Ashli's 40th Birthday Fundraiser for Mosqoy!

Friends and family,

Well, I'm turning 40 today (eek!), which means Mosqoy (and my dear adopted country of Peru) have been in my life for officially half of my existence. It feels a bit surreal.

I've been asked what my greatest wish for this year would be. And reflecting on our current state of the world and the fragility of many things I hold so dear, I continually return to words like empathy, humanity, and collective change. While my HOW for doing things has changed a lot these past 20 years as I have grown and learned and unlearned, my WHY seems to be unwavered. In the states of urgency that we find ourselves in now, I worry deeply about the survival of culture, education, Indigenous rights, grassroots movements - essentially all of the deep work that we have collectively rallied so hard to bring attention to.

So, in honour of this, I'm hosting a little birthday fundraiser - something I've never done before, and don't know how successful it will be considering I've purposefully distanced myself from social media recently! But I felt this was a monumental enough occasion to step back in. 100% of the proceeds will go to Mosqoy's charitable programs. You'll even get a tax-deductible receipt. And deep deep (immense) gratitude from me, personally.

I care so deeply about the safeguarding and revaluing of cultural heritage, especially in a time of rapid economic and climatic change, when it cannot be reversed or recuperated once it is lost. It has been proven time and again that youth who are connected to their lands, culture, language, art forms, and mothers and grandmothers are healthier - literally. They are more in touch with their identities, have greater physical and mental health, have lower suicide rates, the list goes on. I am deeply saddened, outraged even, when I see that cultural heritage (and connection to one's land and language) is still considered a secondary right in so many spheres, when in fact it is the very essence of human health and wellbeing.

A few specific scholarships - both for our Youth Program & Textile Program - that I am trying to fundraise for this year are as follows. If you feel called at all to support any of these (even a little bit!), you would make me the happiest 40th Birthday Girl ever.

1. Quechua scholarship student, Andrea, from the weaving community of Chinchero, is studying Environmental Engineering. One of her passions is photography, and she wants to use this to promote the conservation of the environment and aid in the mitigation of climate change. She is studying at the Universidad Andina del Cusco. [Needs $5000 CAD or $3500 USD.]

2. Quechua scholarship student, José Manuel, is from the high-altitude community of Tacllapata, only accessible by foot. He is studying to become a chef. His goal is to work with the crops that he can cultivate from his community and recreate value to them through culinary arts. [Needs $2885 CAD or $2000 USD.]

3. Quechua scholarship student, Ramiro, from the campesino community of Tanccac, outside of Ollantaytambo, is studying to be an Official Tour Guide at CENFOTUR. He loves learning new languages and about new cultures, and his dream is to someday have his own adventure tourism agency. [Needs $2000 CAD or $1400 USD.]

4. Quechua scholarship student, Karen, is from the remote community of Huaylla along the Lares route. Her younger siblings are her motivation to study and her dream is to one day own and operate her own local hotel and show the world the natural attractions of her community. She is studying hotel adminstration at CENFOTUR. [Needs $2200 CAD or $1500 USD.]

5. Our Textile Program is almost entirely self-sustaining, after many years of labour getting it to that point and the extraordinary work of our Textile Manager, Cusi, and Community Facilitator, Anshela. Through this program, we work with five remote textile communities to support the revitalization of the culture, art, and economic resilience of 70 women and their families. There is still a small portion of this program that needs fundraising support to keep it sustainable. [Needs $3100 CAD or $2100 USD.]

6. One of our amazing alumni of the Mosqoy Youth Program, Elvira, now runs Casa Mosqoy, our cultural safehouse and student dormitory, in a full-circle moment. While we have raised funds for most of her salary, a portion of it still remains for the year. [Needs $2600 CAD or $1800 USD.]

Thank you for reading, and for celebrating with me.

love,

Ashli

P.S. Photo by Katie Larone, in 2012 (?) of Brigida Mamani Melo, master weaver in the Nueva Esperanza Women's Weaving Association in Parobamba, along with her two girls, Nataly and Denis. I am wearing a bag that Nataly handwove for me on her backstrap loom, and gifted to me (and Denis made the strap). It was one of her first weavings; now she is an extraordinary weaver and has given natural-dye workshops, teaching other weavers in our other partner communities.