TPRF Grant to Help Feed Children in Peruvian Andes

Mud and rock slides continue to plague villagers in popular tourist region

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An $8,000 grant from The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) is helping to feed schoolchildren in the central highlands of Peru, a region devastated by mudslides and flooding earlier this year. Unusually heavy rainfall in the Peruvian Andes triggered what locals call huaycos in April this year, when mud and rocks began slipping down mountainsides, wiping out homes and crippling entire communities.

Officials have no final tally of casualties or damage to the zone, but overall estimates are that the fallout from this year's rainy season has left as many as 90 people dead and thousands homeless, while causing extensive damage to farm crops and seriously stifling tourism, one of the region's primary revenue sources.

The TPRF grant will launch a much-needed feeding program for 70 schoolchildren aged 5-17 in the city of Ambo, Huanuco Department, and supply enough food to feed them for three months, after which local funding will continue the program. On the scene, the project is being managed by the nonprofit Caritas Huanuco organization, under the direction of Jorge Richard Lozano Benancio.  

"Our current need," Benancio said, "is to adequately implement our dining area to ensure the proper supply of balanced and healthy food to the children in the vulnerable population of Ambo."

Recent reports from civil defense officers at the scene put the death toll in Ambo at 20 and the number of damaged homes at 120. Another 50 persons there are still listed as missing.

TPRF President Linda Pascotto formally thanked local organizers for their efforts.  "We always look for partners that will use our grant funds responsibly for the purpose that they are given and ensure the aid gets directly to the people in need," she said. "Caritas Huanuco is a good match for us as they are located in this rural area of need and are providing for people who are not otherwise being helped."

About The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF)

The Prem Rawat Foundation promotes Prem Rawat's message of peace and his vision of addressing fundamental human needs so that people everywhere can live with dignity, peace, and prosperity. For more information, visit: www.tprf.org.

SOURCE The Prem Rawat Foundation