GIVING BACK

Ojala has pledged that a percentage of all sales of Chulucana pottery will be donated to the children of Piura, Peru

Chulucana is a small village near Piura, a large town in the Peruvian desert, near to the border with Ecuador.

Gaby has made it her life’s work to help the street children of Piura.  She runs an organisation called Manitos Creciendo (Little Hands Growing) to help these children build a better life for themselves.  Volunteers from all over the world come to give assistance.

She has set up La Molina for the particularly impoverished younger children living in the desert on the outskirts of Piura and La Tortuga, in a poor fishing community about an hour and a half's drive away on sandy roads.   They have fun, play, draw, read books, gain social skills, such as how to use cutlery or even how to use a toilet, so that they are able to fit in when they start school.  As they grow they are given help with their schoolwork, and now there is a vocational training centre where the young people can learn skills such as cooking, sewing and car mechanics. They are also taught how to budget and handle the small amounts of money they may earn.

Ojala has pledged that a percentage of all sales of Chulucana pottery will be donated to La Molina and La Tortuga to help Gaby and the youngest of her street children.

SOME OF THE CHILDREN

Joanne spent a year in Piura as a volunteer working at La Molina and La Tortuga. Whilst there she visited Chulucana and saw how the family-run potteries were struggling to survive, despite the high quality of their products.

So she hatched a plan!

We now commission the pottery, paying fair prices, and import it into the UK (this is a unique product in here and 'fills a niche'). We put aside 15% of all profits to send back to Peru to help Gabi's work with the children of Piura.

LA MOLINA. The room, built by a neighbour next to his house (he even made the bricks from the desert sand) is a cool shelter from the heat of the day. A bell rings when Jo and the other volunteers arrive, and the children come running!

Rosie visits Jo and meets the kids

The neighbour who built La Molina

"La Tortuga" in the fishing village ...

... and here are the fish!

Two sisters from La Tortuga