COVID-19 Relief: Winter Fuel for Hopi
Between October 2020 through March 2021 we undertook an effort to provide wood and/or coal to elders and families in dire need. We were working with Hopi partner Charlene Joseph to purchase and deliver fuel to as many households as we had donations. Elder households in Upper and Lower Moencopi, Shungopavi, Mishongnuvi and Tewa received enough fuel for winter needs.
Total funds raised: $8175.
COVID-19 Relief: Hopi and Q’ero
We had all been touched by the pandemic in one way or another. The Indigenous peoples we work with were also undergoing a state of emergency. In some ways, they are even more at risk due to their isolated locations with little access to food or protective equipment, and little to no medical care should they need it.
We opened an emergency relief fundraising campaign April through August 2020 to do everything we could to help support them in that difficult time that was very real globally. We specifically focused on the Hopi and Q’ero people we work with due to our direct relationship. Hence, we had the most control over the needed funds and supplies reaching them.
Hopi: Between April through August 2020, we sent funds for protective equipment, and made food and mask deliveries every few weeks to the Hopi villages of Lower Moencopi and Shungopavi.
Total funds raised for Hopi: $10,700.
Q’ero: We were able to deliver funds in May and August to alleviate food insecurities to Cusco to help members of the Hatun Q’ero weavers group living between Cusco and their villages. They were unable to get to their crops at their village fields due to the closing of Indigenous lands, and had very limited income to buy food in Cusco.
We had confirmed the Peruvian government was not providing aid to the isolated, high altitude Q’ero village Ccochamocco. While we were prepared to deliver food to the village since June, we were unable to do so until October when Indigenous lands finally opened. Read Food for Ccochamocco and view videos of the villagers expressing their gratitude.
Read our ongoing progress report April through August 2020 to fulfill the needs on Hopi and Q’ero, and detailing the generosity of donors and mask-makers, during those extremely difficult times.
Total funds raised for Q’ero: $8500.
COVID-19 Relief: Partner Support Program
We had been provided relief to the Hopi and Q’ero peoples by village. However, there were individual Wisdom Keepers in Mexico and Peru we’ve been working with directly for many years who were struggling greatly, due to the effect of the pandemic, to cover basic needs and continue their important work.
Between July 2020 through February 2021, we provided stipends to Doña Vilma Pinedo (Quechua Wisdom Keeper of Cusco) Don Xun Calixto (Tzotzil Maya healer in San Juan Chamula) and Tat Apab’yan Tew (K’iche’ Maya Daykeeper of Guatemala).
Total funds raised: $5600.
Supporting Maya Healer Doña Felicita Rixqiacche Sacche to Obtain Credentials to Serve Her People
Doña Felicita Rixqiacche Sacche is a respected Maya healer, herbalist and spiritual guide (Ajq’ij) living in Guatemala. She has worked as a traditional healer and teacher for many years. Although K’iche Maya, she has made her home among the Kaqchikel Maya, but still returns to K’iche Quetzaltenango for consultations and further training, and is doing work there with an herbal medicine cooperative.
Doña Felicita enrolled at Instituto Naturista in Huehuetenango, Guatemala to receive both a diploma and health department certification, thereby allowing her to better serve her people.
Between 2013-2015, Kenosis Spirit Keepers provided funding help for her tuition through graduation in 2015. Our final donation in 2016 provided the needed equipment and materials for her to re-establish herself in her home village where she now practices.
Total funds raised: $8470.
Emergency Assistance for Q’ero Village of Ccochamocco in the Peruvian Andes
Between 2013-2015, Kenosis Spirit Keepers responded to emergency conditions in Ccochamocco. States of emergency were declared off and on in Peru for high altitude areas due to extreme cold and snow storms. Deaths of children and alpaca were reported. Kenosis Spirit Keepers has a direct, longtime relationship with the Q’ero people of Ccochomocco. Our Q’ero friends were most at risk because they live at the highest altitude of the Q’ero villages in the Andes. They are quite isolated living in stone huts in desolate conditions. We sought donations for emergency assistance to send food and blankets, and secured a way to transport. The response was overwhelming. Due to donations we were able to purchase and transport food supplies, children’s clothing and alpaca blankets. Thankfully, no children were lost. Sadly, the alpaca herd suffered. We were also able to donate to the community herd for replacement alpaca that had perished.
