THE Arequipa project
MY TRIP
My trip started with a visit to Arequipa, where my grandfather is from. It was only my second time in the city and felt very exciting and thrilling. I loved the atmosphere in this city and how loving the people were with each other and the animals. With a driver and the coordinator of the different llama breeders, I then started up to 4800m into the mountains of the Andes. I could see many free-living alpacas and vicuñas, which also belong to the llama family and are kept in the mountains for wool. Our destination was the farm in Patacollana, a place that is not found on most maps and belongs to the Condoroma district in the province of Espinar-Cusco.
Back in Arequipa, we then visited the wonderful ladies, who were in a good mood, spinning the wool for the jumpers, dyeing, knitting and showing me different possibilities.
It was all very inspiring. I am proud to present Maqu's first jumper Made in Arequipa and to be able to support this original and sustainable production method and thus the livelihood of the people in the mountains.
The most heart-warming moment was the visit to the local school. We met some children and saw how tight money is for the families who live there. I remembered the big dreams I had as a pupil and student. At that time, these dreams seemed unattainable to me. Now I feel gratitude and awe at how far I have come since then and my dreams seem closer to reality. Therefore, in addition to the seamstresses, we also want to directly support these children with their dreams.
Our goal
When you buy one of our sweaters, you help to bring joy and a good start of the school year to the children in Arequipa. From each sweater purchased, we give 5% of the purchase price to the school to buy important learning materials for the children. It may be hard to imagine the incredible positive impact that just a blank notebook and pencils can have. I then remembered the world that unfolded in my notebooks and how I wrote everything important - everything I needed to know and everything that was on my mind.
Let us share our love for the beauty of the world with the children of Arequipa! Every sale will make a big contribution. If you would like to donate more, that would of course be fantastic. We can't wait to go on this trip and show them the results of this project....
