Cusco, Peru The flight from Lima was a surprisingly short one. When I arrived in Cusco, I was greeted by Gabriel, one of the volunteers working at The Global Fund for Children’s grantee partner Yanapanakusun (Let’s Help Each Other). We got into a cab and went to the Yanapanakusun compound, in the Uchullo Alto neighborhood, some 15 minutes away from the historical center of Cusco. When I entered the compound, I was struck by the wonderful view overlooking the whole city. There are about 20 girls living here. Normally there are about 30 girls, but because it’s summertime in Peru some of the girls are visiting with their families in the countryside. Most of the girls came from the country to the city to work as domestic servants. Before coming to Yanapanakusun, they were living under very harsh conditions. Read more

Lima, Peru It was a warm and sunny Monday morning in Lima when I started on my way to visit The Global Fund for Children’s grantee partner Deporte y Vida in Villa El Salvador. For the past ten days, Deporte y Vida had been hosting a group of boys from an organization in Uganda called The Kids League. The two programs operate in a very similar manner, both using sports in conjunction with education. This was the last day of the boys’ visit here in Peru. Read more

Washington, DC, United States I arrived in surprisingly warm Washington on Sunday for my second visit to Life Pieces to Masterpieces (LPTM), one of The Global Fund for Children’s grantee partners that I am documenting. This is the only US-based grassroots group that I am covering; the rest are in Lima, Peru, where I’ll be in mid-January 2007. The next day I visited with Life Pieces to Masterpieces, which is located in Anacostia, a very poor section of the US capital. It was really nice to see the children again. The boys remembered me, and they were now more used to me taking pictures. Since this was the week before Christmas, there were fewer children at the center. Read more