Identity
Tinkuy Marka means in Quechua "meeting point” or “meeting place". It is used as well to refer to the point where two rivers merge to become a larger one. It also means "meeting of peoples". For us, this is the meaning of a place dedicated to learning, the confluence of people, ideas, visions, emotions, to grow and create something larger, stronger that transforms the world.
The Andean Puma
The Andean Puma is the mascot of Tinkuy Marka Academy, chosen by popular vote in December 2018. Our heroes have thus chosen to call themselves Pumas from now on.
Pumas of Tinkuy
In Tinkuy we do not use the word "students" because it denotes a vertical relationship that places children under the authority of an adult who teaches them. Our heroes chose to call themselves Pumas by electing the Andean Puma as Tinkuy's mascot in 2018. This also led to changing our logo in 2021, in a community-wide democratic election.
Our new logo
A SHARED IDENTITY
In October 2021, the Tinkuy community as a whole (Pumas, families and staff) democratically chose the new logo to reflect this identity.
This new logo represents the empowerment of each Puma to create their learning path and own their life journey, with freedom and in pursuit of a calling that will change the world.
The Puma climbing the mountain by his own means reflects the courage and autonomy that every child and teenager shows and practices every day by being in charge of their learning and decisions.
The mountain represents growth, the challenges of life and learning, some steeper and tougher than others. A place to connect with ourselves, and to cross paths with others. The summit represents the calling that guides a Puma to develop their unique gifts and share them with the world. To reach it, they need not only grit, but integrity, generosity and gratitude, our four pillars of character.
The flower, depicted as a warm sun setting in the horizon, reveals the constant and natural presence of a learning community that accompanies but does not interfere, that sets limits and inspires, but does not control. It is the community that supports each hero on their journey, equipping them with tools, processes and systems to think clearly, make good decisions, build good habits, forge a strong, noble character and determine their destiny. It is a reference to our origins.
Our original logo
We were founded with this logo: in the center, the heart, because it symbolized the love from which our proposal started and which remains at the center of our formative task. It also represents the heart of each child, their aspirations, their well-being.
The house symbolizes the safe, joyful, nurturing and stimulating space. A familiar, close knit environment, where children can give free rein to their imagination, explore and discover new things, grow up knowing that they are safe and cared for. It was also a reference to the idea of homeschooling, which was the seed from which our project was born. But we are more than homeschooling. And that is why the flower, which represents the community and the convergence of families around a different education and upbringing.
Then came the Andean Puma as a mascot. The community took its own identity, and the Pumas were placed at the center of its route. Therefore, the protagonist in the logo has gone from the house representing nurture and protection, to the Puma, representing empowerment, autonomy and the learner-driven model.
Foundational Letter
On why I created Tinkuy Marka Academy
Lima, September, 2017
Hi, my name is Inés Kudó and I founded Tinkuy Marka Academy in 2017 as a solution to the challenge of not finding a school in Lima for my 3 year old son that we both loved. He did not like the school where I enrolled him and I took him out halfway through the year because he was in pain. We then tried the Reggio Emilia approach at La Casa Amarilla preschool, which we really liked. But it did not solve the issue of which school he would attend. I couldn't imagine putting him in a traditional school to spend the next 12 years sitting behind a desk listening to lectures, his afternoons full of homework, and taking tests that don't stimulate his creativity or nurture his love of learning.
My brother Daniel had been researching homeschooling options for his daughters for years, and he insisted that we should open a microschool for our children. Concerned with the limited options available, I started researching about it. That's how I found Acton Academy and was immediately convinced that we had to build something like this here in Lima (we have summarized the most inspiring here).
This is how microschools typically started: with parents concerned about their children's education, who decide to take matters into their own hands. Being an education specialist and having spent the last ten years working for public education in Peru, I felt that I had the elements to launch myself into this adventure and contribute, from there, to innovate and disrupt education as we knew it. And so, our first victory was to affiliate with Acton Academy (see here). We bring their powerful ideas, experience and tools, together with our own skills and knowledge, to create the best Peruvian version we can dream of.
Since good things are better when shared, we decided to invite other families searching for the same things, to join us. And this is how we started. We have created this page for you. We hope it will be useful and inspiring.
I chose the name Tinkuy Marka not only for its literal meaning, explained above, but for the personal meaning it has for me. Tinkui Marka (with an "i") was the name of a group we formed with friends from our school days. One of them was Javier Coello, a lifelong true friend whom many years later I married.
With "Tinkui" we embarked on many projects during our college years. We worked with passion and dedication, together, in the causes that moved us. In this article, Javier told the story of the first Academy we created, as Tinkui, at the age of 17.
With Javier we cultivated a deep friendship of 22 years, 6 of them - very young - as a couple. It was his cancer that brought us together again and made us realize what we meant to each other. We decided to get married and soon after Javier was hospitalized. We got married in the clinic. We were not going to let death take away our dream of starting a family. Javier passed away a few months later, at the age of 37, knowing that our son was already on his way.
Javier had a deep and unwavering faith. He dedicated his life to the service of others, to sustainable and inclusive development. He innovated with rural electrification and renewable energy projects, for which he won international awards. This and this are two beautiful accounts of his life.
He lived his last months confined to a bed, but radiating gratitude and peace. He often said he felt blessed by the love that surrounded him, amazed by the appreciation of so many people whose lives he had profoundly touched, not realizing the depth of his impact.
Choosing Tinkuy Marka as the name is my way of connecting to Javier, to have him present in this project for our son. And, hopefully, for the children of many more families that join in.
Ines Kudo, Founder