This is where I’m staying the first three days to do some wandering and adjust to the elevation (11,152 feet) before going on the trek. What drew me to the Ninos hotel is its story.

In 1996,  Jolanda van den Berg came back to Cusco after a previous trip where she saw a need to do something for the many children she saw begging and working in the streets. She rented a room and gave two street kids a chance to live with her. In less than a year she had twelve boys.

She was surviving on donations and felt the need to create something more substantial and independent. She opened the Ninos hotel to provide steady income, to teach the boys some skills and a place for them to tell their story, Jolanda says. The hotel was a quick success.

In 2000 she opened the first children’s only Ninos restaurant nearby (they all eat for free). Two years later a second Ninos restaurant and hotel opened. In 2004 Jolanda opened two more Ninos restaurants in Cusco. In 2007 the first Ninos restaurant and hotel opened in Huasano to support underprivileged children there. All of this pays to feed 600 children 3 meals a day 6 days a week along with medical and dental care. They receive homework support,  can take a hot shower and participate in sports programs.

The aim, she says, is to raise the kids’ self-esteem and strengthen their social skills. Jolanda has two daughters of her own but has also adopted 23 children who live with other Peruvian foster parents.