Current Projects

Currently we are managing and funding several projects in Cachicatta. All of the proceeds from our travel packages go directly to these projects so in effect all of our trek participants are funding these projects and we are very thankful to them for that. For more information on Cachiccata, check out our2005 Status Report. Please contact us if you might have any expertise or financial resources that might be able assist us.

Water Channel
The main development project that the community hopes to undertake is the rebuilding of the 500 year old Inca water channel. The water channel once served as the main source of irrigation for the community as well as the source of an ancient Inca fountain outside an Inca temple that is in Cachicatta. The channel is approximately 10 miles long and originates at a stream located in a valley adjacent to Cachicatta. The most important part of the restoration is the first 4.5 miles, which bring the channel from the origin to the top of the slope above the community where it splits. Cachicatta lies on the side of a mountain with the main water channel cutting across the face of the entire community. Many smaller channels connect to the main channel along the face of the mountain and could provide water to all parts of the community as well as two abandoned Inca reservoirs. If restored, the channel would serve to provide access to usable water for the entire community.

The most difficult part of the restoration of the channel is the physical terrain. The portion of the channel from the origin to the split above Cachicatta is particularly challenging due to the terrain. There is approximately 0.5 miles of channel that runs across a rock face. In order to investigate the condition of the channel and or restore this portion a person would have to rappel up to it. Aside from this short but challenging section, the rest of the channel is constructed of large rocks placed approximately 12 inches from each other that only need to be cleared out and reinforced. The altitude also presents physical challenges. The altitude along the route of the channel varies from 14,000 feet to 13,000 feet.

Currently, the vast majority of land in Cachicatta is arid and unusable outside of the short rainy season from December to February, making tourism the only option for the men of Cachicatta during the winter months of May to September. The current water supply in Cachicatta comes from two below ground springs that are stretched to their limits to meet the needs of the community. Nobody in the community knows how long these particular springs have been used but springs used in the past have dried up over time. In 1996, a German engineering and development firm came to Cachicatta and worked for several months with the financial support of the Peruvian Government. They helped restore a portion (100 feet) of another Inca channel that is supplied by one of the springs and an Inca reservoir used to control water flow. This work was completed with all labor provided by the community. The lands that are now able to use this water are fertile year round, providing the owners of the land with food at all times and complete autonomy. This project helped supply water to a small part of the community but shows the great potential that exists in Cachicatta if an adequate water supply were available to all parts of the community. The main channel restoration is the most important project in the community according to the leaders of Cachicatta. In addition to providing clean water to all community lands, restoring the channel would serve as a great source of pride for all members of the community. Cachicatta is very proud of its history and ties to the great Inca civilization. Having the longest functional Inca channel in the region would provide Cachicatta with a tangible link to its ancestors and to its past.

Extreme Giving is currently coordinating the effort to bring all necessary parties together to begin restoration of the channel. The resources involved include government agencies, engineers, community leaders, archeologists, and donors.

Communal Reserve Status
The most recent initiative of the community is their most ambitious and, if successful, promises to give the community, as well as other indigenous communities in the area that can follow its model, the autonomy and self-sustainability to reap the benefits of the ecotourism trade. In an effort by the Peruvian Government to give indigenous communities control over the larger land areas that they once controlled, a new type of protected reserve was created. These reserves, coined communal reserves, give the communities control over lands that they were not granted when the government titled the lands. Essentially, the reserves serve as a compromise granting the indigenous groups rights over the lands, protecting the lands from development, and keeping the ownership in the hands of the government. This form of reserve has been recognized by the international development community as a unique means of preserving the autonomy of indigenous communities and lands. Peruvian communal reserves were the subject of the 2003 World Parks Congress sponsored by the World Conservation Union.

Currently, there are six communal reserves in Peru with several other proposals awaiting government approval. The original intent of the communal reserves as stated by the Peruvian Government in 1974 was to "enable local populations to conserve fauna." This was the goal and the achievement of the first two reserves in the Amazon River Basin. Since then, the definition of communal reserve has been broadened to recognize the need of indigenous groups to have control over large tracts of land in order to maintain their ways of life. Communal reserve status has been granted to an indigenous group in the Amazon Basin to achieve this end.

