Elisa
Elisa is the granddaughter of the last Inca, Don Manuel Quispe. Elisa is an energetic, beautiful, and intelligent young lady who recognizes that for her community to survive she and other youth are instrumental. She shared that in the past elders and other members of the Q’ero community left, enticed by financial opportunities abroad and within larger Peruvian cities. The exodus of traditional knowledge left a void of leadership and hope for many women and youth in the community. Elisa speaks of how the challenges shared by many who left the Q’ero community allowed her to recognize that though abroad and within the large cities there might be more economic opportunities, separation from the community brought new and difficult challenges to those that left. Today, she shares of how Q’ero youth and leadership recognize that rather than leave the community for opportunities, they need to create their own.
Elisa is graduating with a degree in Hospitality and Tourism like her cousin, Ruben, from the Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco in May 2023. Elisa can graduate thanks to WEE donations covering her final graduation and diploma expenses. Her next goal is to study finance, so that she can multiply the resources her cousin’s eco-tour company, AndeanSpirit.Earth brings to the community. She wants to learn how to use that knowledge to solidify financial resources that will allow the community to obtain resources needed for their continued survival.
Future opportunities for Elisa are available to her via donations to WEE sponsoring in person English language immersion classes. Elisa is also a bridge to the past, present, and future of the Q’ero community. She embodies the potential and possibilities that can manifest through the generous support of donors and sponsors of the work of WEE.
