Above the Clouds Again in the Village of Surupampa

Surupampa was officially certified and recognized as a caserio (a community too small to be a village) in 2008. A road connecting the caserio to the rest of Peru was carved out of the mountainside in 2014. It is still being worked on. Previous to that it was a 7 hour walk to Motupe, the nearest town of any size. Surupampa is dead center in the photo (click on it). Surrounding the village are cultivated patches of wheat, corn, sugar cane and coffee. Further down the mountain where the land is a little more level there are vast tracts of papaya and mango trees.

It was the rich patches of soil and a perfect growing climate that brought people to the area. As mentioned earlier Surupampa officially began in 2008 but there were people planting crops here long before that. Some of the village residents are over 70 and were born in what was to become Surupampa.

To understand the people who live in these mountain villages it is necessary to remember that they have lived in virtual isolation for many years. They are friendly but shy and reserved with strangers. In the low-lying desert villages it is usually women who welcome us; tell us about their village and answer our questions. It is the complete opposite in Surupampa and Shita Loma where we visited last week. We saw the women only when saying goodbye.

This photo says much about the village and culture. Notice how they grouped themselves…with one exception women and men separate. The expressions, even on the kids showed their reservedness. The kids are dressed in their best clothing. You won’t find women wearing pants, even when working in the fields. In the background are fields of coffee, corn and wheat. Farming is all hand labor; there is no machinery up here. A pronoei/community hall is to the right.

The pronoei, Niño del Saber was started this year and has eight students. Anastacio Ventura (yellow shirt) is the teacher. Two kids were added just recently and with the new road providing access more families are coming. Fernando Vilcahuaman (red jacket) is the director of the pronoei education management unit for the Lambayeque province. He and his 17 coordinators are responsible for the 205 pronoeis in the province. He and the Salas district coordinator Maria Elena accompanied us on this trip. Maria visits every pronoei in her district once each month.

Having just started up the school has many needs. We’d like to provide:

3 tables - $109.89

12 chairs – 168.50

1 whiteboard – 42.74

2 storage shelves – 48.84

Erasers and markers – 7.63

Teaching aids – 100

Total - $477.60

One hundred dollars may sound like a lot for teaching aids, but this school has absolutely nothing. They need puzzles, coloring books, crayons, pencils, poster paper, glue, etc.

Notice there is no transport cost. The Management Education Unit in Lambayeque will transport donated items anywhere in the province at no cost to us. That is a tremendous savings and will make it financially possible for Promesa Peru to contribute to the needs of these isolated village schools.

As always, we’re going to need your help. Please visit the Promesa Peru webpage to contribute to this project. Thank you.