Climate: Challa sits high up in the Andes Mountains. Temperatures range from 60 to 15°F. Snow makes its way into the communities regularly during the winter months and rains keep the roads inaccessible for weeks or months are a time during the summer rainy season.

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Work: Fathers: Most fathers are agriculturists.
Mothers: Most mothers keep house and take care of the livestock
Children: Assist their parents in all aspects of work

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Food: Potatoes and chuño (a potato variant) are by far the most common crops planted and food eaten. Other food staples include rice, pasta, and (much more rarely) llama or sheep meat.

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Livestock: llama, sheep, bulls (generally used for plowing), chickens, dogs, and burros

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Typical housing: The typical house is made of adobe bricks (made with mud and straw and dried in the sun) with straw roofs. Some homes also are made using stone. The average home has either one or two rooms. Family sizes can reach as many as 10+ people living in the same home. An average family size would include about 8 people.

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Water: FHI recently completed a water system in the community of Lacuyo that benefits the boarding house as well as all the families living there. UNICEF has constructed water systems that provide a centrally located pilot in both Challa Arriba and Yarvicoya. This July FHI will begin construction of two water systems for the communities of Palcoma and Antacawa. Families without access to water systems either use river water or dig small wells on their land.

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Electricity: Palcoma is the only community without electricity available. However, the price for electricity in the campo areas is around $4.50/month which is a price too high for many residents of communities where electricity is available. About half of the residents of the communities with power lines are able to take advantage of their access to electricity.

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Sewage: FHI recently completed a series of bathrooms complete with showers and sinks in the community of Lacuyo. Plans are underway to construct the same in Palcoma and Antakawa starting in July of 2004. In other communities, the only place where actual bathrooms can be found is at the schools. The school bathrooms use pit toilets. In Palcoma there is no bathroom yet in existence.

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Churches: All communities have at least one church. Most have a Catholic church as well as an Evangelical church. Some have as many as four churches. Doctrinal differences have split churches.

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Schools: Most of the communities have school only up to the third or fourth grade. Lacuyo, however, has up to the second year of high school. This year a new boarding house is being constructed to allow students from other communities to attend with more regularity by staying in Lacuyo throughout the school week. Otherwise, they walk distances of up to two hours to reach the school.

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Health: Malnutrition and diarrhea and other common illnesses are the largest health problems in the area. There is only one small clinic serving all the communities. This is run in large part by a health promoter with only occasional visits by a doctor. Due to this low level of health care available, the residents must resort to other means of health care. This includes herbal remedies, coca leaves, and various other natural resources. For cases of extreme need, residents are transported to the hospital in Tapacarí.

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Biggest hurdles of the area: Poverty has a stranglehold on the population. In some families, the health of livestock is a higher priority than the health of children. Education is often not completed. This can be attributed to many things. Some children have to walk as many as three hours to the nearest school. These means six hours of the day are spent on the roads. As well, children are needed in the home to care for animals, help with crops, or care for siblings.

Health is another major concern. Children's health concerns more often than not go unattended. FHI has a health promoter in the area and there is a small clinic in Ch'alla Tambo, but this is the limit of available health care for hundreds of people.

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Best aspects of the area: Challa's location and weather conditions have left it fairly untouched by any trends of urbanization.

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