Cuncani is a community about 4 hours from Urubamba, where much of our work is concentrated, and has many urgent needs.  Many here live without water, electricity, or water drainage, and few have access to proper medical care.  Even “progress” such as the promise of Internet service to the area is usually futile (in this case, there isn’t a single computer in the community to be able to receive internet on!). 

When asked what the community needs most, they immediately responded that they wanted to work on the structure of their community center.  In a rural Peruvian community such as Cuncani, all governing, important decisions, and community foundations are based in the community center and the assemblies held there.  Nexos Voluntarios has committed to helping Cuncani build a new roof for this building.  The current tin roof is poorly constructed and is so noisy during the frequent rains that discussion in community meetings is almost impossible.  The walls of the building are also in need of repair. 

NeVo has also committed to a medical campaign in the area, to be carried out with American medical student volunteers.  Some of the greatest medical issues that the residents of the community deal with are a lack of proper nutrition, parasites, and respiratory problems.  The goal of the first phase of our work here is to bring basic emergency care to the area and to do a diagnostic analysis of the illnesses that the community deals with so as to begin to develop a more sustainable and long-term health care system that can be aided by future volunteers. 

How can you help?

-Volunteer!  No specific skill sets are needed for the work of construction and attending to the basic needs of the community.  If you are a medical student or professional, your help would be of enormous assistance to the health goals of this community.

-Help us develop new projects!  The way NeVo works is to not only create it’s own projects, but to also work alongside volunteers to create projects to meet the needs of the community.  If you have some time you could donate and are interested in getting to know the village of Cuncani, let us know.  Perhaps you have a great idea for a project in education based on your years of teaching, or for creatively developing micro-businesses that you have seen work in other parts of the world.  We’d love to work with you!

-Donate!  We estimate that the construction project will cost s/. 2000 (about USD $700 at current exchange rates) and the medical campaign will be about s/. 3000 (USD $1050).  If you don’t have time to donate, even a small donation of $10 or $20 can make a huge difference.  To make a donation is easy, and can be done through PayPal (for more information, visit our donations page).