Reach Out Children's Fund

Lunch Program Continues and Boots/Socks purchased for All Children of Remote Villages

2008-07-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

July 28, 2008

Hello ROCF Friends and Supporters-

We wanted to forward you more photos that Felix has sent to us and share what's been going on with the Reach Out Children's Fund.

You will be happy to know that all the children of the remote villages of Chaullococcha, Chupani, Yanamayo, and Kelcanca have received boots and socks to help protect their feet during the winter months.

Also, the lunch program continues, and we have added rice and eggs to the menu of oatmeal, milk, and fruit or vegetable.

Enjoy the photos, and as always, thank you for your support :)

Boots Come to the Children of the Mountains

2008-05-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

May 13, 2008

Hello ROCF Friends and Supporters-

We wanted to share with you a new project ROCF is supporting---supplying the children who live at the highest elevations, in the villages of Kelcanca, Yanamayo, Chupani, and Chaullococcha, with boots to protect their feet in the cold, winter months ahead. In the pictures, you will see Felix, ROCF's Peruvian liason, fitting a child in her boots. Felix is in the midst of going to all four of these villages, measuring shoe sizes, going to Cusco and purchasing the boots, and returning to the villages with the boots and two pairs of socks for each child. Winter is just around the corner for these children, and the boots are coming just in time.

It costs approximately $6.oo for a pair of boots and $2.00 for 3 pairs of socks. If you would like to contribute to this program, please send a tax deductible donation to Reach Out Children's Fund, 323 East Commerce St., Milford, MI 48381. Remember we are a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) organization and are staffed by volunteers, so 100% of your donation goes toward assisting these communities.

Enjoy the photos :)

Students Receive School Supplies at Start of a New School Year

2008-03-27T08:47:00.000-07:00

March 27, 2008

Hello ROCF Friends and Supporters-

As many of you know, Peru lies in the Southern Hemisphere and is on the opposite schedule of seasons as we are here in the Northern Hemisphere. While we are anxiously awaiting the Spring weather and our kids are gearing up for their summer vacations, the children of Peru are just starting a new school year. It is Fall in the Andes and the Quechua students of Huilloc, Yanamayo, Quelcanca, Chaullococcha, and Chupani are settling into an new routine with their teachers and fellow students.

To help the children start the school year off properly, ROCF has equiped each student with school supplies such as paper, notebooks, pencils, erasures, etc. Your continued support has provided these materials and the children, their families, and we, at ROCF, would like to thank you!

Felix, our trusty Peru liason, sent us some pictures when he made his delivery. We hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

Students Receive Supplies for Start of New School Year

2008-03-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

March 27, 2008
Photos from Felix

Summer Lunch Program and Photos

2008-02-26T09:50:00.000-08:00

Feb. 26, 2008

Hello ROCF Friends and Supporters-

I just wanted to give you a quick update and a chance to view some photos from the summer lunch program that is now in full swing. Our Ollantaytambo liason, Felix Neyra Quispe, purchases the supplies and delivers them to the remote villages. Several fathers and mothers of each village are running the program throughout the summer. Thanks to your assistance, these children are receiving healthy meals while they are out of school! What make this program successful is the combined efforts of your donations, ROCF's gathering and delivering supplies, and the community commitment to providing the meals...it's truly a team effort!

Follow-Up Dental Visits

2008-02-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

February 26, 2008

Hello ROCF Friends and Supporters,

We wanted to send you one more update with photos. The dentist, Juan Carlos Leroma Villa, we hired in October 2007 to treat the children of Huilloc, Chaulloccocha, Chupani, Yanamayo, and Kelkanka, did a follow-up visit in December. This was just before students were leaving for their summer break and a good time to give them a check-up and provide them with additional dental hygiene supplies. He sent us detailed reports of the condition of the childrens' dental health along with some nice pictures. We are now passing them along to you to enjoy! Please know, it is because of your commitment, that these children are receiving such services.

Best wishes!

January Update

2008-01-03T09:28:00.000-08:00

January 3, 2008

Hello All-

With 2007 having come to an end, we wanted to thank each of you, again, for your support of Reach Out Children's Fund. With your assistance, here are some of the projects we have been able to support since our return from Peru this past October.

1. Begin a trout farm at Huilloc to supplement the children's diet.

2. Start a greenhouse/garden program at Huilloc to enrich the children's learning and supplement their diet.

3. Sponsor a Christmas Celebration at each of the 5 villages: Huilloc, Chaullococcha, Chupani, Yanamayo, and Quelcanca.

4. Continue the lunch program in each village.

5. Hire the dentist and nurse to return to all five villages in order to treat the children and their families before school lets out for summer break.

6. Research solar energy to use in the remote villages.

7. Continue to sponsor the sixth grade promotion trip at Huilloc, and new this year, Chupani and Chaullococcha.

8. Building improvements to classrooms in Huilloc and Chaullococcha.

9. Purchase needed clothing and shoes.

10. Assist the teachers in providing the necessary school supplies.

These efforts have all continued because of you! The children and their families are so grateful, as are we at ROCF.

