Pachamama Children's School
Connecting with Humanity
As a part of our mission, Journey & Serve partners with Pachamama Children's School in the Sacred Valley of Peru to provide supplies, technology, and connection with the children on our journey. Our first year, we raised enough money to purchase 20 chromebooks to be used both by the children and also the local parents who want to learn English online. In year two, our donations purchased classroom laser printer, classroom furniture, new backpacks, supplies, and library books. In 2024, we funded more supplies, new backpacks, and brand new playground equipment! This year, we are actively raising funds for school uniforms, annual supplies, teacher salaries, and the expenses associated with converting from crowd-funding to a fully tax exempt 501C-3 non-profit foundation.
About the School
This small school building is located in the remote countryside in the province of Urubamba. Construction was completed in late 2022, and we welcomed our first kindergarten class of 15 students in March of 2023. The school was built entirely by the local community and the land owner, Valentin, who grew up on this farmland. The school offers preschool & kindergarten (otherwise unavailable in this area) as well as English language classes for the local parents and community, to support the young students' learning outside of school.
In this remote area, the native language is Quechua, and the children learn Spanish as a 2nd language. English lessons are traditionally not offered to children until they reach secondary school (Middle school age). The majority of the families in this area work in farming and agriculture and rarely leave the area. The children have likely never seen photos or video of the "outside world" - most do not have easy access to modern plumbing or clean water.
On our 2022/2023 journey, we were able to raise funding to donate Chromebook computers, backpacks, and much needed basic school supplies to get the first class of kindergarteners off to a great start! Later in the year, more donations allowed us to purchase furniture for the classroom, including new wooden tables and chairs, and shelving for a small classroom library and educational activity center. In 2024, we brought over $3,000 worth of school supplies, backpacks, and books to the school. In addition we raised another $2,500 to pay for playground equipment, a new laser printer, and a classroom projector. Each year on our group journey, we fundraise for new needs and bring supplies to share with the school.
The school's founder Valentin is passionate about creating opportunity through meaningful education and global learning. We are excited to be a catalyst in this vision, and help these children become the change-makers in their community for generations to come!
While the school needs many supplies, our fundraising for 2025 will provide school uniforms and additional supplies for the school, as well as the potential to convert from crowd-funding to a fully tax-exempt 501C-3 non-profit foundation. We hope to add another school in the high mountains to our service efforts as well.
