The whole concept of ‘Twinning’ arose during a conversation with Bruce Crowther from Garstang, Lancashire. When they self declared in 2001, they became the first Fairtrade Town in the World. Bruce has visited Haworth on many occasions and it was his question, “what next” which led to the idea of twinning and a simple mention of Machu Picchu being the ultimate ‘wish’. Bruce immediately suggested it would be a great link, listing the similarities and said ‘why not, where else in the UK would be any better match?’
Little did we realise that conversation would begin a journey which took many years of patience and nurturing, never losing sight, to reach where we are today.
This is the video compiled after the first visit, more recent information on the Haworth Machu Picchu Website here.
Machu Picchu pueblo is reached after a 4 hour train journey from Cusco through the Sacred Valley, or for the extremely fit, a 4 day Inca trail hike.
Machu Picchu Pueblo is the village at the foot of the mountain.
On the second visit 4 years later, I was accompanied by Kay Bottomley who speaks fluent Spanish. She took a class the day after the twinning agreement was signed, the school children watched our DVD (recognising their siblings!) and then wrote letters to their new friends in Haworth.
On this trip we visited projects in the surrounding area, these are a few images from Tastayoc where they were celebrating the opening of the new toilet and shower block! The project is run by Path of the Heart and Carlos Gibaja Tapia and his brothers. They are based in Ollantaytambo where their restaurant profits feed 200 children every day and help provide the basic needs for these lovely people who welcomed us to their village. They were thrilled with the gifts we took and even treasured a carrier bag! One of our Fair Trade suppliers Namaste, kindly donated childrens t-shirts and cardigans.
