In 2019, we celebrated 10 years of Papanoel Trekero traveling and bringing joy around Peru, so we were very excited for our 11th year. However, the pandemic caught us off guard and changed all our plans. For a moment, we thought that we were not going to make Papanoel Trekero possible in 2020, but there is always a way to make things happen.
In November, we got down to work and started a campaign to collect funds for one of our most ambitious projects so far: Papanoel Trekero goes to the Sol y Luna School in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Sol y Luna is a school that offers quality education for children in a state of vulnerability in Urubamba. Also, its Paqari program provides specialized instruction and therapies for children and youth with disabilities in the surrounding Andean communities.
This year was very different from the previous ones because our great team of volunteers couldn’t travel to the school and hold a big event for the kids’ safety. However, our plans got bigger, and we wanted to bring something a bit more than gifts. We wanted to provide something that could improve the lives of these kids. That’s why we committed ourselves to guarantee 3 therapies a week for the 13 kids in the Paqari program of the Sol y Luna school for at least 3 months. It was not a small dream for us, but we wanted to make it true.
During one month, and thanks to more than 50 people that helped us, we gathered enough funds for 480 therapy sessions! Also, Höseg, an exceptional Peruvian outdoor clothing brand, donated 33 jackets to keep the kids in the Sol y Luna home warm all year long!
Due to the pandemic, only 3 people could travel to the Sol y Luna Home & School to prepare for the event, but you know what? The Papanoel trekero event went even better than we thought! The kids had fun playing many games with our volunteers, and, as always, they were so happy to welcome Santa into their home.
Although this has been a challenging year for everyone, it has also been full of hope and gave us a great lesson. It showed us that if we remain together, we can achieve great things. Thank you all for your help, and see you the next year!
