(aka La Chocolatada)
Sections
History & Background of La Chocolatada
Photos From December 2021
Summary of December 2021 Trip
The Peruvian Tradition Extended To Remote Coffee Communities
History La Chocolatada
Christmas hot chocolate or ‘Chocolatada Navideña’ is the Peruvian tradition that entails handing out home-made hot chocolate, Panetón or sweet breads, and small gifts to children in schools, churches, and communities in Peru. Chocolatada Navidena is an opportunity for all people in Peru to celebrate Christmas together. It is also a chance for poorer communities to enjoy treats that are generally unobtainable for them; such as the hot chocolate, which is prohibitively expensive. In the month of December across Peru (in particular the impoverished regions around the Andes) local communities and church groups come together to provide La Chocolatada to poor children and families. Funded and arranged entirely by private businesses, families and organizations, the event includes serving the dessert as well as giving gifts and providing festive entertainment. Chocolatada Navidena is an opportunity for all people in Peru to celebrate Christmas together. It is also a chance for poorer communities to enjoy treats that are generally unobtainable for them; such as the hot chocolate, which is prohibitively expensive.
It is an event that children throughout Peru look forward to all year. The Cafe Femenino Foundation takes it one step farther by taking this tradition out to the poorest and most remote coffee communities. Most families in these areas have no way to travel into the nearest bigger towns to indulge in this tradition. So we bring it to them. For the past (13 years?), the Cafe Femenino Foundation has travelled out to visit these remote communities to bring joy and smiles to the faces of the children and their families. In 2020 due to the pandemic, we were unable to travel to them, but the foundation still provided the funding for these communities to enjoy this annual tradition. The children and their families are so happy to see us each year and greet us with smiles, dances, games and more. Here are some of our most recent photos from La Chocolatada 2021.
Agua Azul
Kuerger
La Cria
Naranjo
San Antonio
2021 LA CHOCOLATADA SUMMARY
MESSAGE OF THE YEAR
2021 has been another year of uncertainty, despair and fear for the pandemic that hit the whole world and continues to exist. Adults can understand the need to stay isolated, avoid gatherings and celebrations, but children eagerly await the arrival of Christmas, La Chocolatada, the sweets and gifts.
Thanks to the Café Femenino Foundation that not only continued to support with the funds for the chocolate but also generated more funds to distribute bags of food for the children of the rural schools of the Andean communities Amazonian of the North East of Peru within the proposal the integral proposal in the fight to banish poverty in the field of producer organizations that are part of our Specialty Coffee Program.
Unfortunately the population of the inter-Andean valleys are forgotten by the general public due to limited, or challenging, road access, lack of information and services such as education, health so their development is very slow and the support of organizations such as Café Femenino Foundation has been playing a very important role that promotes the development of capacities of the population to face the difficulties of their environment.
COMMUNITY COVID UPDATE:
The measures implemented by the Government to control Covid-19 infections, such as quarantine, isolation in the first instance hit the population of the cities more with the loss of sources of work, but as time passed and the food grown by the same rural producers ran out.
The community members played a very important role in controlling the spread of the virus in rural communities. All the entrances to the communities were controlled by the community guards, all the people who would enter the communities were registered and had to comply with the quarantine, the food containers were disinfected before being delivered to the producers, was not allowed to interact with the children until late in the third trimester. The educational materials that were delivered in the first semester, were delivered to those responsible for the community guard, for disinfection and subsequent delivery to parents.
In the third quarter, small meetings were accepted in open spaces and wearing masks. For the La Chocolatada, the strategy was to make smaller gatherings in each community with the participation of children and parents.
The hope was, as always, that the children of the rural communities where coffee is grown can also feel Christmas as a time of family, of sweet gifts, of party, of friends, of solidarity, of leisure, of chocolate. The panettone is a symbol at Christmas for children in Peru and with the support of Café Femenino Foundation is reaching all participating Early Education and many children from the communities.
OBJECTIVES:
* Bring joy to the children at Christmas
* Strengthen the present of the women’s organization and the community
* Provide support to the children to face the problems they fact
* Encourage proper hygiene habits
LA CHOCOLATADA SUMMARY
La Chocolatada – hot chocolate, Panettone bread, t-shirts and supplies, was dropped off at 16 locations and then distributed to 26 communities in Lambayeque, Cajamarca and Amazonas where it was shared with children, young and old.
511 children received t-shirts and hats as well as face masks and hand sanitizer lanyards. Family received food bags.