"Move Forward and Speak" 

By Darcy Kiefel

I first met Pascuala Pari Marca de Catacora in the summer of 1999 in the Acora district in Peru at a “Passing on the Gift” ceremony. Heifer was working with a partner group, Comite de Economia y Desarrollo de las Comunidades Campesinas de Acora, or CEDCA, to help families through the distribution of alpacas to improve the bloodlines of communal herds.

To ensure enough food for the animals, Heifer and CEDCA also had planted 21 hectares of alfalfa divided into three hectares per community. Today, more than 19 communities have benefited through the project, their herds improved, and Heifer International is no longer needed for assistance.

The project also encouraged women in the villages to attend workshops and training sessions, as well as to consider taking leadership roles in their communities.

Pascuala was one of several women preparing food for the Passing on the Gift celebration. Her beauty and curious glances toward Heifer International guests captivated me. She was too shy to speak, but I could see that she clearly had many things to say.

The following day, Pascuala traveled with Heifer staff to the community of Imata to visit with recipients. She stayed close to my side, helping me with interviews, photographs and even in my search for the nearest private place to relieve myself.

Walking down the dusty trail and through the golden fields of the Altiplano, or high plains, with nary a tree or shrub to hide behind, Pascuala and I shared our life stories. We laughed as we chased, in the bitter cold and wind, her bowler, a traditional hat worn (usually at a particularly jaunty angle) by the women of Peru.

Pascuala said she never imagined that she would have had the courage to speak so openly, especially with a foreigner. “When I was little I would not talk,” she told me. “I was always afraid.
When people looked at me, I would run away. Heifer International provided me with support and an understanding of my voice.”

As we continued our walk, Pascuala said she believed that Peruvian women carried a deep understanding of ways to better their lives and the future of their children, yet few had the courage to come forward. Although changes in her country were not easily accepted, Pascuala was eager to learn and make changes of her own.

I felt that Pascuala and I, in the brief time we were together, had established a deep bond.

In November 2004, I traveled to Peru once again, this time with Heifer International writer Sherri White. I asked to visit my friend Pascuala, a visit Heifer’s staff in Peru kindly arranged. She was waiting for me at a hotel in Puno when we arrived. Our reunion prompted tears of joy in both of us. I noticed immediately a more confident woman than I had met just five years before. Two days later, we paid a visit to Pascuala’s home to meet with her entire family.

“After participating in Heifer workshops, I was encouraged to speak with confidence and strength,” Pascuala said during this visit. “I was so nervous at first, but little by little I learned to overcome my problem. It was Heifer International that gave me an opportunity to travel to places I never knew and become a strong leader for my community and other women.”

Pascuala is now a leader in CEDCA and in an Acora women’s group that sells textiles to local and national vendors. Although Heifer training has helped her, much of Pascuala’s confidence has come from the support and encouragement of her husband, Cesareo Catacora Cutipa, and their family.

Cesareo said, “I have always had the desire to support Pascuala in her work and in her dreams. I understand that by working together, we will improve our condition. When the physical strength of a man goes away, it would be difficult to live without the woman’s help. This is why I have supported Pascuala in training and developing her abilities.”

Pascuala has also encouraged other women to follow in her footsteps.

“I tell my women’s group, ‘Do not be afraid. Move forward and speak. You need to do as much as you can for the future with your voice. All the women of the world have an opportunity to better their lives,’ ”Pascuala said.

“I am everything I am today because of Heifer International training and through the encouragement of my family,” she said. “I have improved my life and that of my family. I would like to say to the husbands of the world to please support their women in different activities, because through women’s development, we can improve all our lives.”

My friend has found her voice.