Awamaki Wins Global Giving Challenge!

The biggest news of the week so far is that Awamaki came in first for # of unique donors in the Global Giving challenge and 4th overall out of 150 projects for most money raised in one month. The Global Giving challenge began a month ago and we hoped to raise at least $4000 to fund part of the trip to the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. The total cost of the trip will be around $10,000 to send the two Quechua weavers, a Quechua/Spanish translator (the Peruvian director, Miguel), and 2 Spanish/English speakers (our two directors, Kennedy and Emma). This trip is extremely important to the weavers of the community because this will allow them to get their textiles out to an international market and will secure an income for the women.

Anyway, the challenge rewards the project with the most unique donors as well as the project that raises the most money. We ended up getting #1 for the donors and earned a $3000 bonus for this. Then, because we came in 4th overall, we earned another $2000 in bonuses. So overall, in one month, Awamaki raised just under $16,000!! This is more money than we had in our bank account when this started. So we pretty much doubled our reserves. You donors are amazing!! We ended up with 378 donors! The money will fully fund the Santa Fe trip as well as go towards a 4x4 truck to help Awamaki expand to other mountain communities as well as towards a generator for the health clinic.

Of course, this is what I am extremely excited about since after watching a woman give birth by flashlight, a generator is so needed. This also means we won't be wasting vaccines every time we lose power. It is awesome. Last night we had a pizza and ice cream party to celebrate before our pub quiz.

Hallie and I went into Cusco yesterday to run errands and buy necessities for Awamaki. Our day started at 6am when we got up and went to buy fruit from the weekly fruit truck. There is fruit in the market every day, but on Tuesdays, the fruit truck has a better selection and is cheaper. We bought probably 30 bananas, 2 kilos of apples, a large pineapple, 20 limes, 6 mandarins, and a papaya for about $5. So fresh and so cheap!

We made our way to Cusco around 10am and it was one of those days where all of the outside forces were trying to work against us but we managed to succeed and check everything off our list. Whereas we had originally thought we would be back by 3pm, we didn't get home until 7! We were up against the worst of Peruvian inefficiency all day, but we survived.

My normal mornings begin at 6:30am with an hour and 15 minute round trip walk/hike up in the mountains with Hallie and Caylin. We always run into this family of 4 kids who are coming down the mountain from their house on their way to school. They are adorable and like to walk with us. They pretty much run down the mountain for an hour in the morning so I can only imagine how long it takes them to get home in the afternoon. I am trying to make sure I stay in good shape since we cook such great food in the house. Hallie and I made a complete menu for the week this week. Some of the goodies included taco night, lentil stew, sweet potato gnocchi, tuna and apple salad, just to name a few. It is absolutely mind boggling how many amazing dishes we can cook here with such basic amenities. we have no fridge, no microwave, no hot water. We are lucky that we have an oven. We splurged for that. Otherwise it would have been just the gas burner. Yet we have the freshest foods -- all organic. I bet my cholesterol has gone down a ton!

Okay, I am tired and have to go to bed to get a good rest before tomorrow's walk. I am having lunch at my old host family's house tomorrow. Fabricio is gigantic! I swear for a one month old, he is the size of a 3 month old! He is so cute with these huge chubby cheeks. Ana is going to take my measurements tomorrow for Brandi's bridesmaid dress. I will have to convert the centimeters to inches.

Tomorrow night is movie night at the pub. We had a really fun pub quiz last night but my team was robbed of the win by 2 points. It was hotly contested but the judge ruled against us! We really have a lot of fun here.