Our team visited all three regions where Heart-Links’ partners work: Cajamarca, in the northeastern Andes; the Zaña Valley, in the central coast lowlands; and the Chiclayo Metropolitan Area, also in the central coast lowlands, one hour south from Zaña.

In Cajamarca, we met with the volunteers who run the Rural Libraries Network, a 54-year-old association that supplies books to almost 300 remote libraries across Cajamarca and adjacent provinces. In addition to publishing books, the network promotes literacy and records and preserves traditional knowledge and culture. A principle tool is the Enciclopedia Campesina, a project financed by Heart-Links. We stayed at the Rural Libraries guesthouse in Cajamarca. The building is also the home of the main library, offices and meeting rooms.

Also in Cajamarca is ACIES, a community development organization that works in the impoverished city neighborhood of Quiritimayo. In the Quiritimayo Cultural Centre, ACIES offers an afterschool program that includes educational support, ecological workshops and cleanups, reading circles, writing groups, and art classes. ACIES also works with women, delivering workshops in mental health self-care and artisanal training. ACIES runs similar programs in the rural village of Pomabamba, as well an alternative school for impoverished children and youth, where they also learn about water conservation, gardening, and raising small animals.

In Zaña, we met the members of Latidos. In communities up and down the Zaña Valley, this association runs afterschool programs, breakfast and lunch programs, mental health workshops, entrepreneurial training for women and reforestation and forest protection. Latidos is strongly involved in the local business community, including agrobusiness, and works with them to practice corporate social responsibility, such as hiring locally. We stayed in the lovely Latidos guesthouse.

Our other partner in Zaña is Madre Oliva Association. They run an afterschool program in the rural hamlet of Nuevo Mocupe, where children receive educational support and recreation. The association also delivers food aid, clothing, medication and mental health training and counselling  to approximately 20 vulnerable families.

Finally, we went to the bustling metropolis of Chiclayo, and stayed in a charming modest downtown hotel. We first met with members of Centro Esperanza. This agency runs numerous programs from their Chiclayo office and premises, but the program Heart-Links supports is in Coloche, a rural community in Lambayeque. There, Centro Esperanza has started a women’s farming collective called MUFUM (Women for a Better Future). The women of MUFUM raise and market fast-growing guinea pigs. Centro Esperanza has provided production training, ecological workshops, leadership development and mental health programs. The project is thriving.

Our final visit was with Centro Santa Angela. Founded 41 years ago by the Ursuline Sisters of Chatham, the centre promotes ecological communities in the impoverished urban district of José Leonardo Ortiz, assisting local residents to rescue parkland, develop community spirit, and end harmful ecological practices. In its downtown office, Centro Santa Angela runs programs, also sponsored by Heart-Links, aimed at ending family violence and misogyny, developing community leaders and good citizens, and exercising vigilance against corruption.

It was wonderful to see the positive impact our partners are making in the lives of hundreds of children, youth, women and men in northern Peru. We can say with confidence that your donations to Heart-Links are helping create a more just world.

The book is called Voces y expresiones de la quebrada que quiero (Voices and Expressions of the Ravine That I Love), and it is as beautiful as it is urgent. Entirely written and illustrated by children from the communities of Quiritimayo and Pomabamba, this publication captures their reflections, observations, and hopes for the ravine that runs through their neighbourhoods; once a source of beauty and play, now deeply polluted.

Thanks to your support, the book and programs that led to this book, are made possible.

“The literacy was grounded in their own experience,” shared Gordon Price, Co-Chair of our Peru Projects Committee. “The children reflected on how they felt about the creek, did drawings, made their own personal books… Isabel [Gutiérrez, ACIES director] has combined those into a single publication. The book is amazing…it’s powerful, it’s full of the children’s reflections.”

Why the Ravine?

ACIES launched this project, Quiere la Quebrada (“Love the Ravine”), to help children build literacy skills, strengthen their environmental awareness, and reclaim their voice through storytelling. From the outset, the approach was immersive: children participated in guided expeditions to the ravine, took note of what they saw — piles of garbage, smoke, even dead animals — and asked the tough questions:

Why is this happening? How can we change it?

These observations became the seeds for their stories.

