Installation of playground begins!

With Cheri now in Peru installation of the playground in Yapatera has finally begun. Yesterday we mapped out what is quickly growing from a playground to a park or village square and the holes were dug for the placement of the equipment. Today most of the equipment was installed and within in minutes there were 30 children on the seesaws and 15 children on the slide. The equipment is being constructed by a local business in the next biggest town and is owned by 5 brothers. Neighbors in Yapatera are helping in the installation. One boy, about 10 years old asked us "When are you taking the playground away again?". We pointed to the cement with which the equipment was being put in place and said, "that's because it's going to stay". His face lit up. The women who had gathered in the crowd watching the installation were overheard saying, "Finally we have somewhere to take the little ones, something for them to do!"The building of a fence and benches and the planting of flowers and plants will follow soon..

Visit to the Hogar in Anta, Cusco

Pictures from our visit to the Hogar in Anta, near Cusco, the orphanage supported by Peruvian Hearts. Sister Ana Yolanda and the girls showed us around the wonderful home and we discussed their visions for the future. We are scheduled for another visit in February.

Heart of Yapatera featured in today's Daily Camera

Boulder County residents check out the article on Heart of Yapatera project featured in today's Daily Camera in the Nonprofit Spotlight!

Meeting with Peruvian Hearts

This week Cheri Tatem met up with Ana Dodson, Danny Dodson and Rocco Dodson of Peruvian Hearts, a Colorado based non-profit which provides nutritious meals, schooling and health care to children a day in the Sacred Valley near Cuzco, in the highlands of Peru. Peruvian Hearts has invited Cheri to visit the orphanage during her trip to Peru and to teach the children and care-takers about exercise through play to empower women and girls. We are looking forward to combining efforts with Peruvian Hearts!

Oral hygiene and heart disease- North Boulder Dental donates 100 toothbrushes

Thanks to doctors Dr. Bob Murphy, Dr. Paul A. Sica, Dr. Julie Brown, Dr. David Weldon of North Boulder Dental for donating 100 toothbrushes! These will be distributed in a workshop in Yapatera to educate the community about the link between oral hygiene and heart disease. A recent study published in the British Medical Journal reported on by the BBC shows that "Taking into account factors that affect heart disease risk, such as social class, obesity, smoking and family history... those with the worst oral hygiene had a 70% increased chance of developing the (cardiovascular) condition compared with those who brush their teeth twice a day." This is because poor dental hygiene can lead to periodontal disease, a chronic infection of the tissue surrounding the teeth which has an important role in the build up of clogged arteries, which can lead to a heart attack.

World Diabetes Day- State of Piura has highest rate in Peru

The State of Piura, in which Yapatera is located, has one of the highest rates of Diabetes in the country, according to news posted by the Peruvian Association of Diabetes today, World Diabetes Day, 14 November 2010. There is a cultural and social context to this fact including the shift to a more sedentary lifestyle linked to a declining number of people employed in agriculture and a cosmology which still links round and fuller bodytypes to health and wealth. A building in the State capital takes a positive spin with a banner that proclaims "I am diabetic!" and today is marked with an awareness campaign and walk which bears the slogan "I am a Super-power diabetic!", participants will be taught about prevention and disease management and encouraged to include exercise in their daily routines. But awareness campaigns and resources will not reach Yapatera, which is 2 hrs and a $3 bus and rickshaw ride away from the capital of the State. Because of the Afro-descendent origins of the community it is likely that people in Yapatera are at an even higher risk of developing the disease. Most importantly, in the absence of adequate monitoring, trained health professionals, targeted campaigns and the internet, Yapatera has no access to information about the impact of lifestyle changes, nutrition, exercise, on preventing and managing the disease. Please help us change this.

Colorado business donates banner and plaques

Thank you to Suzan Yoshida, owner of Signs Now! in Boulder, Colorado. Suzan has donated a wonderful banner to use for our activities and for the inauguration of Yapatera's first playground on January 25th, 2011, and plaques of our sponsor logos to attach to the playground equipment. The banner was designed by Jason Nielsen, thank you!

Local micro-business hired to construct playground equipment

After reviewing the playground proposals submitted by a handful of Peruvian companies we are pleased to announce that the Heart of Yapatera committee has selected a small local company to construct the equipment for Yapatera's first playground. The decision to keep business local, source materials in the region and give jobs to people in the community to create the playground follows from our emphasis on empowering people to be pro-active in terms of their health. We are finalising the designs together with owner Ricardo and construction is scheduled to begin in December. As well as traditional playground equipment we will need a fence to keep out small animals such as goats and sheep and plants and trees to provide much needed shade in this very hot climate. If you have not yet donated but still wish to do so please make checks payable to Special Ties Foundation and post to Cheri Tatem, 16064 North St. Vrain Dr., Lyons, CO. 80540. Thanks for your continued support!

