The Foundation continues to provide dental services in network communities. Dr. María del Carmen Aragon is a highly-dedicated dentist who is devoted to improving the oral health of both adults and children. Her work includes attention to prevention as well as attending to problems. Between January and the end of October this year, she carried out the following activities: a) dental care for 698 patients, including fillings, cleanings and extractions; 78 home visits to teach family members about good oral hygiene and the importance of hand washing; 13 community educational presentations on best oral health practices attended by 394 individuals; 61 visits to schools for talks and to perform 3,576 fluoride treatments.

While the emphasis of the Foundation with respect to economic development has been on creating community-controlled rotating funds to provide capital for projects that will enhance family incomes, we recognize the importance of promoting savings. In situations of extreme poverty such as those in our communities, saving may be difficult. Our savings program involves teaching villagers about the importance of family savings and how to form groups to encourage saving. At this point, our facilitator, Rosmery Montesinos, has succeeded in forming ten groups in eight communities with a total active membership of 101 individuals, double the number from 2015. As these groups gain experience and word spreads, we can expect the idea to gain acceptance with more groups forming in 2017.

The economy in most of our communities is based on the raising of cattle for the production of milk and milk products such as cheese and yoghurt, both for consumption and for sale. Extensive parcels of land must be cultivated to produce the forage crops the animal require. Traditional Andean technology for plowing using a foot plow is insufficient. Access to agricultural machinery is essential. While some municipalities rent out tractors and other equipment, the demand for these services greatly exceeds capacity. Consequently, the Foundation has assisted several communities to purchase equipment, such as a John Deere tractor for Chijnaya ($50,000 loan paid off), and this year a hay baler for Tuni Requena. We arranged for a loan of $14,500 between a Foundation supporter and the community for this purchase, to be paid back with low interest over three years. The baler will earn money for the community in addition to serving the needs of its member. We seek additional lenders who are willing to provide a loan to a community directly or via a donation to the Foundation.

The smoke-free or ecological stoves are a significant component of our efforts to improve the health of people in our communities. The highly-polluted environment in the traditional kitchens contributes to respiratory ailments and vision impairment (e.g. cataracts), among other conditions. As of October 31, 2016, we financed 60 new stoves in the communities of Ángara Bajo, Ángara Alto, Queñuani Alto and Queñuani Bajo. Before the end of the year we expect to construct another 30-45 in Alto Pucarayllu, Qhepa and Ccacco. In 2017 we will need funds to help more families to obtain these improved stoves.

Our microfinance program funds projects to increase family incomes. The funds are managed by the communities with the advice and support of Foundation/Pro-DIA staff. In 2016 these rotating funds were invested in a great diversity of revenue-producing projects. Here is a summary of the more than 200 projects completed between January and the end of October of this year:

Five of our communities exist at altitudes above 14,000 feet, above the tree line and above the limits of agriculture. The livelihood of people in these communities is based on raising alpacas and llamas. Income is derived primarily from selling alpaca fiber. Coarita, a community in the District of Paratía is famous throughout Peru for its traditional music and dance, but the richness of its expressive culture contrasts sharply with the material poverty that prevails. In cooperation with the Nuñoa Project, Conopa and Engineers without Borders, the Foundation has developed a program to assist these communities. This year the team of Peruvian and North American veterinarians vaccinated 1,337 alpacas, performed ecographic exams on 281 female alpacas, loaned high quality reproductive males to 31 families, ear tagged 785 animals, and gave 8 talks on alpaca management. After testing a prototype of a portable baby alpaca shelter designed by engineers from the Utah State University, we built the first 11 for families in La Union. We expect to expand the shelter program significantly in 2017 now that the prototype has been shown to reduce baby alpaca mortality.

Finally, one very exciting development this year has been the initiation of reunions of community leaders from the 25 communities in the Pro-DIA network. The goal is to train them to assess their needs and to develop medium-range plans for what their communities wish to accomplish in the next several years, especially with respect to their community rotating funds. In addition to the network meetings, the leaders met with their own communities to work on planning. They were assisted in this by Jhuver Aguirre, our project director, and anthropology students from the San Agustin National University of Arequipa.