“La quebrada, antes clara y radiante, ahora con basura abundante. Su belleza se perdió, sin voz ni sonido que calma. Hoy, su silencio, es un vacío que hiela el alma.”
(The ravine, once clear and radiant, now full of garbage. Its beauty is lost, without voice or sound to soothe. Today, its silence is a void that chills the soul.)

— Voces y expresiones de la quebrada que quiero, ACIES, 2025

Through these stories the children developed critical thinking, creativity, and a sense of agency over the spaces they live in.

Real Change, Real Community

With your generosity, ACIES was able to deliver weekly literacy workshops to over 30 children and adolescents, offer access to a cultural and educational hub at the Quiritimayo Cultural Center, and publish 1,000 copies of this stunning bilingual book. Each family in the participating communities will receive a free copy.

But the impact didn’t stop there. As detailed in the final project report, your support also helped fund:

• Weaving workshops for women and youth, turning traditional skills into both therapy and income.
• A psychological support group, coordinated by a local woman and weaver, fostering emotional wellbeing and intergenerational dialogue.
• Teacher training and international exchange, connecting rural educators across Peru, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico.
• Community authorship, giving local youth like Esgard — once bedridden — the encouragement and tools to write, draw, and re-engage with the world. His mother said:

“A desk and a chair got my Esgard out of bed and smiling every day.”

“The projects that Isabel submits are incredible,” Gordon added. “The reports that she sends are so well drafted. Photographs that accompany them really tell a clear story.”

📚 You’re Invited: Celebrate This Story with Us

We’re excited to invite you, our community of supporters, to join ACIES for the virtual launch of Voces y expresiones de la quebrada que quiero.

📅 Saturday, July 5, 2025
🕘 10:00 a.m. Peru time – 11:00 a.m Ontario time
🌍 Hosted by ACIES — https://meet.google.com/bpj-opay-eht

Come hear directly from those involved in the project, meet the facilitators behind the work, and see how your donations are helping shape a generation of readers, writers, and environmental defenders.

When you give to Heart-Links, you give more than funding. You give the gift of voice. Of creativity. Of transformation.

Thank you and we hope to see you at the launch.

In Solidarity,

Dani

From Observation to Reflection

Every day, children walk past the Quiritimayo stream. What was once a simple path has become a daily classroom, urging young minds to question the world around them. “Why is there garbage here? How did it get this way? What can we do to change this?” These questions have ignited a deeper level of understanding among the children, transforming their casual observations into critical reflections.

Through handmade books, these young authors have channeled their thoughts into stories and illustrations. Eight of these stories capture not just the environmental challenges but also creative solutions to reimagine their community’s relationship with the ravine. Stones once overlooked have become characters in vibrant tales, and clay has inspired colorful creations that bring their reflections to life.

Bringing Stories to Life

One of the most joyful moments this semester was the storytelling festivals. In July, the Quiritimayo Cultural Center came alive with the laughter and voices of children sharing their stories. These monthly festivals are now a cornerstone of the project, fostering a sense of pride and connection between the participants of Pomabamba and Quiritimayo.

For younger children, a new program called Graphic Expressions for Reading and Writing has sparked early literacy in the most imaginative ways. By drawing their experiences, six-year-olds have discovered that reading and writing are not just skills—they are lived experiences.

Weaving Bonds, Building Futures

The women of Pomabamba and Quiritimayo are also writing their own chapter in this story. Through weekly and monthly weaving schools, they have honed their skills, creating beautiful textiles that tell their own stories. These gatherings have become spaces for reflection, connection, and empowerment. As December approaches, the Quiritimayo group is preparing for their first sale, a milestone that symbolizes their growing independence and strength.

A Community of Change-Makers

The ACIES team, comprising women and youth from the local community, stands as the backbone of this initiative. Their dedication has not only driven the project forward but has also fostered a culture of learning and commitment within the group. Their work was even showcased at the Ibero-American Meeting of Teachers in Salta, Argentina, where they shared their innovative approaches to alternative education.

Looking Ahead

As the final phase of the project begins, the community is buzzing with dreams and determination. The book “Quiere a la Quebrada” is now ready for editing and printing, a tangible testament to the creativity and resilience of the children. Plans for a mural on the center’s façade aim to inspire pride and ownership in the neighborhood.