Playground design underway- we need your help now!

How did the idea to build a playground in Yapatera come about?

We organised a drawing competition for primary school students to come up with a logo for our neighborhood committee and project "Heart of Yapatera". Reviewing the 245 entries we noticed that a large number of children had drawn playgrounds- hardly unusual in many places in the world but there is no playground in Yapatera, the next town or the next city 2 hours away! We think a playground is crucial to the quality of life of children, families and the community and sets the foundations for an active, healthy life.

We need your help to make Yapatera's first playground a reality! We are now in the final stages of designing the playground and are ready to begin building soon, thanks to our many supporters. But we haven't yet reached our goal.

Please get in touch to find out how to contribute.

Afro-Peruvian Rights organizations back Heart of Yapatera

We have been meeting with Afro-Peruvian Rights organizations in Lima (16 hours away from Yapatera), and leaders have offered their full support to the project telling us that this is the first grass-roots playground and health project in an Afro-Peruvian village!

$550 raised at hot dog cart party!

Special thanks to all the employees at Tundra Specialties and Rudi's, and thanks to all the friends and supporters for coming out and donating to Heart of Yapatera last Thursday. A big thank you to Tundra Specialties for hosting us and to The Dog Waggin´for donation in kind!

Hot Dog Cart Party - Lunchtime fundraiser!

This Thursday 16 September at Tundra Specialties come have a hot dog from the The Dog Waggin' and help us raise money for this playground and exercise project in the Peruvian village of Yapatera! Special Ties Foundation 501 (c) (3) is hosting "Heart of Yapatera" which will empower people to make small lifestyle changes with a huge effect on the quality of life of individuals, families and the community. Bring along your colleagues and friends for lunch at the Tundra parking lot from 11.30 to 1.30 pm. Your help is needed to build a safe, sustainable playground and provide exercise activities for the people of Yapatera. Thanks to Tundra Specialties for hosting the fundraiser!

WHAT: Fundraiser for the Heart of Yapatera exercise project and playground. Minimum suggested donation $20, (tax deductible). Doggy bag includes hot dog, soda, chips, and a cookie.
WHEN: Thursday 16 September 11.30 – 1.30 pm
WHERE: 3825 Walnut Street Unit E, Boulder, CO 80301. View map

Hot dogs and beverages are provided courtesy of The Dog Waggin'

We hope to see you there!

Hidden Lake High School pledges support!

Hidden Lake High School is an alternative high school in Westminster, Colorado that is home to 300 students and focuses on experiential learning and various non-traditional methods to reach its students and help them find success. James Steward and Lottie Wilson are the administrative team that challenge the staff of twenty to make learning accessible and challenging for the students. Many of the students use the alternative approaches in the classroom to find success where they have never before had any and there is an atmosphere of success that is shared by staff and student alike. Over the course of the 2010-2011 school year Hidden Lake High School will be fundraising to play their part in the Heart of Yapatera program in order to help build a playground for those students and their community. It is the goal of the school to raise as much money as possible to participate in this humanitarian effort and to show our students that they can indeed impact the world.

Above left: International Studies teacher Mark Belnay and some of his students kick start fundraising activities for the playground in Yapatera.

US embassy donates $4000 towards playground!

We are extremely pleased to announce that the US embassy in Lima has donated $4000 dollars to the Heart of Yapatera project! This money will go towards the construction of the playground and towards exercise games and activities with Yapatera's children and youth, bringing us a giant step closer to our goal.

The US embassy will be inaugurating the playground in Yapatera in celebration of Black History Month, February 2011.

We are still very much in need of donations to build, purchase and ship equipment, so please keep the donations rolling in and visit the Donor Honors Roll page to see who has already donated. Thank you!

We are now ready to receive donations!

Thank you for your interest in the Heart of Yapatera project. Several friends and supporters have asked how to contribute to the project. We are pleased to announce that after presenting to the Colorado-based foundation Special Ties last week they have kindly agreed to host the Heart of Yapatera project and enable us to receive US tax-deductible donations. We are now ready to receive donations!

This will help finance Yapatera's playground, the first and only in the region and will enable us to purchase equipment for the group exercise activities such as fitballs, bands and rebounders. The playground will be built using locally available materials and employing small local business in the community.

Every donation makes a difference, and your gift will help empower women, men and children in Yapatera to take better care of their own health and happiness.

