Chain of favours

It started as a simple bonnet knitted by a loving mother in a remote Andean village but ended up as truckload after truckload of equipment which quickly transformed the lives of pupils in four schools in Peru.

The story of a “chain of favours” that stretched all the way to Europe and back captivated millions of television viewers in both Peru and Spain.

TV reporter Fernando Gonzalez from the Caiga Quien Caiga program on the Spanish Telecinco channel joined forces with Plan to start it all off by converting the "chullo" bonnet belonging to eight-year-old Samuel from the Sipascancha community 4,200 metres above sea level into something more valuable.

So the chullo became a magazine, then a fan, and also a bag of eggs and potatoes as it made its way along the streets of Madrid and once the celebrities became involved the project really began to gain momentum.

Lucio, chef and owner of a famous restaurant in Madrid, accepted the bag of food and in exchange donated an apron. Actress and presenter Kira Miró swapped her favourite sweatshirt, comic actor Paco León handed over a 80s-style crystal ball, the Spanish group Dover a bass drum and songwriter Sabina a hat.

Singer Shakira's choice was her favourite instrument, her harmonica, while tennis star Rafael Nadal didn't hesitate to hand over the trophy he had won at Roland Garros last year.

Five tons of building materials and three trucks loads of furnishings and teaching materials were soon making their way to the schools in the province of Paucartambo, in Peru's Cuzco region. Books, educational toys, goals and basketball rings, mats, ropes and balls, computers, a photocopier, a projector and DVD player were, among many other materials, also delivered.

Now, teachers and 300 pupils no longer have to struggle through lessons in cold classrooms with bare walls, without sports facilities and basic sanitation or teaching and learning tools.

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