The journey of Quiritimayo is far from over. It is a story of transformation—of a community coming together to reclaim its environment, nurture its children, and empower its women. It is a testament to the idea that through storytelling, reflection, and creativity, even the smallest voices can inspire the greatest change.

Together, we are writing the next chapter of Quiritimayo’s story. One that brims with hope, resilience, and the unwavering belief in the power of community.

Asociación Civil Esperanza (ACIES) works in two locations in the province of Cajamarca: the rural village of Pomabamba and a marginal urban neighbourhood called Quiritimayo.

In Pomabamba, Heart-Links’ donors fund a project with 13 Indigenous women from the community who meet together weekly to share experiences, learn from each other and offer mutual support. They are also developing and applying their skills as knitters to produce crafts to supplement their incomes.

The women recently signed a contract to sell the nativity figures they knit in Germany.

ACIES works with children in both Pomabamba and Quiritimayo, providing afterschool activities that support learning which incorporates Indigenous and community knowledge and values. Using recycled materials, the children made books on different themes to learn about themselves and the world around them: myself, my family, my community, my animals, health and nutrition, and my school.

In this video, some of the children show their books:

On December 7, hours before what was to be his third impeachment hearing in the short 17 months he has occupied the office, President Pedro Castillo moved to dissolve Congress. He was arrested the same day, and shortly afterward Vice President Dina Bularte assumed his office. She is Peru’s sixth president in six years.

On learning of Castillo’s arrest, thousands of Peruvians took to the streets to protest his ouster. At least seven Castillo supporters have died so far in the violence.

Chronic instability has had and continues to have dire consequences for the Peruvian population. Any action by government is stalled, services are delayed. Much-needed development and reform is postponed indefinately. Civic unrest, which at least initially was concentrated mostly in the South, has disrupted supply lines and increased already high transporation fares. Food is not getting to market.

For our partners in Zaña, Chiclayo and Cajamarca, the current crisis has made already difficult conditions much more difficult. They know that vulnerable populations are always the most hurt. They also see that their programs to foster ethical and democratic leadership, to build resilient sustainable communities and to attend to basic needs, including food, among other initiatives, help people in their communities ride out crises like these and plant the seeds of a better future.

Heart-Links expresses our solidarity with the Peruvian people, who deserve so much better from their representatives in government. We are encouraged by the compassion, integrity and commitment of people like the leaders of Madre Oliva Association, Latidos, ACIES, Rural Libraries, Centro Santa Angela and Centro Esperanza—our partners. Their work offers hope for a better world for Peruvians and inspiration for people everywhere.

“The creativity and compassion that was apparent in our partner’s response to the pandemic has been unbelievable.”
—Gordon Price, co-chair of Heart-Links’ Peru Projects Committee

Heart-Links volunteers, donors, partners and guests connected via Zoom last Sunday for our 2021 annual general meeting, a moving and meaningful hour filled with gratitude and pride but also grief.

There’s no denying 2020 was a very difficult year. The COVID-19 pandemic caused and continues to cause great suffering in Peru. That’s why the work Heart-Links’ partners carry out with your help is so important.

Your donations helped fund 13 projects in Peru totalling just over $99,000:

• 31% on literacy and education
• 23% on leadership
• 19% on gender equality
• 14% on the environment
• 13% on Covid19-specific help

Your support allowed us to continue to fund our partners’ essential ongoing projects, but you went above and beyond this past year, responding to the increased needs the pandemic had caused as well. 

Below, Gordon Price describes how both Heart-Links and our partners responded and adapted despite the immense uncertainty and hardships of the past year. All of us remain committed to improving the lives of people in northern Peru and to building a more just and equitable world.

Throughout June, we will be sharing highlights of last Sunday’s meeting. Next up: words and images from Latidos director, Flor Reaño Segura.

At the end of a very hard 2020, our partner ACIES spread their message of hope and solidarity not only within the Indigenous communities where they work but all the way to Canada.

They sent us holiday greetings from Pomabamba and ushered in the new year with greetings from Quiritimayo. We would like to share those greetings with you.

