My trip to Peru a few years ago was one of the most influential and inspirational for me and my family.
When I came back, I designed the next collection that was inspired by my Peru trip. I combined elements of Inca ancient tapestry and pottery design elements into my prints and embroidery design, that in turn were made into contemporary designed printed dresses, embroidery caftans, tops and more.
In addition to the usual but amazing touristic highlights such as Machu Picchu, we joined Edouard Ruelle from the Children of Peru organization for a day and visited a school up in the Andes mountains that was supported by their organization.
The school provided classes to all ages and was run as a boarding school. It was founded in order to provide solutions for the kids that live a great distance from any school and otherwise needed to walk through the mountain trails for 4 hours to get to the nearest school. This experience left a big impression.
We like to give back to those who inspire us, so this month we are donating 10% of all sales to the Children of Peru Foundation.
About Children of Peru
The Children of Peru Foundation was conceived by Edouard and Zaralina Ruelle. It was incorporated by the State of New York in February 2006. After several trips to Peru, re-discovering the ruins of ancient civilizations of the Incas, the Chimus or the Moches, in places such as Macchu-Picchu or Chanchan, after discovering the majesty of the Andes in places like Titicaca Lake, the beauty of the Coast with its desert, and the unbelievably dense Amazonian region, Edouard and Zaralina decided to do something to help the little children that you can see all over Peru, too often working in the streets instead of going to school, too often suffering (and dying) from diseases that no children living in the US or in Europe has ever come close to, and too often suffering from dysfunctional families with dramatic issues, such as sexual abuse or even death.
So they decided to create a not-for-profit organization in the US, dedicated to raising funds mainly in the US to help finance different non-governmental organizations working in Peru trying to make a difference for all these poor children.
A group of friends with a shared interest and with strong wills to participate and effectively make a difference grouped together and the Children of Peru Foundation was born. Everyone brings his or her knowledge, network and expertise in different areas to the Foundation, and everyone will dedicate time and money to reach their objective.
The Children of Peru Foundation has a 7-person Board of Directors that meets regularly to develop the organization's policies and to check on the progress being made. An Advisory Council was also set-up; this is a group of people who share our commitment to the children of Peru and who have agreed to put their expertise, their network and their experience toward the Foundation.
