All villages of the District of Omacha are expected to be adopted by the Rotary Club Inka Cusco, and its international partner from Wawel (Poland) and Geneva (Illinois, USA) !!

In general, the district of Omacha is split into two by a mountain range, the west side is referred to as Zone B and the east side as Zone A (see description of villages visited). Zone A is relatively high, on average around 4,000m. The main source of income is cattle ranching and the main crop is the potato. Zone B has milder temperatures, and is located on average around 3,000 m. The majority of families in Zone B produce fruit, but hardly any of it is sold on the market. It is mostly consumed by the producers. Families in Zone B also produce wheat, corn, beans and livestock. Many of the communities are located on the river bank.

The majority of communities do not have electricity, but the municipality has installed power lines. About half of the communities have drinking water systems, but many don’t function. Many people have latrines, which were built on the instigation of a government project called “Juntos” (in exchange for be able to receive government hand-outs), but many cannot be used.

Virtually none of the inhabitants have chimneys for their stoves and bronco-pulmonary problems are common, like violent coughing attacks. About every one in three communities has a health center. Also, very few if any aid organizations are present in these communities.

Omacha is a district that is considered by the Peruvian government and other institutions (UNDP) to be extremely poor. Also, according to the institute for Statistics in Peru (INEI) and the UNDP, Omacha is among the poorest districts of Peru (see the HDI excerpt). Omacha is in the lowest quintile of most poverty factors. For example, Omacha ranks number 1,781 out of 1,831 districts in the Human Development Index (HDI). Seeing and witnessing the reality of these numbers, is very moving. Also, even though the people of Omacha struggle in terms of well-being, education, health, etc. there is richness in a different sense demonstrated in so many qualities of these people. For example, sharing a meal with absolute strangers, and inviting them (us) to stay the night in their house, sharing their challenges and hardships with us. People live in poverty but find ways to keep on going. There is ingeniousness and creativity that you won’t find elsewhere.