Help me fund my Peruvian research and photo journal

Hi. I’m Heidi.

Sometimes in our lives we have to take risks. Risks as small as asking someone to share in coffee conversation or risks as big as traveling to a third-world country suffering extreme poverty, environmental damage and losing indigenous traditions to tell them that there is someone who hasn’t overlooked them.  Someone who wants to share their rich culture’s beauty with the world.

This July I will be traveling to Cusco, Perú on a tropical ecology and community field study with the University of Washington.  I was chosen along with 13 other students to travel to remote areas of the Amazon to sit in the sacred valley of the Incas, to weave baskets with the indigenous women tribes, to explore wildlife and nature conservation of the cloud forest of the eastern slopes of the tropical Andes, and to explore the historical and majestic Machu Picchu.

After being accepted to this program I realized that I could do more for the people of the country. My strength is my photography; my ability to creatively and uniquely capture people and places in a way that maybe others have not seen, to present beauty and personality and also to capture the connection that we all can feel through a photograph. I will be photographing my trip start to finish and upon my return I will be publishing a full color photo journal to raise money for a non-profit organization in Perú that helps to build community from the foundation; their children.

In order to take this trip, I have to leave my own children.  They will be making rounds to stay with friends who have offered their homes for a week at a time and I am forever thankful. Leaving them is the hardest thing I will ever do. However, out of it will come so much good benefiting not only our community but also a community struggling with poverty and the loss of their culture.  That is a gift I want to share with my boys.

After the loss of both my parents I wondered how I could continue to live without their direction and encouragement.  I realized that they live within me, they are my driving force, they watch over me and when I feel scared and alone, they make it apparent that they are watching out for me. It is from losing them that I recognized life is short, do good, be everything and take risks that you know in your heart are worth it.

If you would like to help me realize my dream of publishing my photo journal and help hundreds of people in Peru as well as educate the people of our own community, I am accepting donations to make this trip successful.

For more information about me or my project, you can email me at hvladyka@gmail.com

To support me, you can deposit money to my paypal account: hvladyka@gmail.com or send it to Heidi Vladyka, 2906 N. 21^st #3, Tacoma, WA 98406

Thank you.