Please make checks out to Special Ties Foundation, leaving the memo blank and post to

Cheri Tatem

16064 North St Vrain Drive

Lyons, CO. 80540

We would like to acknowledge donors on our blog, but if you wish for your gift to remain anonymous (name and/or amount) please let us know via email.

We thank you for your continued support!

Supporters living in Europe and Latin America wishing to donate, please contact Tamara tamara.hale[at]gmail.com for details.

Our approach to health and exercise education in Yapatera

Donations honor roll

Stefani celebrates winning our drawing competition with her classmates while we celebrate the donors supporting our project!

Please check out our Donations page - most recently we have received the donation of our playground construction proposal, Nike sports caps and gym sacks and machines and manpower to level the grounds for our playground.

A playground in the heart of Yapatera

With the playground site in our pockets and armed with support from the local authorities in the village we are now looking for support to commission a design construction proposal and draw up a budget.

Surveying the site

Mario, one of the village governors, gave us a tour of the future playground site. The area is near one of the primary schools which does not currently have a sports ground and it is also adjacent to the grounds where a new soccer field is being built. At the moment the land is uneven and full of shrubs. But Mario, who was a star player for the local soccer team in his youth, is excited “This will bring life to the village, especially to this neighborhood. The village is growing in this direction and in a year or two the playground will be right in the middle of it. Our children don’t have opportunities like this. I can’t wait to see it built!”.

News: Mayor donates land!

Alonso, the youngest mayor in the history of Yapatera, has commended the playground project for making a big difference to the wellbeing and future of Yapatera´s children and has kindly agreed to donate 12,900 square feet of land belonging to the community for our project. The path is clear for designing our playground...

We have a winner!

The winner of the drawing competition was selected by a panel of project supporters and private donors residing in Colorado, USA. The judges were delighted by the enthusiasm and creativity of Yapatera’s children. Stefani is the artist who designed our new logo and is a 5th grade student in Yapatera´s larger primary school. She is now the proud owner of a pink volleyball and her 2 runners up are excited about their 2nd and 3rd prizes of jump ropes.

Children participate in drawing competition

In April all primary school pupils in the village were invited to participate in a drawing competition to design the logo for our organisation and project- the motto for the drawing was “Exercise is the heart of Yapatera”. The response was overwhelming with every child participating and resulting in 245 entries! The winner will be announced soon...

A village without a playground?

Yapatera, population 5,000+, is considered the largest afro-descendent community in Peru; a large proportion of its inhabitants are schoolchildren many of them cared for by aunts and grandparents when their parents are forced to find work in Lima or Ecuador. Despite its size, the village does not have a playground for children to play and exercise on. Yapatera Corazon’s objective is to build a playground with equipment such as swings, a slide, a seesaw and more for children. Attached to the children’s playground we have plans for a mini-outdoor gym for adults and youth with basic equipment. The idea is to get children and adults to have fun with exercise.

Health in Yapatera

Yapatera is considered the largest Afro-Peruvian community in the country. Families subsist on small-scale mango, lime and rice farming and remittances from migrant relatives in Lima. A recent research study found that Afro-descendent households have the greatest incidence of chronic ill health problems compared to other population groups in Peru, including indigenous populations. However, because Afro-Peruvians have only recently been formally recognised by the Peruvian state as an ethnic group there is no provisioning of particular services to this population and they are socially excluded from many state and private services. The few state health resources that are available are under heavy demand and have long waiting periods. As a result most people opt to purchase private health care, but usually only once illnesses are very advanced and families are forced to pool together to meet the crippling costs. The knowledge that small lifestyle choices, such as what we eat and how active we are, can make a big impact on our health and wellbeing, is taken for granted in many parts of the world. Yapatera Corazon´s objective is to empower people to care for themselves, their families and their communities with this knowledge.

Afro-descendents in Peru

Yapatera, is a village in Northern Peru. Most of its inhabitants are the direct descendents of African slaves who were brought to work along Peru´s coast. Slavery is still a taboo subject in Peruvian society and racism and social exclusion affect this group as much as it affects Peru´s indigenous population. The difference is that Peru´s afro-descendents have had little attention from international onlookers and organisations.

What is the "Heart of Yapatera"?

Yapatera Corazon, or the "Heart of Yapatera", is a health education project in the Afro-descendent village of Yapatera in Northern Peru. We are a group of local residents who are worried about health problems, especially the extremely high risk of developing hypertension (high blood pressure) which is particular to our village. We have learned that exercise and other small lifestyle changes can make a huge difference to the quality of life here. Our proposal is to take our wellbeing into our own hands, to learn and educate about the benefits of physical activity and good nutrition, for all life stages. We plan to hold activities and workshops for women, men, seniors, children, youth and for people with chronic conditions. Our goal is a healthy, active community.