We look forward to a promising year for the children of Reach Out Children's Fund. And, with your continued support, we can assist the villages of Huilloc, Chaullococcha, Chupani, Yanamayo, and Quelcanca in improving the quality of life for the children of their communities.

Happy New Year!

Best Wishes,

Anne Schimmel Beck

Renee Champagne

Tania Hoppe

Contact information

2007-04-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

323 East Commerce Street
Milford, Michigan 48381
248-318-3058

Anne Schimmel Beck, President
Anneschimbeck@comcast.net

Tania Hoppe, Vice President
Para espanol, 248-624-2228
tchoppe@sbcglobal.net

Renee Champagne, Vice President

248-770-7621

Brudchamp@comcast.net

Mary Schimmel, Secretary

Christine Egger, Consultant

Claas Hoppe, Technical Support
Peruvian contacts

Rosario Penalva Fernandez, Head teacher
Profesora de Huilloc
Urabamba, Cusco, Peru

Antonio Felix Neyra Quispe, Coordinator

Juan Carlos Leroma Villa, Dentist

Projects

2007-04-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Developing a Library

With the aid of the Milford Presbyterian Church and Scholastics Literacy Partnership we have established a library for Huilloc School and mini libraries for Yanamayo, Chupani, Chaullacocha and Quelcanca. We have shipped over 200 books geared for pre-school through adolescence. For the remote villages, we hired portors to deliver the books. The books are in Spanish and are culturally sensitive. The children do not have access to books nor does the school have text books since these are luxury items. Along with some dedicated volunteers we wanted to expose the children to the world of reading and learning through books.

Three New Classrooms

We recently supplied materials so the villagers could construct three additional classrooms to the existing school. Many more children will be attending the school. We are also providing electricity to the school and the pre-school building. The villagers take great pride in working with us on these projects. An engineer was hired to overlook the contruction while the local villages pitched in to build the three-classroom building.

Annual 6th Grade Field Trip

The graduating six grade students are sponsored on a cultural trip outside of their village. They visit museums, historical sites and other cultural enrichments as a supervised group. We would like to continue this field trip to all future graduating six grade students. The students return to their village with a zest to continue their studies past the sixth grade. The first trip was December of 2004 and we continue every year. Now, we have added Chupani and Chaullacocha to the Annual Promotion trip.

Weaving

The children with their teachers are making dolls, bags, scarves, and other small items. They weave with alpaca/lama wool and use local plants for dye. Some of the artwork have Indian stories woven into the materials. We are currently selling these items locally. The proceeds received from these artworks are given back to the families and the village for ongoing projects. This gives the children a sense of pride. The children work on these items outside of school time and during their summer break.

Lunch Program

Huilloc has a lunch program of oatmeal and canned milk. The teachers (and parents) prepare the meal during the school day and each child receives a tin cup full of oatmeal. We are incorporating this program to the surrounding villages of Chupani, Chaullacocha, Yanamayo and Quelcanca. When we arrived in Chuallacocha with sacks of oatmeal and sugar, they did not have utensils to cook the food nor to serve the children. Now we have a program for these children to receive one hot meal while at school.

Email from dentist Juan Carlos Letona Villa

2007-11-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

Received November 1 from Juan Carlos Letona Villa, the dentist who accompanied Reach Out Children’s Fund in the trip described below:

Hello Anne and how are you? OK I have to try to explain in english , but sorry for the mistakes. I explain you from my work, dentist.

First in Yanamayo I think I did better work than Chauyacocha and Chupani becase I had more material (the ionomero de vidrio). This material it`s very important for my work because I can safe a lot of tooths. In Kelcanca had more childrens than Yanamayo but they are better than Yanamayo. I try to saw at all childrens but not all come because this day the rain was very strong. The problem in my work was the material because tre ionomoro de vidrio was insufficent for Kelcanca, but I saw you all children.

In summary to pay attention in this villages was good, the people was happy, even though the childrens don´t known you, don´t see you, they felt grateful in their faces, they had a smile. It´s dificult to explain you but you have to feel good, the childrens recive your help, thank you.

The situation in general is serious. Of 20 tooth, 10 are tooth decay and have alot of infections and others illness. They need more help.

OK, I have to improve my english, and again sorry for the mistakes. If you need more information you [only] have to write me. I am ready to help you to help.

Juan Carlos from Ollantaytambo, Cusco, Perú

October Trip Report

2007-10-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

The October Peruvian Humanitarian Trip was a success!

The children of Huilloc were waiting for us with open arms. Many children read Quechua poems, sang songs, and gave us hugs as we visited them the first day. We brought with us a doctor, nurse, and dentist from Ollantaytambo. They spent the day treating and visiting the children along with some adults.

The next villages we visited were Chaullococha and Chupani. These two villages are not accessible by road. We had to hire some porters and horses to bring the supplies to these two villages. The doctor, nurse, and dentist team hiked in with us to visit these two villages.