Presently, all of the six communal reserves in Peru exist within the Amazon region of Peru. The Cachicatta Communal Reserve would be the first of its kind in the Sacred Valley region of the Andes Mountains. Information is not readily available within the community so the Association in Cachicatta knew nothing about communal reserves until recently. If granted communal reserve status by the Peruvian Government, Cachicatta could serve as a model for other indigenous groups and communities in the Andes.

Once communal reserve status has been granted to a community for a specific territory, acquiring funds for projects to preserve the land and the indigenous way of life is much easier. NGOs and international development agencies are more willing to provide funding to communities through the avenue of communal reserves because development within the reserve is officially regulated by the community with the backing of the Peruvian Government. Communal reserve status grants the community standing in the international development community that they would otherwise not have access to. Up until now, Cachicatta has only been able to secure minimal money for the development and preservation projects they have undertaken (school construction, water treatment) with the vast majority of the financial and 100% of the labor resources coming from within the community. This is in stark contrast to some of the development and preservation projects that have been undertaken by communal reserves with the assistance of the international development community.

Extreme Giving is currently assisting the community with planning funding 100% of the organization and application process for communal reserve status. We have engaged lawyers in Peru to proceed with the paperwork and application in hopes of getting a decision from the Peruvian government by the beginning of 2006.

School Improvements
Currently Cachicatta has one school house with one teacher that provides education to all children until they reach high school age and have to walk the 2 km to Ollantaytambo. The teacher is provided by the government and does not Quechua, the native language of the community. Additionally, resources (pens, pencils, paper, etc.) are in short supply in the school.

Education is a very important development area for the community and something they feel can greatly improve their current conditions. Extreme Giving is installing several donated computers in the school house along with Spanish language educational software donated by Sleek Software. Additionally, the community wants to educate members of the community to speak English so they can benefit more from tourism, an effort that Extreme Giving hopes to implement through regular sessions with a local organization devoted to such training. Extreme Giving needs to secure funding to conduct such sessions on a regular basis. In the future, Extreme Giving hopes to improve the physical facilities of the schoolhouse to add a community meeting area and more computers. Another possible future project is to fund a scholarship to send a member of the community to get a university degree in education so they can return to the Cachicatta to act as teacher.

Botanical Gardens
Cachicatta, with the assistance of a local organization, has engaged the university in Cusco in an effort to develop a botanical garden on unused land in Cachicatta filled with indigenous plant species. The garden, which would be owned and maintained by the community, would serve as an attraction for tour groups visiting the Sacred Valley and fees collected would go directly to the community. Extreme Giving is assisting Cachicatta raise the money necessary to establish the garden according to the proposal drafted by the university.

Campsite Improvements
Several years ago, Cachicatta began developing a campsite that could serve as an inexpensive option for travelers to the Sacred Valley. Built on restored Inca Terraces scattered with Inca Tombs, the campsite is on of the slops overlooking the ruins of Ollantaytambo and the Urumbamba River and Range. The campsite has running water, a kitchen, bathrooms, and a dining hall. This summer Extreme Giving is installing hot showers in the bathrooms in an effort to meet the needs of prospective campsite clients. Extreme Giving is also developing a website for the campsite to market to tourists and tour operators. For more information, visit www.sacredvalleycamping.com.

The biggest need for the campsite is equipment that can be rented to clients not having their own. Extreme Giving is actively seeking donations of tents, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, and camp cooking and serving equipment.

Health Education
Extreme Giving is working with the local medicine man to conduct health, hygiene, and safety education training sessions for community members. For the children in the community, the sessions are intended to raise awareness about the human body as well as hygiene and about potentially dangerous activities such as crossing streets and train tracks. Sessions for parents are intended to inform them about basic first aid and simple treatments. For older members of the community, sessions are geared toward informing about the risks of smoking and alcohol.

University Scholarship
The idea for this scholarship was inspired by the first member of the community to attend college and become certified as a guide. Klever has completed his training at the university in Cusco and is now guiding trips and organizing projects for the improvement of the community. Klever is a great source of pride for the community and serves as a role model for the young children growing up in Cachicatta. Extreme Giving hopes to start an annual scholarship fund to send members of the community to university to pursuer higher education degrees and then use those skills to benefit the community.