A Day of Hope
in Tomacaya
Hope begins by listening. A story of cultural exchange, community leadership, and shared action in the Peruvian Andes.
August 19 – October 29, 2026The Journey to Tomacaya
In August 2026, the Madison–Cusco Sister City Alliance helped initiate the people-to-people connection that brought visitors from Madison to Tomacaya. The exchange brought together participants from Rotary, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Engineers Without Borders, and Mundo Esperanza, alongside local hosts and community members.
The exchange included visits to the Andean communities of Tomacaya and Huilloc, creating opportunities to strengthen relationships, share experiences, and learn directly from local residents.
On August 19, the visitors gathered with the people of Tomacaya. Traditional dancing, flowers, and a warm community welcome offered a memorable expression of cultural exchange.
The gathering demonstrated the value of bringing people together across cultures and countries—not simply to visit, but to build lasting relationships.
Listening to the Community
On August 19, visitors from Madison, Mundo Esperanza, Engineers Without Borders, and Rotary joined the Tomacaya community. The gathering also marked the beginning of construction on the larger Tomacaya Water Distribution Project, supported by a Rotary International Global Grant.
That partnership created an opportunity to listen to another community priority: the school’s need for better kitchen and dining equipment. Rather than prescribe a solution, Mundo Esperanza invited the school to identify what would be most useful.
School representatives discussed their needs and prepared a list of equipment and supplies. The school kitchen effort became a separate project of the Marco Núñez Community Hope Fund.
From Conversation to Commitment
Making a commitment is one thing. Fulfilling it in a remote Andean community requires something more.
Located in the highlands near Limatambo, Tomacaya presents practical challenges involving communication, transportation, coordination, and the organization of meetings.
Through Mundo Esperanza Perú, community liaison Fernando Galdos and Carlos Elorrieta worked with school representatives to develop the equipment list, research prices, coordinate purchases, and establish documentation and accountability procedures.
The school approached this process thoughtfully, maintaining records and participating in the planning necessary to move the project forward.
The Marco Núñez Community Hope Fund was established around precisely this philosophy: communities identify their priorities, while Mundo Esperanza and its partners help connect people, resources, and local leadership to accomplish practical goals.
The commitment was not simply to purchase equipment. It was to work together through the challenges required to fulfill the school’s request.
A Day of Hope
October 29, 2026
Seventy-one days after the August gathering, the commitment became a tangible result.
Kitchen equipment, cookware, plates, and serving supplies purchased through the Marco Núñez Community Hope Fund arrived at Tomacaya School.
The journey required more than purchasing supplies. Items had to be selected, packed, transported to the community, received, inspected, and documented.
At the school, community members gathered as the supplies were unloaded and examined. Fernando Galdos helped inspect the delivered equipment, and the school documented its receipt.
For those involved, the significance of October 29 extended beyond the arrival of new supplies. It demonstrated what can happen when a community’s own priorities guide a project and local partners work together to see it through.
A commitment made in August had been fulfilled in October.
From Cusco to the classroom
Additional photographs
One Community Project.
Relationships That Continue.
As the Community Hope Fund develops, other communities, including Huilloc, may become part of this growing network of people working together across borders.
The Madison–Cusco Sister City Alliance initiated the connection that helped bring the Madison visitors and Tomacaya community together. Tomacaya demonstrates how cultural exchange can develop into an ongoing relationship—and how listening can lead to practical action.
The school project was made possible through the Marco Núñez Community Hope Fund and Sacred Travels LLC, working with Mundo Esperanza Perú, community liaison Fernando Galdos, engineer Carlos Elorrieta, school director Oscar Yana Martínez, and the Tomacaya school community.
The school identified its priorities. Local partners worked through the challenges of planning, purchasing, transportation, and documentation. Supporters contributed the resources needed to make the project possible.
The delivery to Tomacaya School marked the first completed community project supported through Mundo Esperanza’s Marco Núñez Community Hope Fund.
The relationship also includes the larger Tomacaya Water Distribution Project, undertaken through a Rotary International Global Grant with the Rotary Club of Madison, the Rotary Club of Cusco Julio Delgado, Engineers Without Borders, Mundo Esperanza, and local partners. That long-term water initiative and the school kitchen project are distinct efforts connected by a shared commitment to community-led priorities.
The school kitchen delivery was the first completed community project of the Marco Núñez Community Hope Fund. The relationships that made it possible continue through the Madison–Cusco Sister City Alliance and the broader network of people working together in Wisconsin and Peru.
A legacy of connection
The Community Hope Fund is named in memory of Marco Núñez, whose involvement in the early work of Mundo Esperanza Perú helped nurture relationships that continue today. The Fund honors his memory through community-led projects grounded in listening, cooperation, and shared action.
Biographical details should be confirmed before publication.
A New Generation of Hope
“¡Mundo Esperanza!” — The children of Tomacaya, October 29, 2026.