Many small NGOs are created as a result of vacations. This project is a good example. In 1986, a man named René Fisch took a trip to Peru. Appalled at the poverty he saw there, he decided to do something about it on his return home. He put together an association called “A Bridge to Latin America” and gathered funds to better people’s lives.

Today that small NGO has grown and works in a few countries in Latin America. The principle philosophy of the “Bridge” is to make life better in the countryside so that people won’t be pressured to go look for work in the cities, ending up worse off in the slums surrounding most big cities. This year, the “Bridge” is celebrating 20 years of dedication and helping with educational, agricultural and social projects. The NGO is run by a couple of schoolteachers in Diekirch,

To keep her baby healthy, a mother learns about new vegetables that can grow at high altitudes, here over 5000 m.

Luxembourg, Jacques and Micheline Dahm. They have been working for years, voluntarily, in the evenings, weekends and vacations and their enthusiasm as been passed to their daughter, Monique, who first came to Peru when she was six years old.

With your help, Pix-Aid would like to collect funds to support in part a project to irrigate 14 communities in the region of Cuzco, Peru. In this project, the “Bridge” works with a local NGO, Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo Andino Amazonico (IIDAA), run by Sergio Mora Quintanilla.

Sergio explains the new sprinkler to eager villagers.

Speaking with Sergio, you feel his enthusiasm. This man is mister irrigation. He lives, eats and sleeps irrigation.  A former employee of a state engineering company, Sergio speaks Quechua, the language of the former Inca Empire. “People in the villages are weary of outsiders”, explains Sergio. “But when they see me working beside them, talking to them in their language, they begin to trust me.” His enthusiasm and diplomacy have avoided

conflicts (read about water wars here) and his understanding of Andean culture is at the base of his success.

IIDAA has been working for many years in this region. The villagers may be difficult to convince, but when they see the results of neighboring villages, they too are encouraged to work to use the new methods of irrigation. This 5-year project is adding on to a similar project already completed in the area.

The project is a large one, bringing a sure source of water to almost 7,500 people. The government of Luxembourg, which contributes two euros to every euro donated, also supports the project. With your help, Pix-Aid would like to contribute 20,000 dollars a year to make this happen. For details, please have a look at the budget for this project over five years.

Entire villages turn out to dig trenches on these high mountain slopes.

The Incas used irrigation thousands of years ago. Sergio and IIDAA have just improved on the idea with PVC pipes and better tools. The communities involved must contribute to the project and everyone comes out to dig the trenches. Sergio teaches the farmers to regulate and maintain the system, which is very simple. The system uses gravity as its motor and requires no energy… a real example of long-term, lasting development!

Keep up with this project by reading the articles! Your contribution can provide hundreds of families with a durable means of making a living!

We are just beginning this project and are searching for journalists in the region to bring you news of the people you are helping. We hope to have regular updates soon!