Musuq Sunqu

Musuq Sunqu, Quechua for “New Heart,” is a non-profit day care and after-school care center in Sucre serving poverty-stricken families who have recently emigrated from underdeveloped areas of the Bolivian countryside.  Musuq Sunqu children, ranging in age from 3 to 14, receive help with their schoolwork (including learning Spanish, which for many of the children is a second language), and also are fed three square meals and a snack every day.

Ana María Cardoso, Musuq Sunqu’s director, was concerned about the adolescent children served by Musuq Sunqu who are tempted to join local gangs. In order to assist Ana Maria’s labor of love, Yapay Bolivia provided funding for an additional staff member and kindergarten class teacher, Silvia, in 2018 to enhance the capacity of Ana Maria’s team and to ensure the children of Musuq Sunqu stay on track toward a healthy and successful life.

Thanks to generous donors, in 2019, Yapay Bolivia funded the salary for yet another teacher at Musuq Sunqu. In total, Yapay Bolivia has donated $8,835 for teachers’ salaries and food, and has continued to fund the two teachers in 2020.

Art Exchange at Musuq Sunqu

Jacqui Larsen, a widely-renowned painter, mixed-media artist and valued partner of Yapay Bolivia, saw an opportunity to build connections between the children at Musuq Sunqu and children in the United States. In 2018, children at Brookside Elementary in Springville, Utah and the children of Musuq Sunqu, participated in an art exchange titled “Rikushaiki,” or “I See You” in Quechua.

Each child engaged in five art projects, exchanging and receiving some with their friends on the other side of the world. In April 2019, Jacqui Larsen and Yapay Bolivia hand-delivered books with compilations of the projects to Musuq Sunqu, where the art and new friendships were warmly received.