They used simple wood and stone tools like those of the Incas before them to shape stones where necessary and lever them into place on canal foundations and walls. Like their predecessors they sealed the channels with clayey soil to make the structure impermeable. It took a little persuasion to get the farmers to abandon their preferred cement which costs money, needs outside help to prepare and in any case is unsuitable for use in an earthquake region because, unlike clay, it has no elasticity to cope with movement. The job took three years to complete whereupon the Trust handed out tools, seed money and planting advice. The soil has recuperated through natural farming methods and land that was barren for centuries today produces crops including the grains maize, quinoa and kiwicha.
Surplus product is taken to the market and the profits have revitalised the entire community.
A bit further along the Urubamba valley, farmers in Patacancha who'd watched the burgeoning crops of their neighbours asked the Trust to work similar miracles on their own terraces. In 1991 the Trust set out to restore six kilometres of canal to irrigate 160 hectares of land, returning them to their former glory. Since last year the land has been under permanent cultivation resulting in the economic transformation of the valley. The country way of life needs to be set up again and families reunited. Villagers were reduced to eating only potatoes and a little meat as they had no vegetable gardens or agriculture.