An Elementary School in the Peruvian Andes

Sponsored by Pachamama’s Path, Inc., a public charity under IRS § 501(c)(3) All contributions are tax deductible

Kusi Kawsay Annual Donations Monthly Donation : $55.00 USD Annual Donation : $660.00 USD

If you would like to print our support mailers for posters, please click the images below to download the full resolution posters.

Making a Gift

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If you would like to make a gift to Kusi Kawsay, an Andean Waldorf inspired alternative School; you can use any of the following methods:

Pay Online

Make your gift using our secure Pay Pal account online.
Tax-deductible donations for US taxpayers use Pachamama's Path - our US 501(c)(3) charity.

Check

Please make checks payable to Pachamama’s Path and mail to:
Pachamama’s Path
5543 Pelican Way
St. Augustine, FL 32080-7051
USA

Wire Transfer

You may make your gift by wire transfer. When making the transfer, please be sure to note the name of the donor and the gift designation.

*Please contact our U.S. representative, Ann Beckham via email by clicking on the contact page, via snail mail at the above address, or call her at (904) 461-4575 for wire transfer information. Please remember to notify Ann of your wire transfer.

Canadian, European or taxpayers from other countries don't need to go thru PP, but could, if they prefer, send the monies directly to the Kusi Kawsay account in Cusco. For wire transfer instructions please contact us.

For information on how to make a tax-deductible donation in Germany, please contact us.

Stock

Donating gifts of appreciated securities that have been held for more than one year enables a donor to:

• Avoid all capital gains tax on the appreciated portion of the stock
• Qualify for tax deduction equal to the stock's full fair market value
• Make a larger gift than might be otherwise possible

To make a gift of stock to Pachamama’s Path, please contact our U.S. representative, Ann Beckham via email by clicking on the contact page, via snail mail at the above address, or call her at (904) 461-4575 for wire transfer information.

Notes of Caution All securities must be placed in Pachamama’s Path name prior to being sold; otherwise, you will be responsible for paying the capital gains tax. Also, please be sure to instruct your broker to contact our U.S. representative, Ann Beckham to let us know that your gift is being transferred.

The Kusi Kawsay Gift Plan

Many donors already make contributions to Kusi Kawsay through monthly or quarterly credit or debit card payments. The KK Gift Plan provides a convenient and effortless method for spreading payment of your gift over the course of a year. We accept monthly and annual contributions below.

Kusi Kawsay Annual Donations Monthly Donation : $55.00 USD Annual Donation : $660.00 USD

Double Your Contribution

Many corporations offer matching gift programs for their employees and their families. Most programs match dollar for dollar, but there are some companies that match 2:1 and even 3:1. This is a great opportunity to increase your gift and help Kusi Kawsay.

Or simply inspire a friend to match your contribution.

Annual Operating Budget

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The Kusi Fund is the most important source of unrestricted funds to the school’s operation, meaning that it helps us bridge the gap between tuition and the cost of operating the school. Because tuition is minimum, The Kusi Fund, our annual giving program, is crucial to the Kusi Kawsay experience.

From teacher salaries to scholarships, from books to classroom technology, from training a wonderful new teacher to putting on a theatrical performance, from workshop implementation to materials, annual giving provides for an educational atmosphere that is vibrant— for the each child’s whole being ~ academically, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and all of this interrelated with the their natural environment. Kusi Kawsay helps provide guidance, materials, inspiration ~ but each child is the weaver of their very own textile. The Kusi Fund facilitates the continuous art of weavings in progress. And together we all form part of this intrinsically beautiful weaving of life.

For detailed information, please request our complete Annual Operational Budget.

The Kusi Fund contributes approximately 80 percent of the operating budget. The remaining 20 percent will be covered by tuition, local school fundraising activities and grants.

At the end of each fiscal year, The Kusi Fund returns to zero, which is why a commitment to annual giving by our friends, alumnae and parents is very important.

Why is your contribution so important to Kusi Kawsay?

By participating in The Kusi Fund, you create the excellence of a well – rounded, alternative education. Your gift helps Kusi Kawsay meet financial obligations for needs such as:

• Student scholarships
• Dignified faculty salaries
• Maintenance of the beautiful facilities and grounds
• Library acquisitions
• Performing and visual arts
• Academic equipment & materials
• Specialized workshop equipment & materials
• Teacher training program
• Parent school
• Agriculture/ecological Programs & materials

Construction

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Thanks to amazing support we have completed a great portion of the infrastructure.

• Five classrooms and a new kindergarten are complete, with their corresponding bathrooms. We have first grade in one classroom, 2nd & 3rd in a multi grade classroom, 4th & 5th in a multi grade classroom, 6th grade in a classroom and 7th grade in a classroom.
• Our bio digester septic system is ecologically friendly.
• Extensive terrace work has been completed, with one last section almost finished. It is beautifully done, with stone pathways and stairways.
• The administrative area/teacher’s lounge is located in the building that existed on the land.

Our construction needs are to build the 6th, 7th and 8th grade classrooms to remedy overcrowded classrooms and repair the water holding reservoir to assure clean water and irrigation for our agricultural program.

Once the classrooms through 8th grade are complete we plan to continue building a kitchen area, library, implemented workshops, an audiovisual auditorium and a museum / store. This will proceed once we have stabilized our economic situation and have a sustainable fundraising strategy that assures the annual operating cost.