Total funds raised: $7850.
Alliance with Flordemayo’s The Path: Supporting 40 Acres and the Seed Temple
We were honored to support the establishment of The Path’s work toward preserving Native seeds and plants used in traditional agriculture and healing that are in danger of contamination and extinction. The buildings are built and ceremonial places created; seed saving efforts are in full swing. From 2012 to 2014 we raised funds to assist. A brief description is below. For more information, please go to The Path’s website.
Flordemayo, a member of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, established The Path, a nonprofit, whose mission is to build an underground seed vault that will become, not only a place of protection, but also one of prayer and of teaching sacred ways. The Path’s mission is to conserve and distribute seeds for future generations. In addition, The Path’s vision is to raise spiritual consciousness on the interconnectedness between humanity and Mother Earth. The purchase of forty acres near Estancia, New Mexico was accomplished by Winter 2010. Seed savers and trained volunteers are sorting and documenting seeds already received and preserved in a controlled environment in the underground vault. The plans also include organic gardening in a greenhouse with proper filtering (HEPA-filters) to keep the integrity of the heritage seeds from GMO-contamination, training and distribution to growers.
Total funds raised: $7800.
Preserving Folkloric Traditions of the Andes
Willkasara is based in Pisaq, Peru and was founded by Martika Qorichayna, Wachan Bajiyoperak and daughter Shiqwarkenti to preserve the cultural heritage of the people of the Andes. Their mission is to pass down the sacred Andean music that is traditional from Peru and provide Quechua young people with the knowledge of their ancestors while increasing spiritual, emotional and economic levels of wellbeing. Their music and dance project strives to instill the wisdom and dignity of Indigenous culture, while working within a framework of reciprocity, respect and social justice. In 2015, we made a donation to serve their needs.
Total funds raised: $400.
Documentary Film
During our 2008 Spirit Keepers Journey in Peru extensive footage was taken showing traditions, as well as some never before filmed interviews and sacred rituals, all done with full permission of the participants. We intended to produce videos in order to raise awareness of the fragility of Indigenous cultures and the importance they be sustained. In 2012, Kenosis Spirit Keepers received a private donation that allowed us to produce the first of these videos. In November 2013, a 17-minute video Q’ero and Hopi Spirit Keepers Share Traditions was uploaded and shown in the Spirit Keepers Journey section of What We Support and You Tube.
Total funds raised: $6000.
Building a School in Peru for the Q’ero Nation
In July 2008 during our gathering with Q’ero paq’os (shamans) and community leaders, immediately after a despacho (blessing) ceremony, we asked what we could offer the Q’ero Nation in reciprocity for all they had shared with us over the years.
They asked us to help them build a school in the Q’ero village of Cochamocco. Because the nearest school is three hours away over very rough terrain, none of the children had gone to school. There are approximately forty children in Cochamocco currently. The Peruvian
government offers the Q’ero Nation little to no support and they had no funds to accomplish this on their own. Q’ero leaders were very clear that they did not want a mestizo school built of concrete blocks, but one resembling their own traditional stone dwellings. Hence, they would
construct the school and we agreed to raise funds to provide such materials as windows, doors, stoves, Q’ero Village of Cochamocco whatever was not available on site. Benches, desks and school supplies were also required as well as a Quechua speaking teacher who would uphold their culture.
Between 2008-2009 we raised funds through private donations, joining other organizations and individuals supporting this project. On March 8, 2010 the Cochamocco village school started its first school year in their new building with a teacher and curriculum that honors their traditions.
Providing Sanitation and Aid in Mollamarka
Mollamarka is a Quechua village in relative isolation about five hours outside Cusco. We provided aid to families of Mollamarka by purchasing blankets to protect against the cold. We bought these in the market in Cusco and brought with us to Mollamarka.
In addition, the school was in need of a bathroom for the children. In 2009, we raised funds to provide materials and labor.
Total funds raised: $3000.