Making of a Miracle

Good news from the Andes Mountains of Peru

Living high above the tree line 12,000 and 15,000 feet elevation, the indigenous Q’ero communities had been living on a diet of simple potatoes 500 years until 2007 when Heart Walk Foundation introduced the concept of greenhouses. With success of the documentary film “Heart of the Andes,” many communities and viewers have been touched by the efforts of Heart Walk Foundation and have stepped forward to provide assistance so the villagers can grow a variety of leafy green vegetables/grow leafy vegetables to improve their nutrition.

Katherine Szewczyk, a southern Utah photographer and filmmaker, traveled to Peru in May with the 2014 Heart Walk Foundation delegation to document progress of the greenhouse, education and trout projects in the high mountain villages. — Photo by Gavin Whitaker.

Following a remarkable year of support, co-founders Tim and Penelope Eicher of Dammeron Valley, Utah, returned in May, 2014 to the native Q’ero communities. Of Heart Walk Foundation’s goal to provide supplies for 100 family greenhouses, 51 are now completed. An additional 36 have been funded leaving just 14 families waiting.

According to Heart Walk Foundation co-founder Penelope Eicher, “Many families have stone walls constructed and soil ready to plant — they are just waiting.” To prepare each plot, families must assemble greenhouses walls with stones weighing 40-60 pounds each, and haul buckets of soil by hand.

Q’ero children work to tend greenhouse gardens full of leafy green vegetables.

In addition to their enthusiasm about the greenhouse effort, the Eichers also expressed emotion about the first students to graduate from the first school funded by Heart Walk Foundation and featured in the documentary film, “Heart of the Andes.” All six graduates have moved on to junior high school including Jon and Romario — both featured in the documentary and beloved by viewers. Additionally, two new classrooms in the high villages have been funded by local donors David and Nanette Pugsley and Stacy Christensen.

As a result of Heart Walk Foundation’s “Light the Night” 2014 fundraising effort, 180 solar-powered lanterns were delivered to the Q’ero communities who live without electricity. Every family and school teacher now has a lantern to provide indoor and after-dark lighting. Many children now take the lanterns with them when they herd alpaca away from home. — Photo by Katherine Szewczyk.

Tim Eicher reported that the baby trout stocked in alpine lakes by Heart Walk Foundation in Aug. 2013 are growing well. The Foundation will stock additional lakes with 7,500 trout fingerlings this fall. “This will be the final donation of trout to the region,” he said. “The community leaders have learned to sustain the population of the trout to feed their families. We are very pleased.”

At the Heart Walk Foundation Annual Dinner and Auction held in St. George, Utah, in February 2014, a special effort was made to raise funds for greenhouses and solar lanterns for the Q’ero families that live in dark, stonewall huts. Now all families have been donated a lantern to light their little stone homes.

At risk of starvation in 2003, the indigenous Q’ero communities have been receiving assistance from Heart Walk Foundation in areas of agriculture, education, and health education. “Before we arrived, most children had never held a pencil or book,” Penelope Eicher said. “There are now five Heart Walk funded schoolhouses with dedicated teachers and more than 170 Q’ero youth writing stories and calculating mathematical equations with pencils each day.” ­

The Eichers both express gratitude to their southern Utah home community and to Heart Walk Foundation supporters worldwide for helping make a miracle happen. This year, documentarian Katherine Szewczyk of St. George, Utah, traveled to Peru to make a follow-up film to “Heart of the Andes” and to document the progress of the Foundation’s projects and initiatives.

Heart Walk Foundation is supported by a national board of directors and more than 1000 supporters internationally. To become involved, call (435) 619-0797, or go to heartwalkfoundation.org.

Originally published in Elan Magazine.

In August 2013, the high mountain communities of Peru suffered severe winter storms which resulted in the loss of more than 1,000 alpaca and llamas in Q’ero communities. The precious alpaca fiber is hand spun to make yarn for clothing and textiles. Heart Walk Foundation replaced 40 alpaca a few months ago. — Photo by Katherine Szewczyk.