Supporting Schools Deep in the Amazon

INDIGENOUS VILLAGE PROJECTS – AMAZON JUNGLE OF PERU

Update 2021:
The first Shawi Clinic in indigenous territories was completed with funds from Impact A Village and direction by Eda Zavala. This is the only clinic in the whole area that will provide medical assistance to Nuevo Pizana, Nuevo San Martin and Nuevo Nauta Shawi villages in Peru. Under the direction of Eda Zavala Lopez, our cultural ambassador in Peru, Impact A Village supported the Shawi communities in the remote Cordillera Escalera Mountains. Support included funding doctors and medicines during outbreaks of COVID, Dengue and other emergencies, building local health clinics, school supplies and teachers, and other forms of community assistance. Through Eda’s efforts and extraordinary communication and collaboration skills, she mobilized parents, leaders and teachers from nine Shawi villages to bring education and health care into their communities.

Past Projects:
Eda successfully directed the building of a modern bathroom with toilets, shower and washbowl for the Mushuk Llacta de Chipaota community. She also managed the purchase and distribution of school desks and chairs for the Shawi community.

Since 2009, Impact A Village has supported projects that improve education and healthcare in communities around the world. In December 2023, Impact A Village ceased operations and is no longer accepting donations or making grants. Thank you for your support over the years.

About Eda Zavala, Curandera from the Amazon Rainforest in Peru

Eda, is a spiritual plant healer, a “curandera”, from the Peruvian Amazon. She is a direct descendant of the Wari People, a lineage of healers from the Amazon rainforest. Born and raised in a small Peruvian village named Chosica, Eda’s parents, unsophisticated and uneducated themselves, strongly advocated for her education. She studied both sociology and anthropology, and completed four years at the university. After her formal studies, Eda went back to the rainforest to assist the indigenous communities’ efforts to protect the sacred rainforest, preserve traditional plants, perpetuate ancient healing plant practices, and empower themselves. Eda has worked deep in the rainforest for over 20 years, and her work there continues to this day.  She has extraordinary skills related to cross cultural/intercultural bilingual education, environment/cultural conservancy and Indigenous knowledge based in the Amazon Jungle.

A woman with long black hair smiling for the camera.

Photos of the Shawi Clinic (2021)

  • A blue and yellow building with grass in the background.
  • A blue and red building with a yellow door.
  • A building that is being built in the grass.

Photos of the Shawi Indigenous School

By Elena Greenlee

  • A man wearing headphones and smiling for the camera.
  • A boy and his father playing with wooden chairs.
  • A rainbow is seen in the sky over a field.
  • A man loading chairs into the back of a truck.
  • A group of people loading chairs onto boats.
  • A group of children sitting on top of a bench.
  • Three children standing in a dirt field with a tractor behind them.
  • A group of children sitting at desks in front of an adult.
  • A boy and girl are sitting at a desk
  • A young girl sitting on the ground looking at something.
  • A man and boy sitting next to each other.
  • A woman wearing a hat and smiling for the camera.
  • A group of people sitting at desks in front of chalkboards.
  • A young girl wearing colorful clothing and a hat.
  • A woman wearing colorful clothing and a hat.
  • A woman in an orange dress and colorful accessories.
  • A woman wearing colorful clothing standing in front of a chalkboard.
  • A group of people standing next to each other.
  • A man talking on the phone in front of a wall.
  • A woman with her hair in the dark.