When Sol y Luna founder Petit Miribel first came to Peru’s Sacred Valley in 1998, she and her husband Franz founded the Sol y Luna Foundation to help fund education for disadvantaged children.

The Foundation has grown from strength to strength, opening a school in 2009, a centre for disabled children in 2015, and the Sol y Luna Home in 2018.

Milestone

And now, the Foundation has reached its next impressive milestone.

2023 marks the Sol y Luna Foundation’s 25 year anniversary.

This fantastic achievement marks a quarter of a century supporting some of Peru’s most disadvantaged children, providing holistic educational and pastoral care support to children who, in many instances, have faced extreme poverty, abuse or neglect and had nowhere else to turn.

Four pillars

The Foundation is now split in to four core projects. More information is available on its new website, designed to share more details of its work in combination with a series of short films that help give a sense of the brilliant work it does every day.

The Sol y Luna School, initially opened to children of kindergarten age and the first few years of primary school, was subsequently expanded to provide full primary and secondary education. The first children graduated from the school in 2017, whilst Petit and Franz’s own children, Thomas and Melanie, completed their studies in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Paqari, a dedicated disabled faculty, is centred around the concept of inclusion, and supports children living with special needs.

The Sol y Luna Home opened its doors in 2018, providing a safe and loving environment for children who, for various reasons, cannot live at home.

Onwards and upwards

25 years is a tremendous achievement, but there are no plans to slow down. The school continues to provide vital education to a growing number of deserving children in the villages and towns of the Sacred Valley, and is constantly looking for more ways to provide crucial support to children from these local communities.

Of course, all of this requires ongoing funding to pay for staff, facilities, resources and training. Petit founded Hotel Sol y Luna to do exactly that – the Foundation is partially supported by profits from the hotel itself – and guests are welcome to visit the foundation to see it first hand.

But this funding only goes so far, so additional donations are vital to allow the Foundation to continue.

There are many ways to get involved, including sponsoring a child’s education and making a one-off donation through supporting the annual fundraiser, this year focusing on nutrition and mental health, or volunteering to help out at the school, home or Paqari.

If you would like to get in touch with the Foundation, please do get in touch and we would be delighted to hear from you.

In the meantime, here’s to Petit and Franz, and all the team at the Sol y Luna Foundation, for 25 years – what an achievement!