Presentation: Survey Results & Agriculture Plan of Action

This morning there was a meeting in Media Luna that was attended by members from nearly half of the families in the community, about 40 people. We presented the results from the survey as well as our plan to improve the quality of life in Media Luna through the optimization of agriculture. One method to improve agricultural production that we've identified is to covert the soil of Media Luna from chemical fertilizers to organic. The first components of this transition include finding an agriculture specialist that could assist us in the finalization of our proposal to the Municipality of Urubamba, such proposal aims to obtain state funds for the project (the municipality offers amounts up to 1,000,000 soles, about 300,000 US dollars for public infrastructure projects). It is imperative that funds for this project are obtained from the municipality or from a government agency because the project requires a large initial investment to cover soil analyses, the processes deemed necessary to improve the condition of the soil (there are many stones in the soil and the community believes that a tractor or some type of machinery is necessary to remove the stones and improve the overall soil quality), and the organic fertilizer products. Daniel has estimated the general cost of the transition to be about 50,000 soles.

An initial pilot project on a parcel of communal land is the best way to demonstrate the effectiveness of organic agriculture as well as teach the community how to create their own compost, a form of organic fertilizer that will eventually be sufficient to prepare the land for planting. The length of time necessary to convert the land is still unclear, from what we've been told it can take as little as one year or as long as five years. This is a subject matter that will be cleared up with a soil analysis. It is very possible that some pieces of land will take less time and others more time, depending on their location in the community.

The majority of the community realize that the land is dying from the chemically based products they use and are interested in pursuing an organic alternative. They agreed that we should continue with the project and that they would participate little by little, not 100 percent at first but that they wanted to see how a pilot project on communal land advances and determine from there if they want to participate in the transition project on their own land. A few community members voiced their doubts about organic products, because they are accustomed to using chemical products and feel more comfortable continuing to do so.

Although I now have only one week left in Urubamba, we hope to complete our proposal to submit to the municipality by the end of next week, ideally with the assistance of an agriculture professional.

The Possibility of Tourism in Media Luna

On Saturday November 7th Media Luna opened the largest water reservoir in the Sacred Valley. Daniel and I attended the festivities to observe and also converse with Zenobio, who had been out of touch for about two weeks. We found Zenobio at his house early in the morning, we discussed the assembly, when I would present the results of the survey to the Community Board and also asked about some rock paintings that Daniel was told about.

Zenobio confirmed the existence of the drawings and indicated roughly where on the mountain they're located. Thankfully there was a wait for the mayor to arrive and Zenobio was able to guide us up the mountain to the drawings, which were pretty well hidden. The quality of the drawings is not so good, considering they've been abandoned for any number of years. On the hike up the mountain we passed several Incan farming terraces, while not refinished they are in good condition. In addition to these sites, Zenobio told us that there is a lagoon on the peak of the mountain.

Upon the discovery of these sights in Media Luna, it became apparent that we should bring these sites to the attention of the municipality of Urubamba. It is the responsibility of the municipality to preserve these sites, the first step is to bring an archeologist to the site of the paintings to determine when and by who they were created, the second is to take the steps necessary to preserve the paintings and terraces, then we could discuss the possibility of using these sites to generate tourism revenue for the community of Media Luna.

We went to speak with the Department of Tourism at the municipality this morning about the sites. They were very receptive and asked for us to submit a proposal of action, defining the objectives of the project.

Healthcare in Urubamba & the Possibility of Healthcare in Media Luna

Today Conny accompanied Daniel and I to visit the directors of the private hospital and the public health center in Urubamba. We went with the intentions of learning about the health care system of Urubamba and to find out what the directors thought about creating a small healthcare post in Media Luna.

The private hospital is for people who are well insured and typically work in the professional sector. MINSA, the public health option, serves the lower-income sector that works in the manual labor sector, i.e. agriculture, construction, etc. This low-income section of the population is able to enroll in a public insurance option for one sol (approximately $0.30 US). Anyone who resides in the communities outside of Urubamba proper most likely goes to MINSA for their medical concerns, although the payment is small not everyone is insured. However, schools are working to make sure that the students are insured and sometimes able to talk with the entire families about the importance of the medical insurance.

The consensus regarding the idea to create some sort of outlet for medical attention in Media Luna is that it would be a waste of human and economic resources.

Dr. Martin, the director of the private hospital, reasoned that there are prerequisites for constructing medical centers, dependent on several factors but predominantly the population size of a community. He argued that the hospitals in Urubamba are close enough to Media Luna and maybe the problem lies in the availability of transportation.

Dr. Fredy, the director of MINSA, gave our proposition to create a small medical outlet some thought but still contended that it would be a waste of resources. Like many public health options, MINSA is lacking in personnel and technological resources. For example, he shared that the health center has been waiting three years for new scales. Dr. Freddy discussed two options that Nexos Voluntarios can contemplate in regards to addressing health issues in Media Luna. We can take a curative approach that would require the availability of a doctor and a nurse to the community and would only solve problems after they arise. Or we can pursue a preventative approach that would require either a nurse or a nursing technician and would aim to avoid most health problems before they occur.

Overall, the morning was slightly discouraging but absolutely necessary in the development of our plans for Media Luna. So many well-intentioned plans of development are never completed because they are not properly researched. While we need to start over with our thought process it is better to do so before any real actions were taken or funds were spent.