Volunteer Renee Champagne and Director Anne Beck stayed the night in Chaullococha and did not get a chance to visit Chupani. The altitude was extreme with the mountain terrain at 15,000 feet above sea level. The children in Chaullococha do not have running water, electricity, or bathrooms. The pre-school room is a mud hut with a straw roof. There is a small window with a rock blocking the wind. The environment is harsh for Chaullococha and Chupani since it is at a higher altitude than Huilloc and hard to reach. The dentist and doctor were able to visit and treat all the children and a lot of adults. During our visit it started to hail golf ball size. The ground was covered in a white mass. The children, used to the climate, were still playing soccer with their rubber sandals. We gave about $80 U.S. Dollars to the preschool teacher to have three windows made and to replace the stick door. This will help bring in sunlight to the dim hut. We also gave money to the elementary teacher to replace the broken window panes in her two-room school building. There are 16 preschoolers and 30 elementary students in Chaullococha. In Chupani there are 20 preschool students and 65 elementary students. We brought cereal, sugar, apples, bread, cookies, and canned milk along with all of the school supplies and dental supplies that were generously donated.

The next two villages to be visited were Yanamayo and Kelcanca. Kelcanca is a steep hike, about 15 miles from Yanamayo. Again, porters and horses were hired to bring in the supplies while the doctor, dentist, and nurse hiked and spent a night in their sleeping bags.

The doctor and dentist have now seen all of the children in the five villages. We have met with the teachers and village leaders to discuss what is urgent for their school and community. We have a lot of work ahead of us but have seen how far Huilloc has progressed in health care and education with the aid of our organization. The new school house in Huilloc has a library and a computer room. The teachers have started new programs such as a trout farm and a garden for the students to assist. The village is becoming more self sufficient. Now it is time to direct our attention to the more remote villages and give them a chance. We brought with us approximately $2,000 worth of medical supplies and purchased $2,500 worth of medicine in Cusco. The main issues are malnutrition, intestinal parasites, ticks, scabies, and upper respiratory problems. The dentist was able to make temporary fillings along with other dental procedures. This is the first time a dentist has visited any of these mountain villages.

To our donors, thank you for all of your support and generosity. If it weren’t for people like you, these children would not receive supplement food, medical treatment, educational supplies, mini-libraries, hygiene supplies, and dental supplies.

Many thanks to the doctors, nurse, and dentist who assisted on this trip:

Juan Carlos Leroma Villa, Dentist in Cusco
Arnaldo Penalve Japr, Doctor in Ollantaytambo
Guido Orlando Olave Figueredo, Doctor in Ollantaytambo
Marisol Palomino Varela, Nurse in Ollantaytambo

Reach Out Children’s Fund
Anne Beck, Tania Hoppe, Claas Hoppe, Renee Champagne, Maureen Tart

Our Purpose

2007-04-16T23:59:00.000-07:00

Reaching out to the most vulnerable

Reach Out Children's Fund was founded to assist the children of Huilloc School #50627 and the surrounding schools in the Andes Mountain Range, Peru.

Huilloc School has approximately 250 students ranging in ages of 3 to 17 years old. The students are Quechua Indians, direct descendants of the Inca Indians. They speak Quechua while learning Spanish in school. The village is above the tree line, which makes it difficult to grow food and stay warm during the winter months. The drinking source is shared with the local animals from a mountain stream. The children rarely see a doctor and have yet been visited by a dentist.

We try to supplement their daily diet of potatoes and corn with fruit, canned milk and an oatmeal mix. The children are malnourished. They are always in need of funds for the winter months since food is scarce.

It is not uncommon to find children in the village with broken bones. Since they do not have access to health care we try to provide basic first aid and transportation to a medical clinic when needed. We are trying to install a first aid station which is urgently needed. The village is at a high altitude (approximately 12,000 feet) which frostbite and cataracts are found.

We are a small organization of dedicated volunteers. There are currently no salaries or high administration costs associated with our organization. We aim for all monies received to be given directly to the village of Huilloc for the on-going projects as well as future projects. Each dollar given has a direct effect on this unique community.

Photo gallery

2007-04-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

Two girls on their six grade trip, 2006. They are visiting a lake.

The incredible team of teachers of Huilloc school
along with our valuable translator, Felix.

Felix, Rosario Fernandez, Wilbert Mora, Rene Gonzales, Teofilo Ccasa

The courtyard of Huilloc School. The school houses
pre-school through 6th grade.
The current first aid station. We rarely have any supplies
and need to rely on rare doctor visits. The village has
yet to receive a visiting dentist.

The students are lined up to receive their daily lunch
which is similar to an oatmeal mix. The children have
a tin mug which they use for their meals at school.

A holding tank for water was built for the pre-school.

The water needs to be boiled first before serving to the students.

The villagers make all their own clothes.

A girl and boy in the Kindergarten room.

Children line up to receive their piece of fruit.

Anne visiting the students in October of 2003.

A new 3 classroom building being built to accommodate the growing number of students, March 2007.

Felix Quispe (translator) with Anne Schimmel Beck, Mary Mattingly, Maureen Tart Lee, Analisa Macias

Team of 2003