Dates: June 23 – July 3, 2012
Optional Machu Picchu extension: July 3 – 5
Length: 11 days / 13 days
Cost: $2,214 program, $463 extension plus intl. airfare
3% discount if you pay by check!

Peru Service 2012 program info PDF
to the Peru program!

On this unique program in the Peruvian Andes will be living and working with the Andean people in the mountain village of Chinchero and Usabamba. The people of Usabamba will directly benefit in many ways from your work – the building of smokeless ovens. And you too, will benefit- having spent intimate time with people few travelers ever really get to know. Your time working in the village will change your life in ways that you will feel for years to come.

You will be staying in the Inca village of Chinchero about 45 minutes from Cusco. You will travel 20 minutes each day to your work project. The elevation of Chinchero is close to 12,000 feet so we will have you acclimatize in Cusco for a few days and enjoy all the sites, sounds and tastes of this famously gorgeous Inca/colonial city. After your acclimatization you will travel to Chinchero and stay with your hosts: Vilma and Paulino Llancay. We have been working with Vilma and Paulino for years and have supported them in creating an amazing weaving cooperative which you will see. Over the years Paulino and his family and other members of the cooperative have benefited economically from the sale of their traditional weavings and have created a lovely and comfortable guest house where you will stay. Paulino has decided to pay it forward by helping the impoverished village of Usabamba above Chinchero creating appropriate technology kitchens which use less fuel and create no smoke.

The Project: Creating appropriate technology smokeless cooking stoves for the village of Usabamba

Roger is a native of the Chinchero region and will be our building guide. He has worked for nonprofit building kitchens for the last 2 years. Now, with the help of Crooked Trails he is able to share his knowledge and skills with his community. These new stoves/ovens have three levels- for baking, drying and for warming. They are made from adobe (dirt and straw). The design of this particular type of stove is extremely efficient and uses only twigs to cook. In addition the warmth from this stove keeps the entire room up to 15 degrees warmer, which at 13,000 feet is a serious problem. Homes in Peru have no internal heating and are about as cold inside as they are outside in the winter. An ingenious tubing system allows water to be heated by the stove and sent to a sink. In addition there is a hood above the stove that collects smoke and releases it outdoors. In most homes the smoke collects in the thatch rafters making soot in the home a problem and causing lung problems for family members. This new system allows smoke to escape, heat to remain, hot water to flow and less wood to be burned. An unforgettable Machu Picchu extension is available and we suggest you visit it. It is truly one of the great wonders of the world. Accommodations are comfortable and the food is nourishing and grown locally.