June 10, 2007 by Didi AMV.

We have just finished the Mission Statement for Machu Picchu Stars:

Poverty is one of the biggest causes of disabilities.  People with disabilities are the poorest of the poor in any country.  People with disabilities don´t have disadvantages because of their disabilities.  The disadvantages experienced by the disabled  arise because of the barriers to opportunites  that society puts in their way. 
  Machu Picchu Stars is a project that seeks to eliminate the blocks that hearing disabled people experience and give them access to a life with dignity.  Our main focus is to provide work opportunities which help the hearing disabled integrate into society,  become independent, and  lead productive lives.  We strive to do this in a holistic way by also addressing  educational and health care needs.
 

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June 6, 2007 by Didi AMV.

In Quechua, the language of the ancient Incas, Rurapuk means “people who help each other”. The Rurapuk project is run by the Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT – a not for profit organization) and has three programs - The Rurapuk Hot Lunch Program, Rurapuk Mothers and the Machu Picchu Stars. The Rurapuk Hot Lunch Program (known as the Comedor) provides hot meals to nutritionally at risk children in a very poor area of Lima called Paraiso Alto; Rurapuk Mothers is a sewing collective which provides employment and helps to empower poor women; and Machu Picchu Stars is a group of hearing disabled persons who make hand made dolls and children’s clothes. The members of Rurapuk Mothers and the Machu Picchu Stars receive a fare wage and profits are reinvested back into the projects.

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