Are you interested in working with Father David Johnson and the
Development Group of Pamparomas in the Catholic Diocese of Chimbote to promote
sustainable development of a very unique place in the Andes Mountains of Peru?
We'd love to have you!
WHO WE ARE:
The Development Group of Pamparomas is a local grass-roots organization, co-founded by Father David Johnson of Grindrod, British Columbia, Canada and now Pastor of Santiago, Pamparomas, which works to stimulate and promote sustainable and self-sufficient development in the District of Pamparomas.
We work in partnership with the population of Pamparomas, incorporating local wisdom, experience and dedication to advance the development of the district. The main objectives of our development group are as follows:
1. To improve agriculture, which is the economic and cultural base of the District of Pamparomas.
Typical mountainside agriculture
A plant nursery that bas been developed recently
2. To promote the status of women, incorporating aspects such as income, autonomy, health, legal rights
and education.
Michelle Mulder of Port Moody, BC with Women of Pamparomas
Melanie Fricot of Salmon Arm, BC with a Women's Group
3. To promote ecology and environmental awareness in this unique mountain environment.
A typical mountain village in an unique ecology
Mel and Celso with Mt Huarascan in the background
4. To promote health and education.
Kids are kids most anywhere!!
Irresistible Peruvian smiles
WHERE WE ARE LOCATED
We are located in Pamparomas, a village of 500 people, which sits at 2700 m above sea level in the Western Range of the Andes mountains. Pamparomas boasts a secondary school, a health post, a church, and several bakeries.
Feast day of St James in Pamparomas
And the men shall dance ....
Much of our work is done in the 42 villages which surround Pamparomas and which form the District of Pamparomas. The villages range from 1500 m above sea level to 4000 m, and in general have fewer amenities than Pamparomas.
A simple lifestyle with many unique pleasures
... and much to learn and people eager to learn
Some villages are accessible by road, others only by foot path. Few have electricity. Tradition in the villages remains among the strongest in all of Peru. The clothing is made from hand-spun and hand-woven wool, women often wearing up to 6 skirts in a rainbow of colours.
... and the women shall dance
... and the Pastor shall fish!!
Meals are cooked over wood fires, and are almost entirely composed of ingredients grown in their own farms. Agriculture is practised in small family parcels on the steep slopes of the Andes mountains which are plowed by hand or teams of oxen, and irrigated by a system of canals or the seasonal rains. Sheep and goats are pastured by shepherdesses. Quechua, language of the Incas, is still predominantly spoken.
Interested? Need to know more? Follow this link ..... c'mon now!