Knitting Hope is a civil non-profit association member of Misión Huascarán. We empower rural women from small villages at the foothills of the Huascarán mountain (at 11482 f.a.s.l) so they are able to generate extra income to help maintain their households and improve their living conditions.
Currently, we have 3 workshops in the Sierra de Ancash, located in Ushno, Congar and Carhuaz, plus a workshop in implementation located in Lima, Villa Libertad.
Mision Huascarán, in partnership with UTEC and its MABA project, has trained 15 teachers from 8 schools in the districts of Mancos, Shilla and Amashca so they can guide their students in the use of tablets and achieve better learning results
The five Misión Huascarán’s interactive libraries consist of creating a fun and creative space in each school that fosters children’s interest in learning and reading. Each library is fully equipped with various materials to achieve this, such as books, games, theater, television, DVD, armchairs, tables, among others.
Each of these elements is carefully planned by «activities corner» That allow the use of different routines that favor reading comprehension and learning in its multiple stages.
We have delivered 149 tablets to children at 5 schools in the districts of Mancos, Shilla and Amashca. Furthermore we have installed an internet connection to this places to ensure the proper function of the tablets. Each tablet is equipped with multi-level educative apps, thanks to the Mapfre Foundation.
Also, these tablets have the RazPlus license, an international software specialized in providing tools to improve reading comprehension in children. All these tools are applied under the leadership and supervision of a teacher hired by Misión Huascarán. The objective is that she leads the reading comprehension program through close coordination and training to the public-school teachers with whom we work. This deepens our commitment to the education of children.
Not all children can finish school and some end up working in agriculture with their parents. The carpentry workshop seeks to teach young students this craft so they can develop a new skill at an early age and offer them a potential alternative work in their future.
Misión Huascarán equips the workshop with all the tools and supplies necessary for the correct operation of the workplace. In addition a teacher has been hired so the students are better equipped for learning this craftsmanship. Currently, 25 kids are being trained in 1 carpentry workshop.
Kids from 4 schools in the populated centers of Utupampa, Punyan, Congar, and Pisca continue to progress in their reading comprehension skills.
Thanks to the educational kit, prepared by the Misión Huascarán education team that contains printed educational material, school supplies, a reader’s notebook and a tablet with a virtual library according to the level of each child.
This distance learning process is monitored, fed back and evaluated by the 10 volunteer educators from Misión Huascarán.
educational kits with tablets and material for distance learning
Misión Huascarán has developed a nutrition program lead by two nutritionists, which addresses 6 components: constant trainings, preparation of high in iron meals, leading mothers, cooking contests and incentives, anti-anemia cookies and school organic gardens.
All these elements contribute to achieving sustainable results over time. Thanks to our nutrition program, the percentage of children with anemia, in the areas where we work, was reduced from 21% to 9% and chronic malnutrition decreased to 6%.
Misión Huascarán has made alliances with local municipalities to jointly hire two doctors which reinforce health assistance given to individuals. To date they have made 1700 attentions.
There are very specific pathologies that the health centers close to the inhabitants cannot cover.
The Huascarán Mission, in alliance with various organizations (Clínica Detecta, Meraki, the dental team of Dr. Miguel Angel Coz, Appnemia, Dr. Quiroz and volunteers) has carried out 6,405 medical attentions where different specialties such as dentistry, ultrasound, ophthalmology, among others. others.
Misión Huascarán in alliance with the Regional Health Directorate (DIRESA) continues to bring health to rural areas of Áncash.
Our 2 mobile medical posts have 4 offices, a fully equipped dental team and a modern ultrasound machine, and have also reached the provinces of Yungay, Carhuaz and Recuay.
More than 4,801 visits have been made and thousands of people have benefited from the specialties of general medicine, nutrition, obstetrics, gynecology, ultrasound, dentistry and pediatrics.
As part of our Misión Huascarán nutrition program, it delivers different foods of high nutritional value, such as milk, fish, anti-anemia cookies, among others.
These foods are donated by partner companies such as Pesquera Diamante, Gloria, Banco de Alimentos, Exalmar, among others, which allow us to reduce anemia rates in the child population of rural communities in Áncash.
Knitting hope workshop was born out of the need to empower rural women in generating new income and create a fundamental change of their families lives.
We support them in the design, supplies, training and quality control under strict international standards. We provide them with a textile center where the knitters get together and carry out such a beautiful task. The result is the production of high quality garments in alliance with prestigious institutions. To date, more than 100 women are part of the workshops.
Soon we will inaugurate the second workshop in Congar. Please visit our virtual store!!
Strawberries can be harvested from early on for a period of 2 to 3 years. This crop can even be harvested up to 2 times per week and has a high demand in the local market so it becomes profitable and attractive to the residents.
Mision Huascaran has supported 9 families of these areas with the initial investment, technical assistance, and commercializing the strawberries for them.
Thanks to this project, 9 improved strawberry fields have been implemented and show better resistance to weather changes and plagues; allowing 9 families to completely change their lives.
Now they obtain additional income thru this plant. With traditional farming they had to wait 6 months to achieve any profit.
Thanks to these improved cookstoves which have an efficient ventilation system, the level of contamination has been eliminated and overall level of health has risen.
The rural areas access to electricity is limited or nonexistent due to the fact that many people live in a situation of extreme poverty, specifically the elderly and disabled individuals are in biggest need of this service.
Accordingly, we have installed more than 40 solar panels to help them.
Many roofs of the houses within the area where we work are in deplorable conditions and are a serious problem during the rainy season and winter. This is a critical issue for elderly and vulnerable individuals. Therefore we have supported them by installing new roofs at their homes.
