Jorge (Coco)
Coco, one of the founders, was born and raised in Cusco. His late mother was the reason for him to start the project, as she was involved in helping this community for over 20 years. Currently he directly coordinates all the activities with the children, families and volunteers.
Before he fulltime for work for the project, Coco studied tourism with a specialization in Incan history and has worked as a tour guide and a tour operator. He knows the Cusco region in and out and as a co-director is in charge of all the local activities at Corazón de los Apus. Coco’s other passion is Latin American dance (especially Salsa and Bachata) and he has been teaching salsa in Cusco for 10 years.
We are very grateful to our representatives all over the world, who support us from a distance and became part of our team and family. They help us connect their country with the project. If you would like any information in your own language, let us know so we can put you in contact with one of them!
Belgium
Quirine
In 2016, she travelled to Peru to volunteer as a physiotherapist at a little school with handicapped children. In the 6 months she lived in Cusco, she got to know Coco through her passion Salsa dancing and visited the project. Three years later, she travelled to Colombia with her boyfriend and could not resist making a little detour via Cusco to visit us. Since 2016, she has been raising funds every year where the money goes directly to Corazón de los Apus and since 2019 she also supports the contact between Belgium and the project.
France
Marine
Marine is from France and moved to Peru for 3 months after graduation of her Bachelors to gain more international experience. This experience not only helped her to improve her Spanish, but also allowed her to get to know a different culture. During this time she volunteered at Corazón de los Apus because she likes working with children. She also traveled through Peru and Bolivia, and even kept helping from a distance, finding new volunteers, also after returning home.
Germany
Kat
She was in Cusco for the first time in May 2022. By chance she got to know Coco and the project. In November 2022 she came back to Cusco to work with the kids. Since then, she has been in love with the project and the city. That’s why she decided to stay longer. Since June 2023, she stays in Cusco for the time being to work with and for the children. Thus, besides Coco, she is also your local contact person in Cusco.
Switzerland
Inti
After becoming an childhood educator, Inti also studied pedagogy and sociology. In 2018, Inti travelled to South America to explore her Chilean roots and volunteer in Cusco. Instead of the planned 3 weeks, she stayed in Cusco for 3 months. Since then, she has been a precious member of the Corazon de los Apus team.
In 2020, Inti founded the association Amici de ApuSon in Switzerland to financially support many projects in Peru.
Since 2021 she lives and loves in Cusco. She currently runs her own sushi restaurant and visits the children of the project as often as she can.
The project continues to exist solely because of the unconditional help of all our volunteers and friends. Therefore they cannot go unmentioned when talking about the Corazón de los Apus team. We would like to show our immense gratefulness towards all the volunteers that have helped the organisation in the past years, especially those who continued their support after returning to their homes. There are no words to describe what this means to us and moreover to the children, who are feeling incredibly loved by all of you.