Frida Delgado Chirinos

Frida Delgado Chirinos was a Mosqoy volunteer, friend, and supporter - an energetic, positive, and caring person who worked tirelessly to help others. She was a cornerstone of Huaran and its surrounding villages. On December 1st, 2010, she was tragically killed by a reckless driver while walking to her home in rural Huaran.

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When Mosqoy volunteers worked in the area, Frida took us in to live at her house and often accompanied us to weaving communities and meetings. She was our first connection to our weaving partners in Cancha Cancha and Huaran, and continued to act as their facilitator and Quechua-Spanish translator. She was eager to increase her involvement with the Q’ente Textile Program in 2011, both as a board member and as the host of a future Mosqoy research institute.

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She was very active in the community of Huaran, continually working to improve conditions and employment opportunities for community members. Near the time of her death, she was organizing a medical campaign to visit the surrounding Indigenous communities of Huaran. In addition, she took in many orphaned and abandoned children, as well as single mothers, who lived with her.

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At the time of Frida’s death, Mosqoy volunteers Sarah and Jose Luis were living with her, as well as the Cancha Cancha weaving association’s former president, Victoria. Allie, a Mosqoy field volunteer, remembers “how excited Frida was cooking with us when we were there, and showing us around her lovely garden. She was so jolly and fun to be around.”

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Frida will be dearly missed by many people, including her three daughters and son, husband, extended family, community, and friends. In honour of Frida, we launched a scholarship in her name in 2011. Luzmila Quispe Hancco, a disadvantaged but promising young woman from Cancha Cancha who Frida knew since she was little and helped to raise, was the first recipient of this scholarship, realizing a dream that Frida had been envisioning for years. Luzmila graduated with a culinary arts degree in 2014. We continue to work closely with Frida's daughters, Tania, Naywa, and Urpi, at their community house, Casa Huaran, to host encuentros (weaving reunions), workshops, and field tours. Additionally, Naywa is a member of our Peru Board of Directors. We also continue to reserve one position for deserving youth from Huaran or Cancha Cancha in our annual selection process for the T'ikary Youth Program scholarships. 

Georgia Klap

Georgia Klap was a volunteer and friend of Mosqoy until her untimely passing in 2013. She joined the Mosqoy UVic Club in her first year of university in 2010, and brightened the organization with her passion, critical insight, and positive energy. Georgia was known in her community as a changemaker; she was outspoken about social and environmental injustices and issues close to her heart. Before bringing her love of nature to her Environmental Studies education at the University of Victoria, she attended the International Youth Initiative Program in Sweden, the COP15 Climate Summit in Copenhagen, volunteered at an orphanage in a township in Capetown, and lived in Mexico and Canada along the way.

With integrity, respect, and a strong sense of justice, she lived out her beliefs in social action for the causes she valued. She was a loving, creative, thoughtful, and wise spirit who made a positive impact on everyone she knew. Her loss has been strongly felt by all of the communities she was a part of during her 23 years, and her memory lives on as a source of inspiration and motivation for many people in the Mosqoy community and around the world.

Wenceslau Ccana Ccana

In 2011, Mosqoy lost a dear friend, Wenceslau Ccana Ccana, who was a dedicated weaver, father, husband, and hard-working community member of Amaru. He was one of only two men who were part of the Asociación de Tejedores Tradicionales Laraypas Indígenas de Amaru, and was a skilled weaver and spinner who actively participated in and contributed to the weaving cooperative’s meetings and events.

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Wenceslau was the caring father of T’ikary Youth Program student, Irene. After his passing she wrote, “We miss him very much. He has left a huge void in my family. We miss his wise advice, his moral help, and his love."

A former Mosqoy team member, Sarah Confer, also wrote, “Each time I arrived in Amaru, I was greeted by Wenceslau’s smiling face. He was the epitome of hospitality, always doing his best to make me feel at home. Wenceslau took his role as vice-president of the weaving association very seriously, and worked hard to make the association successful and have a real impact on the lives of his fellow weavers.”

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Near his death, Wenceslau acted as a great support in a community faena, repairing many of his neighbours’ houses and his community bridge, which collapsed after the horrific April 2010 flood that hit his town. He sadly passed away in 2011 after battling cancer. He will be especially remembered for his contagious smile, warm and welcoming personality, helpful character, and famous beard.