CHASKAWASI SHELTER OF CHILDREN PROJECT

Chontachaka Ecological Reserve Association

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Lodging-house home CHASKAWASI, Quechua word meaning Star House is located in the district of Villa Salvation Reserve Manu Biosphere in Cusco, Peru which is one of the towns located in the Cultural Zone of the Reserve.

Chaskawasi: The project began with the intention of addressing social and environmental issues, especially children and adolescents in the area of Salvation in the reserve of the Manu Biosphere in Cusco, Peru. For this we have a foster home and house students in Salvation. Currently six children from the area in a state of moral and material abandonment in our hostel where residents are guaranteed access to education, identity and health as basic rights for them to exercise other rights of children and adolescents to them.

From a broader perspective the objective is to enable full CHASKAWASI personal and social development of children and adolescents in the province of Manu, Peru to include in its environmental awareness training as an alternative economic-environmental sustainability so they can act as environmental educators able to replicate and enhance the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources abundant in this area and / or developed within the field of ecotourism.

PROBLEM

In the last 60 years large areas of forests were heavily logged by loggers or timber and opened areas for crop farms. The whole area of the Rio Madre de Dios suffers the problem of illegal mining and indiscriminate fishing contaminants as water quality and biodiversity of the river is totally impoverished. The loss of resources and primarily forest has resulted in a decrease in the income of the population.

That meant that a large number of families that exist to exploit natural resources have been forced to penetrate into remote parts of the forest and move their families which limits children's access to education and health. The loss of resources in families linked to these conditions also bring about a large number of situations of family violence, mainly against women and children. Situations that often remain invisible and are not reported to the police or the court leading families into disrepair with the danger that abuses continue to repeat or a part of the family is forced to leave the area. Also many of the children in the area are stranded due to the scarcity of resources within the family.

DESCRIPTION OF THE TARGET POPULATION AND STAKEHOLDERS:

Direct Beneficiaries:

- 50 children and adolescents in situations of moral and material abandonment and / or poverty or extreme poverty in the province of Manu.
- 80 youth and adults, mainly women (70%), Salvation Villa District and environs, children in native communities, attending the conferences, workshops, series of workshops and training programs continue.

Indirect Beneficiaries:

-Community in general.
- Teachers of the Educational Institution Joint José Carlos Mariategui and Manu Public Technology Institute.
- Families of those attending the workshops.

ACTIVITIES

The educational and occupational center Shelter "CHASKAWASI" integrates three areas of intervention:

1 .- Shelter for children and adolescents in situations of moral and material abandonment.
2 .- Dormitory for children and adolescents without economic resources and lack of access to education.
3 .- Environmental Training Centre and sustainable management of natural resources.

Among our current activities:

A.1.Desarrollo agro forestry systems and restoration of adjacent disturbed areas to promote conservation and appropriate use of Amazonian natural resources all with full involvement of children.
A.2. Establishing reforested areas and to educate children in the province of Manu in the conservation and sustainable use of existing resources instilling new awareness to the society of the future.
A.3. Extension of the current space, to make it possible to obtain adequate means for the community that is host to the Project (children welcome, students, teachers, staff).Conducting technical training courses and open up new employment workshops that are related to environmental conservation and ecotourism.
A.5. Fitting of new land for the establishment of recreational facilities (for sports field, playground).