The children peeking out of doorways or playing in chattering groups have ruddy cheeks from the cold wind, but are healthy. World Vision staff gave communities medicine and trained volunteers to promote basic health treatments. These measures have begun to combat the infant mortality rate, which in Ayacucho is well above the national average at 89 deaths per thousand. Marcos Rafaelo Ccente, who lost two children to illness during the violence, does not fear the same fate for his four children now. Sponsorship ensures that their health is regularly monitored.
Sponsorship also means schooling for children of families who have a new appreciation for education.
Now Quechua adults equate education with self-defense as well as opportunity. They can have a different life than we've had. Through them, change can take place. She shows farmers how to plant more nutritious crops such as lettuce, onions, and cabbage. Tending buds on a sloping field near the river, she tells us that the whole community comes out to see her demonstrations.