Project Launch:

Even in some of the most beautiful spots on earth, poverty ends up creating pollution and illness. No, there's nothing pretty about poverty. But in Palpa Peru, a desert community just 30 minutes away from the ancient and world-renowned Nasca lines, young environmentalists have become members of an Eco Club that promises to restore the environment and, perhaps, to lay the foundation for a secondary tourist destination. Thanks to a Kids Connect grant, about 400 area primary and secondary school students learned to treasure their trash, making portable sinks out of plastic containers, to plant and nurture desert friendly trees, to take advantage of the free energy supplied by the sun and to prepare and conserve their precious drinking water. How much can a Kids Connect grant achieve? For the youngsters in Palpa, the grant may just have sparked a culture that eventually will rival that of the ancients.