Huacaybamba--take three!

This photo was taken from the back of the school yard in Huacaybamba. The entire city and surrounding communities are built along the steep slopes of the Andes Mountains.

Huacaybamba again

Photos:

*Map showing where Huacaybamba is

*The front of our hotel on the left.

*In our hotel rom (2 photos)

*The hotel lobby complete with drying sheets

We went for the third, and probably last time to Huacaybamba.

Our hotel accommodations for Huacaybamba this time were much improved over our last two visits to Huacaybamba. At about $10 per night, I would say we got quite a bargain. We had a cute little room with a nice tile floor and a comfortable mattress. The bathroom was quite nice and the shower made a really good attempt at making warm water.

 The Reason for our Visit

Photos:

*As you can see they were very much in need of new and appropriate sized desks. Notice how small the chair is that the girl in the front is using

*Newly unpacked desks waiting to be carried into the school.

*Out front of a school with the principal

*The little primary school in the community of Primavera

*The children anxiously await the unloading of their new desks

*Carrying a newly unloaded desk (still wrapped up in it's packaging) from the truck to the school

*Inside one of the small classrooms. The walls are nicely painted and the floor is dirt

*Another classroom with dirt floors and walls. These desks were made by the fathers for their children. They used the tools that they had so their children would have a place to learn (2 photos)

*The children are always the best part!

The Church donated over 600 classroom desks and chairs to the schools in Huacaybamba and we traveled there for the "delivery ceremony" of the desks and chairs. 

The Ceremony

Each school sent around six or seven children to represent their school. The children from one of the schools had to walk for three hours to get to the celebration. The ceremony started out with a parade with each school marching and carrying the flag and some of the schools presented some traditional dances.

The Almuercito

After the ceremony, we were invited by the mayor to a little lunch (almuercito). Here is the "pit" oven used to cook the food as they are "opening" the oven. Also pictured is us with our "small" plate of food in front of us. When they brought the first one out, we thought it was a serving plate instead of an individual serving. This special meal among the peple of the high Andes is called "pachamanca" which means "earth pot" in the Quechua language.