WET Peru

With Bolivia under their belt, Linda and Julia moved on to tackle water education in Peru. Before getting their feet wet (excuse the pun) with water education and policy in Peru, the two headed up to Machu Picchu for the weekend to explore the remains of the ancient Incan civilization. Machu Picchu lived up to its hype. There are no words to explain the grandeur of the site. The visit fulfilled a lifelong dream for both Linda and Julia.

With sore legs and high spirits, the Project WET duo toured a school on Monday June 14, started and developed by Peru’s Challenge, a local non-governmental organization (NGO) based out of Cuzco, Peru. The school was located in a town 20 minutes outside of Cuzco. Peru’s Challenge has done amazing and sustainable work, building infrastructure, teaching capacity building to the local teachers, and absorbing salary costs for the teachers until the region’s Ministry of Education can take over. Project WET plans to supply the school with its educational materials about water, sanitation and hygiene once the materials are developed and ready for distribution. On Tuesday, June 15, Julia and Linda continued on to Lima, Peru and met with a representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and various NGOs. Project WET and its materials on sanitation and hygiene were warmly accepted. Meetings with the UNDP and representatives of water related NGOs in Peru were both productive and positive.

Linda headed back to Bozeman early on Wednesday night, June 16, while Julia stayed behind to attend school visits and a workshop in the central district of Junín in the city of Huancayo. The meetings and school visits are to take place on June 17. Stay tuned for the results of the Peru workshop in Huancayo and Julia’s return to the US…