ACIES offers Indigenous children and adults programs that help improve their quality of life and their levels of education through personal and community development. ACIES runs the Alternative Campesino School in the rural community of Pomobamba and an afterschool program of alternative education in the urban neighbourhood of Quiritimayo. Members of ACIES are volunteers—students and professionals—from a range of disciplines.

Would you like to learn more about ACIES and the work Heart-Links supports in Cajamarca? Join us at Share the Love @ Home and meet ACIES director Isabel Gutiérrez, who will tell us more about her organization and the people they work with.

REGISTER HERE

Share the Love @ Home will take place online on Friday, February 12 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
REGISTER HERE

This is a FREE-ADMISSION event.

Join us for a visual and musical introduction to the communities Heart-Links works with in northern Peru. Hear straight from our partner organizations Madre Oliva Association, ACIES and Centro Esperanza about the locally driven development projects Heart-Links supports in their communities (simultaneous interpretation will be provided). Learn how you can help, too. To round out the evening, the multitalented Yim Rodríguez will enchant with Afro-Peruvian music performed live from Zaña.

To help us raise the funds needed to keep the projects in Peru going, don’t forget to visit our online silent auction. From Februrary 7 to 12 you can bid on a host of exciting prizes, ranging from gift certificates for Venezuelan eatery Arepa Ink, to an oil change and detailing by Finch Automotive to select fashions by local designer Carmina de Young. 

Heart-Links is very grateful to the many local businesses that have shown their commitment to community by donating auction prizes.

Access the silent auction from our event page starting February 7.

Travel to Peru may not be possible for the rest of 2021. But Share the Love @ Home is the next best thing to being there.

Don’t miss out!

Share the Love @ Home is just one of the initiatives Heart-Links has planned for International Development Week (Feb. 7–13). Stay tuned for more exciting ways you can celebrate global solidarity with us.

Heart-Links’ donors have contributed to this growth. Every year, your dollars fund projects that build literacy and math skills in children, youth and adults and offer quality educational supports that draw on and respect local knowledge.

More than one quarter of our project financing this year supports programs in Peru that strengthen literacy. These 2020 programs are

• Expression in Drawing, Words & Weaving
• Live and Travel with Words
• New Edition of the Enciclopedia Campesino

Education is a major component of many other Heart-Links’ projects as well.

The events of the last year have underscored the importance of universal literacy. People’s health and safety depended on being able to access life-saving information.

However, as the United Nations observes, “During COVID-19, in many countries, adult literacy programs were absent in the initial education response plans, so most adult literacy programs that did exist were suspended, with just a few courses continuing virtually, through TV and radio, or in open air spaces.”

To bridge these gaps, Heart-Links’ partners were quick to add door-to-door delivery of educational materials, virtual workshops and support groups, psychological counselling and check-ins by telephone to their programs to ensure their work to improve literacy and education continued.

“On this International Day, I thus invite all those involved in education to redouble their investments and mobilize all their resources to unleash the potential of each individual in the service of a shared world.”

— Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director General

Heart-Links invites you to celebrate this day and to continue to invest in literacy in Peru. With your help, we are building a more just world.

The Esperanza Centre provides a new and permanent home for the work of our partner ACIES. ACIES offers children in the impoverished urban neighbourhoods of Esperanza and Quiritimayo educational programs that respect and value their Indigenous heritage. Until now, ACIES did this work in space loaned to them in an abandoned market.

Construction of the centre, which began in 2017, saw some setbacks. But last October, members of Heart-Links’ board of directors were present for an informal opening and in January of this year, ACIES and their programs took full possession.

It’s a truly beautiful building that makes use of rainwater and natural sunlight and reflects the Indigenous culture of the region. The children who participate in programs there helped design the fountain and plant the herb garden. The entire neighbourhood, which is made up of rural Indigenous migrants who have come to the city in hope of a better life, see the building as a community hub. Adults, youth and children participate in programs there and contribute to its care.

For ACIES, having a permanent home for their programs has strengthened their organization and inspired more people (university students, for example) to volunteer their time and their skills to creating a more just world.

Both Heart-Links and ACIES are very grateful to OECTA for contributing to this project, which has really brightened the lives of people in this community.