WHO WE ARE

Luis Delgado Hurtado is President and Co-Founder of Yachay Wasi. His love and respect for his Inka ancestry and his concern for the new generations prompted him to share his views. He is a photographer, craftsman and an experienced guide who plans Yachay Wasi cultural tours. From 1985, his photographs of his people and Inka places have been exhibited in USA, including the United Nations and the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. He has conducted workshops on his culture in educational institutions.

Born in Acopia in the Andes, near Qosqo (Cuzco), he is directly in charge of establishing the long term project "Centro Cultural Yachay Wasi, runasimi" in this traditional village.

He is implementing environmental projects such as the Phase 1 (2008) of a Water and sanitation project "Recovery of the Circuit of Four Lakes" in Peru Andes and the ongoing Campaign of planting a Million High Altitude Native Trees in this area. Acopia and Lake Acopia are located in this Circuit.

Over the years, Luis has promoted the respect and protection of Indigenous Sacred Sites and Remains thru Yachay Wasi "Inka Challenge". This has laid him to funded invitations to speak at Meetings sponsored by the Convention on Biodiversity Secretariat such as the Culture and Biodiversity Conference (Montreal, June 2010) and the COP10 meeting (Nagoya, Japan, October 2010)

He has represented Yachay Wasi and his community at the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations (Geneva 2000), the UN Working Group on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Geneva 2001, 2002) and at the World Heritage Indigenous Peoples' Council of Experts (WHIPCOE) Workshop (Winnipeg, Canada 2001) at the funded invitation respectively of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris. In July 2007, he was invited to attend the White House Conference on the Americas, courtesy of the US State Department.

He is an Observer, since 2001, to the yearly sessions of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at UN Hqrs in NYC.

He has coordinated Yachay Wasi two Encounters of Indigenous Communities in the High Andes (June 2001 and November 2003), the April 2009 Conference "Sacred Sites: Biodiversity and Andean Spirituality" in Acopia, followed by similar conferences in Raqchi (August 2010) and in Huilloc-Ollantaytambo (April 2011).

He was on the executive board of Directors of the International Training Center for Indigenous Peoples in Nuuk, Greenland from September 2002 thru 1 February 2006.

Luis is now leading the project establishing Sustainable Tourism in the Circuit of Four Lakes.