Antoineta, a short dark-haired woman, has been the principal of this school for 4 years. It is the public school for Palccaraqui, the village behind Sol & Luna, a small hamlet of beaten-earth paths, fields of maize and potatoes, and humble stone and earth houses inhabited by a mixture of Spanish and Quechua-speaking people. The school provides a primary education for grades one through six. It comprises a few one-storey buildings around a red courtyard and to the right, where the games are being held, is a cement playing field with basketball hoops and soccer goals. “See these goals and hoops?” says Antonieta. “That’s the first thing that I asked Sol & Luna for, and the first thing I received, within a matter of days after asking.”

“I think it’s important”, says Petit Pois, the founder and owner of Sol & Luna, “to support this community in which we live, to connect to it. And I thought it was important to be involved from the start, so we have been a presence here in this school for 4 years now.” Petit says she first heard of this school through a Sol & Luna employee whose child was a student.

The principal keeps a notebook with a list of Sol & Luna gifts over the years. “I don’t want to forget,” she says. In her cool, blue-walled office, she reads out this list:
Roofs
Cylinders
Cement for courtyard
Computers
Water canals for the sides of the road
Moved all the stone piles that used to be in the courtyard
Combustible for all machines
Notebooks, Textbooks
Every year, wages for one teacher

“We are always needing things,” she says, “because we have about 250 students here and school attendance in general is good. It’s true that there are some children who sometimes don’t show up but usually it is for a very good reason: they are helping their family in the fields, they are moving the cattle, they are taking care of the house. It is a poor community here. That is why it is so important and wonderful that we have this help from Sol & Luna.”

There is a sudden roar from outside – the children, full flush into the dancing, are getting very excited. “I should go,” she says, “and join the fun.” As she puts away her notebook, she glances at the list again. “It’s amazing,” she says, “for all these things, instead of having to ask the municipality two, three, four times, I have only had to ask Sol & Luna once and I received them. I ask, they give.” She smiles and hurries away towards the singing.

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If you are interested in a visit to Palccaraqui public school during your stay at Sol & Luna, ask at Reception for details.
For more information about Palccaraqui public school, please email: info@hotelsolyluna.com