NEXT-LEVEL LEARNING IN PERU’S SACRED VALLEY
The picturesque Andean town of Urubamba is the hub for 12 indigenous communities in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. This is a land where tradition endures. Other than tourism, little of the outside world touches the rural communities, who live simple lives with minimal health and educational facilities.
The Children of the Rainbow School (Fundacion Ninos del Arco Iris) was founded to serve one of these communities of the Sacred Valley. The school not only provides an education for the children, but also works with a health clinic in the area to provide various types of medical care. So, alongside literacy and language lessons are sessions on nutrition, personal and social development, and respecting and caring for local plants and wildlife.
“Education is the best tool we can give to our kids to help them lead a good life,” says Sandra Solis, A&K Philanthropy Coordinator in Peru.
Within the school is also a dedicated space for dentistry, including a dentist chair, which AKP helped to establish. A dentist is on site on a rotating basis, and their services are made available at the school to the children as well as their families.
“The school is very nice. They teach well. They have good teachers. I like the classes and have taught my mom a bit of English.” – student from the video below.
AKP has been supporting the Children of the Rainbow’s integrated approach to education, health and emotional development since 2008. Our funding has helped contribute to nutrition programs tailored to individual needs and medical care.
In 2024, AKP is funding English and Quechua classes for all of the students at the school, and the addition of a roof over the restaurant terrace.
Today, approximately 200 children attend the school (which serves children up to 6th grade or age 11). “I feel they take care of me because they give me healthy food, they give me a placemat with colors,” says one student, Sonyú. “We have to value food and our classmates because some of them don’t have enough to eat.”
Visit the Children of the Rainbow school for a lunch of traditional Peruvian food made with organic, locally grown produce, served under a canopy in the school’s verdant garden, accompanied by equestrian and dance performances. The experience can be arranged as part of a visit to Machu Picchu & the Sacred Valley or any Tailor Made Journey to Peru.
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