Bertha’s Experience at Valley Camp
Hello! I am Cole York, the founder and executive director of Valley Camp. Today, I would like to share the inspiring story of one of our campers, Bertha.
At 6 am on January 31, 2023 (my birthday), my coworker Giuseppe and I went to speak on the local Quechua radio station to promote Valley Camp. To connect with more indigenous families, we knew it was important to market to them through their primary means of media, the radio. While I can say a few phrases in Quechua, I am by no means even a beginner level speaker. Fortunately, Giuseppe and the radio hosts did most of the talking, sharing the work of Valley Camp, our impact, and inviting more families to apply for scholarships. Later that day, I received a phone call from a parent excited to register his daughters. While I struggled to pull together a few Quechua phrases, I called over Giuseppe to help communicate. We learned his name was Mateo, a father of five beautiful girls in the community of Patacancha. He signed up his two oldest daughters, Bertha and Alicia, for our Eco-Leaders program in Urubamba that was coming up in just a few weeks.
On the first day of camp, Alicia had fallen sick, and Mateo arrived at base camp with only Bertha. Dressed in her traditional skirt that she hand-wove herself, she was shy but eager to participate. Over the next five days, Bertha was immersed within a diverse group of campers, from Israel, Germany, as well as different regions of Peru such as Arequipa and Lima, and of course many locals from the Cusco area. The group of 12 campers quickly bonded. Bertha shared her excitement as well as her shock, i.e. mostly that she had never eaten most of the foods we were serving. Her diet in her community was based on potatoes, alpaca meat, guinea pig, and soups, and while at camp we enjoyed lentil burgers, spaghetti and meatballs, chinese rice, and more. Nonetheless, she loved trying new things and was happy to share her culture, too. She braided the girls’ hair, mastered the art of friendship bracelets (easy compared to her normal weaving), and taught us Quechua phrases. From these first days, I knew Bertha was special. She was observant, responsible, respectful, fun, and courageous.
During camp, Bertha invited me to visit her community, Patacancha. A month later I found myself driving the windy roads up 15,308 ft to her home in the mountains. I was greeted by the whole family, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and babies. It was a humble, yet joyful place. They prepared a traditional meal for me and taught me the basics of weaving. I was grateful for their warm, hospitable welcome, and they were grateful for me, Valley Camp, and the radio broadcast for Bertha’s first camp experience.
Since then, Bertha has continued to participate in Valley Camp, and I have witnessed her leadership development during this time. She returned to participate in our Mountain School camp later in 2023 (this time with her sister Alicia) where she enjoyed many firsts, such as rock climbing outdoors, making a s’more by the campfire, exploring the community of Tastayoc, and meeting more friends from new places. This year she took on a leadership role by helping us out in our Summer Camp and Pitumarca Camp as a junior counselor. Not surprisingly the oldest of 5 girls, she was a natural at helping the younger campers enjoy the magic of Valley Camp. She even helped teach classes about Andean weaving, dances, and culture.
We have loved getting to know Bertha and supporting her in her development. As she is finishing her last year of high school now, we plan to continue to support her as she steps into the next chapter of her life. In this heartfelt 2-minute video, Bertha and her family share how Valley Camp has impacted their lives and why they want more children from their community and the surrounding area to also have the opportunity to participate.
Bertha is one of many campers that benefit from Valley Camp programs. Like Bertha, many of our campers stay connected to the organization and participate in several of our programs and slowly become leaders. Building relationships with our campers’ families is central to what we do — it helps us better understand their stories, challenges, and aspirations, ensuring that our work is as meaningful as it is impactful. Valley Camp is not about numbers; it’s about the lasting personal connections we create and the encouragement we provide as our campers grow into empowered leaders.
This Giving Tuesday, we invite you to support Bertha and countless other young people who benefit from our programs. Your donation can open doors to life-changing experiences for youth in the Cusco Region, broadening their horizons and shaping them into principled, engaged members of their communities. If you’d like to learn more about Valley Camp or explore ways to get involved, we would love to hear from you!