By HEIDI ISAZA
World Vision Correspondent

ECUADOR — Alpacas are best known for their wool, which is soft and warm and can be used to knit blankets, sweaters, hats, scarves and gloves among other things. This is an important characteristic and use for the wool this cuddly, almost teddy-bear like, animal. But, it is not their only one.

High in the Andes Mountains, about 11,000-feet above sea level, there is a small community of farmers and an area where World Vision is actively working to improve the lives and living conditions of children and their families.

Although alpacas are part of the cultural heritage of the people of this ethnicity, they were not something they had, even just a few years ago.

“See those white specks up on the hill? Those are the alpacas,” said Luis Bravo, one of World Vision’s program directors in the area.

Jose Guishca, president of the community group, explained the tradition of keeping alpacas had been lost through the years and that these animals had gradually been replaced with other livestock - mainly sheep and cows - that were doing more harm than good - causing lots of erosion and complications with water.

The ecology of this high-elevation community is different from other low-lying areas. These areas, from elevation 11,000 feet up to where the permanent glaciers can be found, are called páramos. The water table here is close to the surface.

This means the erosion caused by the sheep and cows was damaging more than the soil. It was destroying the water table and was, in effect, causing droughts for the people who depend on these shallow water sources to grow their crops.

The lack of water had translated into a lack of crops which, in turn, led to soaring levels of malnutrition. When World Vision first arrived in the community, almost 90 percent of the children showed signs of malnutrition.

Alpacas help protect and even restore the water tables.

“Alpacas play a great role in taking care of the environment and access to water because they have like pillows on their feet and that protects the soil,” Guishca reported “The alpacas, they have augmented the level of water in our communities. We used to have water for 8,000 people. Now, we have water for 10,000.”

An abundance of clean, safe water for drinking and irrigation is essential for survival in a place where few edible plants are capable of growing, and tend to grow at a slower pace than their lower-elevation counterparts.

“We had a problem with our crops because in the dry season there was not enough water. But now that we have more water, this can help the crops and get better products,” Guishca explained.

Thanks to the alpacas and other programs implemented by World Vision, the level of malnutrition has been decreasing in this community.

“We have been attacking the cause of malnutrition,” Guishca said.

“(Today, only) 75 percent of our community are malnourished,” noting that this was a cause for celebration and also a reason to continue to work hard and push for more changes.

These alpacas are just the beginning of this community’s attempt to restore the damage that has been caused by the grazing of other animals.

“This is the biggest legacy that we can have for our kids,” Guishca said, smiling.

On behalf of the people from his community Guishca had a message for the generous donors, “From the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank you. This help has made us wiser and healthier and we want to thank you for that.”