On a hill
above the dry sun-baked neighborhood of Ccotohuincho sits
Mosoq Runa, an orphanage for children. The orphanage
or “Habitat” as it is called, contains 3 houses,
a small courtyard with a brick oven and stellar views of the
surrounding red mountain of Yawarmaki and the snow
peak of Chicon. The directors, Ada Stevenja,
who is Croatian-Italian and Barbara Loringz
who is Hungarian-Swedish, have been caring for local children
for the past 4 years. |
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In this interview, Ada
Stevenja describes the struggles and rewards of running
this center, the support of Sol & Luna and future
plans and needs.
Q: What does the name Mosoq Runa mean?
AS: It means "new people". Well, literally it means
"new man", but we interpret it in a humanistic way
to say new people.
Q: How many children
do you have in the orphanage?
AS: We have 8 children that live here plus 3 that stay in
the daytime. So it is a combination of a daytime center and
also a place for children to live. |
Q: How and why did you establish
this orphanage?
AS: Well, I will tell you the whole story. I am Italian, born in
Croatia. I came to Peru about 11 years ago with a group that was
studying Indian cosmology. Something very strong happened to me
here. I decided I would come back and stay. I am a counselor you
know, since I was 21. I’ve always worked with children, severely
disturbed children, sick children . So I knew that in Peru, I would
work with children. I came at the end of January 1996. I was staying
in Calca (a town near Urubamaba) While I was there, I met the first
kids who would be in the orphanage. Edith was 2 years old and had
3 sisters and 3 brothers. She was in the street as I passed by on
my way home she would call out to me “Hola Gringita”.
She was with Bertha, her sister. I stopped and began talking to
her and eventually they both would come to my house. They did have
parents but it was a large family and the parents didn’t have
anything. So then, I met the parents and begin helping the family.
Then I moved to Urubamba where I worked with a theater group called
Cusi Wasi doing workshops for kids. During
this time, the girls from Calca would come to visit me on the weekends
and they spent all their vacations with me. Then 4 years ago, I
got some money from friends in Italy who said, look please use it
to help people in Peru. At the same time, I met 8 brothers and sisters
of one family but with 3 different fathers. Actually the last husband
was in jail for violating one of the girls who was 14 and retarded.
So the first thing I did with that money was to begin to help that
family. And then with Barbara Loringz a colleague from Cusi Wasi
from Sweden, I began doing workshops with these children in the
house where we were living at that time. But we ran into problems
with our landlord who didn’t want that many kids in that house.
So we knew we had to do something different. So we bought this land
with the money from my Italian friends.
Q: Did you have to do additional
fundraising?
AS: Sure. Because at that time, I would work 3 months a
year in the therapeutic community in Italy and live here
with that money. I could do that with 2 or 3 kids to support
but now with the new family of 8, that was impossible. So
I began thinking about how people do long-distance adoptions
in Africa and Brasil. Why not do the same thing for Peru?
I called a friend of mine and said look, let’s talk
to our other friends about this. The same year, we established
an association of volunteers in Turin, Italy which is called
Urubamba. The sole purpose was to help Mosoq Runa. We organized
fiestas and activities and dinners to raise money and to
raise awareness. So now we have a Family House which are
the houses around a courtyard, which will house at the most
12 children, plus the 2 other smaller houses.
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Q. Tell us about the children
and what their schedules are like here.
AS: One of the reasons that this project is becoming bigger and
bigger is that about 90 percent of people in our community are in
the same situation as these 8 kids. Many of them are part of large
families in which they get lost and are not cared for. So there
are many people to help. In terms of their schedules, during school
months, they go to the local public school and then help out during
lunch time and dinner time. When they are on vacation, we let them
have some time that is just holiday, but after that time, we give
them a schedule. Morning: studies, Afternoon: theater, music, singing,
sewing and baking and English workshops. Little ones are in bed
by 9, almost everyone is in bed by 9:30 and they all get up early
in the morning. On Sundays, they go visit their families or they
go to Sol & Luna for horseback rides.
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Q: How did Sol
& Luna become involved?
AS: I knew a friend of Petit Pois (founder of Sol &
Luna) who said to me, well you know you can all go to
Sol & Luna for horseback lessons. I said, really?
She said yes. So we made an arrangement to go there. This
was in 2003, I think. We all went - 12 kids plus Barbara and
me, all of us. That’s when I met Petit and we spoke
and I told her some of the things that we needed which she
gave us: plates, sheets, blankets. Then later, she came to
see the house and liked how we worked and we became friends.
So when I need, I ask and if she can help, she helps. For
example, we’ve just bought another small house with
the help of Sol & Luna investors But the most
important thing about Petit and Sol & Luna is
I know that here is someone I can count on if there are any
problems. And the other thing that I am thinking about in
terms of Sol & Luna is to see if some of the
oldest kids can visit there to learn things, like to see how
a chef works. Our biggest concern is the future of these children.
One day they have to leave here and where will they go? So
I want them to learn as much as they possibly can when they
are here, to think about their future. Until 18 they can stay
there, then we will see. If we are going to develop many different
projects, then probably some of them can, for sure, stay and
help us because we will need help.
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Q. What do you still need?
AS: A lot! We need another house! We need a Daytime Center so we
can have more kids during the day while their parents are at work.
We need workshops for adolescents like sewing and baking to make
things for our house first and then maybe to sell as we are thinking
how to be more self-sufficient. Barbara Loringz is in charge of
all the creative and expressive activities. She is forming a theater
with kids now. Our dream is that one day we will be a little theater
company with these children. For now, we need 2 stereos so we can
listen and play music for these workshops. We need a computer, a
big kitchen, furniture for a new house and of course and money to
go on with all the things we are doing. Our annual budget is about
30,000 to 40,000 USD to just maintain the place and run all our
programs. And finally, we need more volunteers, especially tailors,
bakers, hairdressers, people who can show us how to do these things
so that we can be more self-sufficient and so the kids can learn
a vocation. If we don’t reach that phase with the children,
it just doesn’t make sense. I mean, I am living my dream right
now with this place but I want the children here to have a future,
to live and make their dreams true.
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Q: How do you see the orphanage changing
in the future?
AS: I have grand plans! There will be a restaurant and store
where we sell things; a library, a place to see videos, maybe
even a disco, without alcohol but a fun place, just so that
young people have a place to go rather than just drink. I
would really like this to become a center for the people of
this community.
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For more information
about Mosoq Runa, please email: info@hotelsolyluna.com
Visits to Mosoq Runa can be arranged on request
during your stay at Sol & Luna.
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