Sol y Luna wins Pure Award for Community Engagement
Sol y Luna founder, Petit Miribel, has lived her life practicing “community engagement” in Peru’s Sacred Valley.
In 1998, she moved to the area with her husband Franz, soon founding the Sol y Luna Foundation to support local education facilities.
Hotel Sol y Luna quickly followed, built to help raise more funds for the Foundation itself.
Now a 43 casita Relais & Chateaux hotel, offering unrivalled service, gastronomy and cultural experiences in idyllic, flower and butterfly-filled gardens, not to mention incredible excursions to Machu Picchu and other Inca and colonial sites in the region, the hotel continues to help fund the Sol y Luna Foundation set up 25 years ago this year.
Strong foundations
As the Sol y Luna Foundation grew, it widened its scope to provide more support to some of the Sacred Valley’s most disadvantaged children. It opened its own school in 2009, which now educates almost 200 students from kindergarten up to secondary school age.
Paqari, a specialist centre for disabled children, soon followed, providing personalised therapy, rehabilitation, education and social support.
In 2018 the Foundation opened the Sol y Luna Home, an orphanage and children’s home that provides a loving, safe environment for children that have suffered abuse, abandonment or bereavement.
Petit with children supported by the Sol y Luna Foundation
The fourth pillar of the Foundation is its Roots & Wings programme, where children graduation from the Sol y Luna School are provided further support to pursue university education and apprenticeships.
Award winning community engagement
For these incredible efforts, Petit was honoured to receive the PURE community engagement sustainability award in Marrakech.
This category is for a project or initiative that sensitively integrates with the local community, aligning itself with the values of the residents whilst protecting the authenticity of their culture.
The award was given specifically for the creation of the Sol y Luna Home, which provides a haven for dozens of children from troubled backgrounds, many of whom have suffered deeply.
The award pays testament to Petit’s lifetime of dedication to others, and is a fantastic recognition of her relentless hard work and ongoing commitment to the children and families of the Sacred Valley.
Get involved
From spending an hour visiting the Sol y Luna School, to volunteering for several months, and anything in between (we’ve even had retired teachers help out for a week), we always welcome guests and visitors who would like to share some time with the children at our foundation.
The Foundation is largely dependent on donations, so any support is always hugely appreciated. One fantastic way to do this is by sponsoring a child’s education, which provides ongoing support to fund a child’s education and pastoral care throughout their time at the Sol y Luna School.
Sponsors receive frequent news and updates about the student they are supporting, and are welcome to visit to see how they are getting on.
We also have an annual fundraiser for those looking to make a one-off donation. This year’s campaign is focussing on nutrition and mental health.
How to pack for a purpose
Ever thought of your excess baggage as free shipping? That’s the concept behind Pack for a Purpose, a non-profit website dedicated to letting you know what is needed at your next travel destination.
We have a profile for the Sol y Luna School outlining items that are in short supply, ranging from small things like crayons to arts supplies and musical instruments. If you are heading our way, any supplies are always hugely appreciated by the children here!
Footprint
The name Footprint originally came from our newsletter and we decided to use it for the Sol y Luna blog as well. Footprint fits well with the concept of Sol y Luna: our hotel was founded to support the local community. Leave footprints of kindness wherever you go.