From schoolhouses to bathrooms, from beautiful terrace work to stone entranceways, from a library to administrative and teacher’s lounge area, from specialized workshop areas to recreational areas, this one time investment creates a vibrant educational atmosphere — one that honors Andean aesthetic, traditional building techniques and above all with a strong environmental conscience.

We have a 3 phase / 3 to 4 year construction plan. Phase one needs to be completed as we prepare to move into phase two for 2011. For detailed information and updates on accomplishments to date, please request our complete Three Phrase Construction Plan.

The Kusi Fund contributes approximately 75 percent of the construction costs. The remaining 25 percent will be covered by grants and communal workdays. Your gift will make the success of building our school a reality.

Why is your contribution so important to Kusi Kawsay?

By participating in The Kusi Fund, your gift helps build a spectacular campus that meets infrastructure needs such as:

• Beautiful facilities and grounds honoring Andean aesthetic and traditional techniques
• Revival of amazing Andean terrace work, stone pathways and ancestral agrarian and landscaping practices
• Environmentally conscience campus
• Schoolhouses: one Kindergarten, 8 School houses & 3 Upper grade classrooms
• Bathrooms for each group with bio-digester septic system ~ kindergarten, elementary and upper grades
• Complete water system – including reservoir
• Administrative area and teacher’s lounge area
• Complete solar system
• Agricultural / ecological / reforestation areas
• Recreational areas
• Specialized workshop areas
• Library / AV
• Museum/store
• Cultural area/ Auditorium for performing and visual arts
• Caretaker’s house / Storage area

Construction Update

Completed to Date:

Building started on August 12, 2009 and we are close to accomplishing phase one ~ but not quite there yet!

• The complete protective wall has been repaired.
• Building and site plans are complete for K- 6 areas.
• The building sites for grades K - 6 are cleared, leveled and prepared. If you know the lay of the land you know what huge accomplishments these are!
• Extensive terrace work has been accomplished with such beauty, detail and craftsmanship.
• Artistic stone pathways and stairways that respect their natural surroundings are complete.
• An old adobe building on site was repaired and renovated for the kindergarten.
• An existing Ramada was transformed into a provisional classroom to host the upper grade study group that lost their classroom at the Cultural Center in Taray due to the floods.
• A multi use Ramada was built for teachers, construction workers and basic administrative tasks.
• A secure storage area for construction materials and a very provisional caretaker space was built.
• The water system was completed with a bio digester septic system. One bathroom unit with 4 bathrooms (2 girls, 2 boys) for the kindergarten and one bathroom unit with 4 bathrooms (2 girls, 2 boys) for the elementary school is complete.
• Four schoolhouses are complete in the K- 6 area.

Newest accomplishments to date:

• Kindergarten class complete in the kindergarten area
• Stone walkways in front of all classrooms with drainage systems
• Front entrance with sign
• Set up administrative area / teacher lounge in old kindergarten house
• Building and site plans for upper grade area
• Water filter installed for drinking water
• Two fruit trees planted per grade

We have made tremendous progress – enough to let us start the 2010 school year at the new school - but so much remains to be constructed.

Highlights: Being in our own school is a true joy!

The school site is beautiful – the land is spectacular. It is a perfect space for our Waldorf Andean education project. We are so grateful to be here.

• The teachers and students finally enjoy a necessary space that is conducive to organization and implementation of our Waldorf Andean methodology.
• The construction team has a true conscience of what this project is about – they identify with the vision and goals and put all of their best energy into the construction. One can sense this commitment in each artistic and carefully built detail. This strengthens the project as a whole.
• The accomplishments in the beauty, simplicity, cultural aesthetic and identity, high quality, creativity and ecological mindfulness found in each detail in the construction is a source of pride, dignity and encouragement for all participating in this project - the heartbeat of our vision.
• We are full of gratitude that we were able to find necessary funding and support that has allowed us to accomplish as much as we have to date.

Obstacles encountered:

• We underestimated the amount of work required to prepare the site for construction. The nature of the land is rocky – and it was much harder to clear the land and build the terraces than anticipated. We did not foresee this expense in terms of time and money.
• This work needed machinery – but was all hand done due to the geography of the land and therefore more time and money.
• Because there is no vehicle access to the land all building materials have to be hauled up by workers. This takes more time and money.
• We are expanding into upper grades for the school year 2011, which requires more construction to be completed in phase one and therefore incremented our budget for phase one.
• Respecting and honoring our natural surroundings is priority in our vision. This priority guides our careful selection of placement, design, material and system choices in each aspect of this project. Our criteria are based on a profound respect for the land and natural landscape with out altering the environment. Making ecological decisions in defense of nature sometimes requires more work and expense, but is absolutely necessary in our vision.
• The flooding and loss thereby put us behind schedule and strained everyone involved in the project emotionally. It was very hard to accomplish construction in the heavy rains in time for the first day of school.
• With the constant fluctuation of the exchange rate, which is dropping markedly, we have to constantly readjust our budget. Also construction material costs are going up by the day. This causes modifications that increment our budget.
• Our constant limited economic reality is Kusi Kawsay’s largest obstacle. It made us cautious to proceed and we had to carefully choose priorities – we could have advanced more this year if funding had not been so limited.
• Currently we are at the end of our funds - we need to secure more funds in order to continue and complete phase one. This creates stress because we need to complete minimum of three classrooms before school starts in March 2011. We have a great team of workers full of momentum and dedication ready to continue building – but without the money we will not be able to proceed.