Yanapay

I went to a restaurant in Cusco, Peru that donates its profits to community projects. It was started by the man in the above photo, Yuri. It was a pretty awesome experience for me.

I heard about this place from a guy I met in Lima. I got to Cusco and was pretty "busy"...jungle trekking to Machu Micchu, etc. But a couple days before we left we decided to try and find this place. We sort of had an address but it ended up not being right. After wandering around Cusco for a while we finally went into an internet cafe and googled it. We got the address off the internet and left the cafe. The restaurant was right next door to the internet cafe. Oopsie.

We had lunch at this adorable little restaurant. It was decorated with little kid toys, the walls were painted with clouds, they had all kinds of games you could play, you could sit at a regular table or on cushions and pillows on the floor with little short tables. There was music playing and stuffed animals everywhere and everyone was so friendly. I read the story of the guy who started the whole thing and it was fascinating. I really wanted to meet him, but he wasn't there. While we were there I learned that he'd also started an after school program for underprivileged children. So the next day we found the school. There wasn't many people there yet because it was pretty early, but these two boys and this little girl (in the picture below) took me on a tour.

We went back to the restaurant that afternoon and I took Tom too, (my London friend). We ate SO much food, had drinks, and dessert..."for the kids." It was fun. And finally, Yuri walked in...we were pretty sure it was him from the pictures. I was so nervous to go talk to him for some reason. But I did it. It was amazing! This guy had so much energy, it was awesome. He was so humble and you could just feel by looking at him how much he cares about these kids. We sat and talked and he told me the whole story of his childhood and experiences he had as a young boy that made him decide to dedicate his life to helping others. I've never met anyone like him. It's hard to explain how sweet this experience was for me. When I've told people about it back in Utah, no one really gets it. As my brothers friend Paul said, "It sounds like you two had a moment." We really did. After I was done talking to him I went back and sat by Sara and Tom and said, "That guy did something to me!" Tom said, "What?" And I said, "I don't know!" ...anyway...the best part was when I went to say good-bye. He gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, then he just heald my hands and thanked me for talking to him. He said he felt inspired after talking to me. I have no idea what I said to him, but it made me feel good. I guess it was just part of our "moment." (He's the guy in the first picture with me.) Please read his story and learn about his foundation HERE.

We've been in contact since I've been home. He's incredible. If anyone ever goes to Cusco, Peru. PLEASE make time to visit Yanapay.