Who are we?

We are a community run centre for local indigenous children from poor backgrounds, aged 6 months to 6 years in Mallasa, La Paz-Bolivia

The Valley of the Moon Children´s Centre was born in 2004 from a dream existing amongst the local Mother`s Club of Mallasa. A dream for a community nursery, where families could access services that would respected their cultural background and a child´s right to learn and play in an atmosphere of creativity and security.

The Valley of the Moon Children´s Centre responds to 3 main areas of concern in Mallasa:
a) an absence of childcare services for preschool children
b) high rates of abuse and abandonment of young children, and
c) the poverty and lack of employment opportunities from which adults in Mallasa suffer.

Our aim is to provide quality integrated childcare for vulnerable or poor children, enabling their parents, especially women to take up employment opportunities outside the home. Before the Centre was set up, many parents in Mallasa had no alternative but to literally lock young children in the house while they worked – putting the children at risk of accidents, abuse, hunger and malnutrition.

Our Community in Mallasa, Bolivia The Valley of the Moon Children´s Centre is located in the semi rural valley of Mallasa surrounded by the red and green Andean mountains. It is about 15km from the centre of Bolivia´s capital city, La Paz. The community is made up mostly of Aymaran Indians, whose language and culture survived the conquest of the Spaniards. Indigenous peoples (who comprise 62% of the total population) of Bolivia have endured a life of social, economic and political exclusion. Often due to prejudices, cultural barriers or fear, indigenous families do not, or cannot, access the health and education services they are entitled to. Families, especially children, are therefore in an extremely vulnerable situation in communities such as Mallasa.