Community projects

Ecological touristic project in the Kinsa Ccocha and Azul Ccocha Lagoons for the benefit of the community: This project will help generate income for the local inhabitants where the community will be an active element in this touristic activity. The Paru-Paru community receives support from the Peru Grand Travel agency to successfully put together the realization of this project.

Carrying out entrepreneurial chats: By us carrying out these entrepreneurial chats for the inhabitants of Paru-Paru, they will result in us being able to contribute to the improvement of the economic income of the community. These talks will generally be based around tourism and how to make the daily activities of the community assist in generating economic income for their families.

Making donations: It is a way to be able to help the Paru-Paru community during the winter months by making donations of foodstuffs that can be useful for the whole community where they help to combat the strong freezing temperatures that occur during the months of May, June, July, August, September, and October.

The Paru-Paru community is located to the northwest of the district of Pisac in the upper part, in the Quechua ecological region called Suni at 4,500 meters above sea level, at 11 kilometers in distance. To access this town, you need to travel along a dirt road, which begins in the central town of Q’ello-Q’ello, passing by the Amaru community, which culminates into the Paru-Paru community.

The temperature during the rainy season gets down to 4.5 degrees Celsius and reaches an average temperature of 16 degrees Celsius. In the dry season, also known as the winter season, the temperatures drops to around -3.7 degrees Celsius, with the coldness being quite strong here.

The known date of the creation of the rural community of Paru-Paru is the 21st of May 1952. Every year on the 21st of May, they put on activities here to celebrate the community of Paru-Paru.

The community of Paru-Paru is located in the district of Pisaq. The main authority of the community is the mayor of the district of Pisaq: Julian Quispe Quispe.

Most of the dwellings in the Paru-Paru community have an obvious rural influence, using both adobe as the predominant structural material as well as in the covering of tiles and straw to obtain their own weather conditions of the Andes.

Most of the dwellings that are found in this rural area are linked to their productive activity that is to say that they have spaces for the raising of vaccinated livestock such as for sheep, pigs, and younger animals. This is a factor that puts to risk the possibility of contagiousness of any illness that the local inhabitant ends up getting.

According to the census conducted in the year 2007, the Paru-Paru community had 144 rural dwellings with a population of 652 inhabitants.

The Paru-Paru community has an economic livelihood dependent on the agriculture and touristic activity that goes on in the community. They dedicate themselves to agriculture but due to the fact that working, as a porter is a considerable form of income, they also are porters.

The main activity among some parts of the population of the community is agriculture, followed by herding, however artisanal activity, as a consequence of the recent incursion of tourists, is growing at an enormous pace.

The Paru-Paru community has potential in hydric resources because of the Ccocha and Azul Ccocha Lagoons being the biggest factor. The hydric reserves are most important for watering their crops from the bottom of the intermediary valley and for the Quechua people in the district of Pisac. This natural and ecological environment is advantageous for the stunning presence of wild flora and fauna.

There is a high poverty index and abandonment in the Paru-Paru community, which increases health problems in which results into a high index of mortality in children and older adults, due to the lack of health facilities within the communities. The health facilities are all located further away.

The majority of the inhabitants of the Paru-Paru community are catholic, however their worship is intimately linked to the Andean religion. They continue to maintain their ancestral cult beliefs of the Pachamama and the Apus.

The special relationship with the environment, which is considered sacred, is expressed during festivals throughout the year, such as the Santuruma Tinkay, an invocation of gratitude to the Pachamama. This festival is in hope of bringing the good production of native potatoes and the maintaining of the associated biodiversity to the knowledge of local tradition. There is also a festival for their farms, known as the Papa Watay, which can be translated as the “Imprisonment of the Spirit of the Potatoes”, held in May or June, once the potato harvest has started.

Religious Festivals:

The Paru-Paru community has three important religious festivals:

• Señor Dulce Nombre de Jesús (celebrated every 6th of September)
• Santísima Virgen de Magdalena Concebida
• San Isidro Labrador

Tourist Attractions in the Paru-Paru community:

• The Kinsa Ccocha Lagoon
• The Azul Ccocha Lagoon