How We Work to Remove Barriers of Education – Volume 1, Episode 2: Chicuchas Wasi School for Girls

We often take everyday items for granted, like access to electricity and to the internet. When you walk into a classroom, you would expect the lights to be on, right? Or even an iPad to work from? Unfortunately, for the Chicuchas Wasi School for Girls in Cusco, Peru, that wasn’t the student experience. However, in 2015, a Circle of Sisterhood grant of $5,000 quite literally helped them turn the lights on and gain access to educational resources beyond books. Watch the newest Circle of Sisterhood vlog to see a photo of the girl’s reaction to a computer coming on for the first time in their classroom and how this essential resource is broadening and deepening their education.

About the Chicuchas Wasi School for Girls

Chicuchas Wasi (CW) promotes gender equality, self-esteem, and human dignity for indigenous girls of rural Cusco, Peru. CW began its work in 1987 focused on the many children abandoned barely surviving alone on the streets of Cusco. CW provided a much-needed, temporary emergency band-aid for these children via a safe house, but did not address the many reasons for their suffering. Recognizing the need for female education, in 1997 CW reorganized to prepare and educate poor girls to become economically independent and the future leaders for social change to end gender inequality, female abuse and child abandonment. CW provides free, K-6 education, emphasizing personal development, empowerment, and academics. Today Chicuchas Wasi School for Girls is recognized as a valued educational institution within the Cusco community. A 2015 CofS grant of $5,000 funded the installation of electricity at Chicuchas Wasi School for Girls, opening up educational access through the use of audio and video educational materials and computers.