997, a kindergarten has been functioning in our project building. There we have a growing number of happy, healthy boys and girls who are the first children on the island who have the opportunity to attend kindergarten. We also provide food for the children.

Since our work does not finish when the school doors close, we are working on educational campaigns, together with the Peruvian Health Department to inform the people of many dangers brought about from modern life’s contributions, such as the disposal of used batteries.

Our project is also very involved with the mothers or carers of our small children. We started out thinking that we would work with only orphans on the island, but in reality, the standard of living on the island is well below the poverty line, even by Peruvian standards. Our vision has changed. Since everyone on the island is poor, we look forward to expanding the success that we have had to all the eight communities around the island, while maintaining the care already provided at the school.

If you wish to sponsor a child, please contact Mrs Rhada Malasquez. With sponsoring a child you will be aiding this child's education and food for one year. The Amantani organisers will send you a photograph of your child and keep you informed of his or her progress.
If you are unable to afford sponsoring a child any donation will be gratefully received and will help run the school and education program in Amantani. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

Mrs. Ananda Gopal Malasquez gives us a brief summary of life on the Island of Amantani:


"It was thirteen years ago when I first went to the Island of Amantani.
I stayed with Benedicto and his family and loved the loud silence and beauty of the island. Leaving from Cusco with Manu, Sharda and Oceana our destination had been Taquile, the neighbour und much smaller island on the lake.

It was during our all day train ride to Puno that I heard about Amantani, that is was beautiful and much less frequented by tourists. We did continue on to Taquile but we really did prefer Amantani.
In the meanwhile Inti was working in Europe and met various kind-hearted people who wanted to help the children of Peru.

We looked for houses in Cusco and spoke with people in Aguas Calientes but nothing came together. That was when I suggested working on the island. But even then it was not easy as the mental world of the people remembered the Spanish and how they had taken over the island, made them basically their slaves and when the time came for them to leave, they made the islanders buy their own land back from them. So we were up against fear and the reality that no one else had come to the island from the outside since then to work. So not only did we have to take an all night bus to reach Puno and then take a four-hour boat ride to the island but we had to convince them to let us help!

We bought and constructed a big house with donations from Europe. We started with 20 children in the kindergarten three years ago. This year we have 32 children in the kindergartin plus 20 "graduates" from previous years who come to work three afternoons a week with a teacher, plus we had another 16 pre-school age children who came to be fed twice a day. The nutrition program has grown with the help of the Peruvian governmental organisation PRONAA. They provide us with the basic dry goods in the diet and we purchase, with part of the monthly donations that we receive, the fresh fruit vegetables, bread, eggs and any meat or fish that is added to their diet. All of our children are happy and healthy as we pay attention to their diet and to their general health condition.
Two years ago we obtained two solar panels and this allows us to use light bulbs in the evening.
The people on the island now accept us. They now realise that we are doing what we set out to do: we are not running a hotel or selling the children for their organs! These were both worries of some of the islanders. We try very hard to respect their traditons although changes are inevitable as many of them leave to find work in various cities throught Peru.
The island of Amantani is an extinct volanco that has been inhabited, according to Chilean archelogoists who did research on the island, since the Pracas civilisation existed along the cost of Peru - approximately 1500 - 2000 BC. The legend of the islanders ist that they tried on various occasions to occupy the island, riding out in "tortora" reed boats from the mainland. Each time the men were rejected and died. On the fourth attempt, at returning to the island as family units, they decided to sacrifice a young girl and boy.
They did this by putting them both into a "tortora" reed boat along with some food. It is still told today that they left feeling happy and carrying flags that symbolise the colours of the potato flowers.
These flags are still used today in serveral of their traditional dancers to remind them of the sacrifices made by the two children, because it was after their sacrifices that entire families were able to live on the island.
The island society is ruled by the old Andean-Inca system of Yanatin/Masintin where there is a hierarchy of the men over the women, where chores are divided by gender and the men are those who are in charge of how the island is governed.
They still follow these traditional rules when it comes to doing the planting of the crops on the island where a strict rotation is followed. This system also includes the grazing of sheep on the area that is followed to rest for the year. In order to follow this system the different families have land around the island.
There are eight communities on the island with a population of about 5,000 people. Within the families and different communities they do shared communal work, ayni: one day I help you in your field and another day you help me.
The people on the island basically eat what they grow. Any tourists that go to the island bring in one of the few sources of income. The standard of living on the island is well below the poverty level even by Peruvian standards.
When we first started Inti Wawacuna our intention was to work with the orphans but the reality is that all the children are in need of help. All the children do have someone to take care of them, be it a grandmother or uncle, so although we do give preferance to any orphans.
We have extended our help to the most needy of the children and especially to children of single mothers.
Our long-term plan is to create kindergartens in each community on the island where we can reach more children. A balanced diet and an interest in a small child's education can only give them more opportunities for deciding for their futures."
 

If you live in Europe and you wish to make a donation you may arrange a bank transfer to the following account in Germany:

Amantani Orphanage & School
Friends of Educational Arts - Rudolf Steiner e.V.
Postbank Stuttgart, GERMANY
BANK SORT CODE : 600 100 70
ACCOUNT NO. 398 00-704
Purpose: Amantani/Peru-Germany


We would like to thank you kindly for your donations on behalf of the children of Amantani!