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!