Quechua Benefit 1996-Present
1996: Don Julio Barreda asks if the alpaca breeders of the United States could help the people of Macusani, Peru. The first dental trip to Peru is organized by Dr. Mario Pedroza and Mike Safley. The team attends to 907 patients.
1997: Quechua Benefit is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
1998: The third annual dental trip sees 1,200 patients.
1999: Quechua Benefit sends winter coats, shoes, sweaters, school supplies to Peru for 1,000 children.
2000: The dental team expands to two dentists and the 4th annual trip serves 3 towns and 1,801 patients.
2002: Quechua Benefit delivers disaster relief in the form of blankets and antibiotics during one of the most devastating Andean freezes in decades.
2003: A Quechua dentist volunteers for the 8th annual dental trip which saw a record of 2,147 patients. Quechua Benefits begins supporting missions staffed entirely by locals while continuing their tradition of campaigns staffed by international dentists.
2004: A grant from the Flora Foundation of $10,000/year for 3 years enables Quechua Benefit to hire a local dentist based in Peru to operate the mobile dental clinic. Quechua Benefit sees 4,200 patients.
2005: Quechua Benefit begins year round dental services in 20 towns and sees 500 patients/month.
2006: Quechua Benefit Raises $260,000 and begins supporting two more orphanages in addition to Sister Antonia’s community kitchen in Yanque, which feeds over 800 people each day.
2007: Quechua Benefit provides disaster relief to earthquake victims in Ica.
Quechua Benefit registers as a Peruvian nonprofit and opens a small office in Arequipa.
2008: The organization expands to service 40 communities in the Altiplano and sees their patient count top 36,000. Quechua Benefit introduces International Children’s Network (now Matsiko Children International) to Peru. By 2016 they are sponsoring hundreds of the poorest children of Peru, supporting their education and helping their families.
2009: Quechua Benefit begins building Casa Chapi, a children’s boarding facility that will become home to 100 primary school aged children.
Quechua Benefit hosts Amigos Eye Care from Pacific University (Forest Grove, Oregon) to provide eye exams and prescription eyewear to over 1,500 patients in Chivay, Peru.
2010: The construction of the Snowmass Health Center, four residential casitas, kitchen, dining hall, two green houses, an animal building for chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs, garage, and workshop are complete at on the Casa Chapi campus.
Dental missions continue and the first international medical mission is conducted by 21 doctors, nurses, and translators who see 2,173 patients.
2011: Casa Chapi opens it’s doors with 20 enrollments.
A team of eye surgeons from Australia partner with Quechua Benefit to perform cataract surgeries in the Colca Valley.
2012: Casa Chapi becomes home to 41 children.
2013: Casa Chapi is officially certified as a primary school for kids (grade 1-6) by the Peruvian Ministry of Education, who further agrees to provide teachers and other support staff.
2014: Construction begins on the new sports facility and soccer field.
51 students are enrolled at Casa Chapi.
Quechua Benefit begins leading alpaca breed improvement programs in the Peruvian highlands, supplying fiber testing equipment, genetic improvement education, and marketing support.
2015: Construction begins on a new four-room schoolhouse, chapel, casita for 12 additional kids, a central plaza, and administrative offices.
Casa Chapi GOES GREEN and installs a solar panels, retiring the gas-operated generators permanently.
Quechua Benefit establishes Alliyma, a brand to market handspun yarn and importing artesian products made by locals in the highlands. The goal of Alliyma is to make Quechua Benefit financially sustainable and provide jobs and job skills training to women in the highlands.
2016: Wi-Fi is installed and available in the classrooms. 63 children now attend Casa Chapi. Construction begins on two additional classrooms. The staff at Casa Chapi grows to 21.
The Quechua Benefit medical team initiates it first ever preventative medicine campaign that attends to 6,000 people in 7 towns and 10 schools. The primary focus of this program is to administer parasite medicine, anemia treatment, dental exams and fluoride treatments, and eye exams.
Our first exchange student from Casa Chapi, Xeina Ccallo, travels to the USA to finish her secondary education.
2017: The Board of Directors pledges to pay all overhead expenses so 100% of donations fund programs in Peru.
The new Sister Antonia Kitchen and Community Center opens in Ichupampa, Peru.
The Learn to Read Program is initiated for grades 1-6. Reading scores see immediate improvement. 20 Casa Chapi primary students graduate and move into a new Arequipa campus to attend secondary school.
2018: 80% of Casa Chapi’s students meet/exceed world reading standards. An optometry clinic opens to provide eye care for Casa Chapi students. Over 60% of 10,000 kids who received parasite and anemia treatments are symptom free.
Animal welfare program expands to vaccinate alpacas and deworm shepherd dogs for healthier alpaca herds in the highlands.
2019: Casa Chapi partners with Sinfonia por el Peru, a transformational music program for kids. 66% of Casa Chapi 6th graders’ reading scores exceed the world standard. 100+ Casa Chapi students attend school in Chivay and our two Arequipa campuses.
Anemia campaigns reach 38 communities.
Isaac is our first Casa Chapi alumni to graduate from high school. He begins SENATI Technical Institute.
2020: The COVID-19 pandemic temporary closed our schools. YOU generously provided food boxes, remote learning supplies, anemia treatment kits, and clothing for our Casa Chapi families during lockdowns. 17,000+ people in remote villages receive masks, soap, and information to fight COVID. Local Quechua women are employed to sew the masks.
Our Casa Chapi alumni, Ronald, and Wilfredo, graduate from high school and begin college at SENATI Technical Institute.
2021: Casa Chapi alumni Maria Fernanda, Griset and Vidal graduate from Paola Frasinetti secondary school in Arequipa, Peru. Griset and Maria Fernanda are the first female alumni to head to college.
2022: We welcome our students back to the Casa Chapi campus post-COVID. Casa Chapi alumni, Xeina, graduates from Cascade Academy and heads off to McDaniel College in Maryland.
Our Picotani Water Project to restore the bofedales, increase vicuña habitat and grazing pastures is 80% complete.
The long-awaited documentary, Vicuña Salvation, premieres in Yountville, California in August.