The Worlds Leading Programme for Childrens Health & Exercise
Treking in Peru
Last February I made a commitment to take part in a charity trek to Peru in aid of The Manchester United Foundation (the charity wing of the football club,raisng money for charities such as Cristies,Francis House & UNICEF).
With the support of family and friends I set about training and fundraising. On the day I was heading for the airport we surpassed the figure we aimed to raise and currently have raised over £3,700. It was with some trepidation and a lot of fear that I arrived at Manchester airport. Saying goodbye to my family was the hardest thing as I was not going to be in touch for ten days. The group I was to share this adventure with all met in Heathrow airport. It was an eclectic mix of people which included former United player David May! Following a thirty hour journey consisting of trains, planes and automobiles we arrived in the city of Cusco, the ancient Inca capital. In order to acclimatise to the high altitude (11,400ft) we trekked out to ancient Inca ruins where we saw for ourselves the genius of this ancient civilisation. They built aqua ducts so every household had access to clean water, they had good sanitation facilities and made effective use of the rich soil around them.
The main focus of the trek was to head to the remote and rarely visited Lares Valley. This is where the ‘life changing’ experience everyone talked about occurred. We saw abject poverty mixed with contentment and happiness. The people we met had very little other than simple hut houses and the clothes on their backs but they were the happiest, friendliest people I have ever met. One woman lived in the most basic house I have ever seen with her husband and four children. Her little baby was one month old and she had given birth all alone up by the fields that they till. She sent her three year old daughter down to get her father; a journey that would have taken us two hours to complete. I was very upset about this encounter. I believe it was because I was a mother like her and yet appeared to have so much more than her. However, the Peruvian doctor who travelled with us explained that they do not have the material desires that we have. They have a good life expectancy (95yrs for the women and 85 for the men). The ‘luxuries’ of the western world are not important to them. They work the fields as a community, helping each other in a way that we have forgotten about over here. It was to be one of the many lessons that I learnt.
Children would appear out of nowhere in traditional colourful dress. They would greet you shyly but beam at you and say gracias when you gave them a piece of fruit or a pencil. We were entertained in the areas where our camps were set up by the singing of songs, games of tug of war and of course some football! They overall feeling was contentment for a way of life that was simple in its existence but rich in its principles. It made me address what it is that is important. Many a tear was shed on this trip not just for the people we met but when we all reached the highest point of the trip (4,378M). The sense of achievement was immense.
It was quite striking when we arrived at Machu Picchu. The place has a mystical beauty but we all found it difficult being amongst so many people after the remoteness of the Lares Valley.
There are many things that I will take away from this experience – the beauty and wildness of the Andes, the awe of Machu Picchu, the bond created with a group of people who completed both a physical and emotional journey but more than anything the spirit of an ancient civilisation that lives on in the hearts of the Quechua people who welcomed us with open arms and warm hearts.
Little Quechuan
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