Video written & produced by: Michaela Guzy; Lensed & Edited by: Zac Osgood; Production & Writing Assistance: Ella Keeven.

Peru is a country of great diversity, not just in landscape or cultures, but also in the way that Peruvians are giving back to their local communities. Thanks to companies like Orient-Express, Hotel Titlaka, Taca Airlines, and Aqua Expeditions, who work within their local communities, we were able to visit a women’s co-operative that preserves local crafts in the Sacred Valley; a school on Lake Titicaca which serves 11 impoverished communities; a manatee rescue center in The Amazon; and Peru’s first hippotherapy project which works with disabled children in Lima. Please read below for more information on the projects we visited in our video and how you can help.

Watch Michaela’s Map | Peruvians Giving Back. Pictured, Michaela feeding manatees at the Acoiba Manatee Orphan Rescue Center in Iquitos, Peru as a part of the Aqua Expeditions cruise down The Amazon.

Weavers at work in the Center for Traditional Andean Textiles, Chinchero, Sacred Valley, Peru.

Center of Traditional Andean Textiles is located in Chinchero, a small Andean Indian Village that overlooks the Sacred Valley. Resident, Nilda Callanaupa, founded the Center of Traditional Andean Textiles, an organization to train women in traditional crafts, such as weaving. The initiative has expanded from Chinchero to 11 other areas around Peru, including a shop in Cusco featuring works from each of the women. A percentage of sales goes back to sustain the individual projects.

Michaela with student of Cusimayo’s first school on Lake Titicaca, Peru.

Cusimayo opened its first kindergarten school in 2011 on Lake Titicaca. They’ve launched a campaign called “1,000 dreams” to serve 11 impoverished communities around the Lake. Cusimayo’s goal is to offer breakfast, school supplies and hygiene kits to 20,000 preschoolers daily in 2013. 

Acoiba Manatee Orphan Rescue Center opened in Iquitos opened four years ago to rescue, rehabilitate and reintroduce these mammals to their natural habitat. Hunting is the Amazonian freshwater manatees biggest threat, but projections of water levels in the Amazon reducing by 70-80% by 2030 is further hurting these endangered species.

 Hippotherapy is a form of physical, occupational and speech therapy, where a  therapist uses the characteristic movements of a horse to provide carefully graded motor and sensory input for mentally and physically disabled people. Of 30 million Peruvians, an estimated 6% live with a handicap such as Down’s syndrome, autism or cerebral palsy. Anadesi introduced hippotherapy to Peru, which uses horses to help rehabilitate handicapped children. Anadesi’s first project at Club Huachipia works with 15-20 underprivileged children per week.

Deputy Editor, Ella Keeven, local children & Michaela, on The Amazon, Peru.