Our Vision & Mission
Mosqoy works towards global sustainability and resilience by empowering local culture. We work with the Quechua population in the Andean mountains of Peru, a place that has been devastated by unsustainable tourism and development but that is home to amazing local leaders who are revitalizing their art and culture while maintaining a healthy, holistic, and spiritual connection with the land. We believe in empowering local communities through international solidarity and networking, sharing stories of celebration, struggle, and strength.
WE OPERATE 2 SOCIAL ENTERPRISES & 1 CHARITABLE PROGRAM:
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1.
Mosqoy Peruvian Textiles is our social enterprise that works with Quechua weavers to keep their art and culture alive through the revitalization of authentic hand-woven textiles that use natural fibres and dyes. This textile tradition is a cultural cornerstone but at risk of disappearance due to synthetic machine-made replicas in the globalized marketplace.
This social enterprise offers local and global fair-trade market outlets, capacity-building initiatives, and community-led socioeconomic development projects. We have supported over 200 weavers in 11 communities.
2.
Mosqoy Field School is our social enterprise that offers culturally responsible tours and field courses in Peru. In addition, we offer culturally and environmentally responsible tours to the general public, working with our partnering weaving communities and youth program graduates.
We work with youth from Canada and other countries in the Global North to educate about how to be more responsible travellers and consumers, both in their home countries and around the world. This program provides opportunities for youth to connect with and learn about issues facing communities in other parts of the world so that they can begin to change their habits of consumption and interaction. Through this program, we have worked with over 6000 youth in the Global North.
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3.
The profits from both of these social enterprises funds the Mosqoy Youth Program, which supports promising yet marginalized youth from remote communities in the region by providing post-secondary educational scholarships. This allows students to return to their communities with the skills and qualifications needed to compete in their communities’ new job sectors and act as community leaders for the next generation.
As part of this program, we operate Casa Mosqoy, a student dormitory in Cusco, where scholarship students live communally during their studies. Here they receive mentorship, personal counselling, and supplementary education that focuses on professional and personal development, leadership skills, and cultural empowerment. We have supported over 70 students in the region thus far to graduate with post-secondary diplomas.
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Through our Ambassadorship, this program also brings its top graduates to the University of Victoria to study English and act as cultural ambassadors. We have hosted five Quechua ambassadors in Victoria thus far.