Based on Western Union's key concept of facilitating exchanges and moving more than money, we arranged a different and invaluable exchange of knowledge, in order to help two native communities separated by more than 9,000 kilometers: Lampa in Puno in southern Peru, and Waskaganish in northern Canada. They were unaware that they faced the same problem, extreme cold, and that each had a way of dealing with it that the other lacked.

Quinoa, a seed with a high calorific and nutritional value that grows even in the coldest temperatures, is cultivated in Puno. And in Waskaganish, a technique involving animal hides is used for protection against the cold.

We organized workshops in Lampa, in which Waskaganish community leaders shared their knowledge about protection from the cold using animal hides as home insulation.

To complete the exchange, residents of Lampa sent quinoa, as well as instructions on how to grow it, to Canada, since the diet of people in that part of the northern hemisphere lacks variety.

This action is the beginning of something bigger, since from now on, new exchanges between other towns or cities in different parts of the world will take place. And that reflects W.U.’s key message at the global level.

1. The Lampa – Waskaganich meeting

First, we arranged a meeting in the city of Puno between leaders of both communities so that they could exchange knowledge about dealing with extreme cold.

2. Furriery Workshop

The Waskaganich community leaders held a workshop to teach Lampa residents how to use animal hides to insulate their houses.

3. Quinoa Workshop

Lampa community leaders held another workshop to teach their visitors from Waskaganich quinoa growing and cooking techniques.

At the end of this process, a shipment of quinoa was sent to Canada.

In the “Moving warmth for better” idea, Western Union saw a communication platform where it could establish new exchanges, benefiting different communities around the world by creating brotherly ties between groups that need each other in order to live better. This puts the brand on a more human and emotional level, overcoming the somewhat cold and impersonal image it had. For this purpose, we communicated it to a database of the company's most important customers in Peru and Canada, where users of Western Union's services realize that it is about more than transferring money.