A despacho is made in order to stop existing. A specialist lays out a sheet, places elements on it, wraps the whole into a bundle, and the bundle is then burned, or sometimes buried, so that what was assembled is transferred rather than kept. Nothing about it is intended to survive, and there is no such thing as an old despacho.
The elements are numerous and their selection is the specialist's work. Coca leaves are central, as they are to nearly everything in this region. Fat, seeds, wool, sweets, small figures, metal foil and other materials appear according to who is making it, where, and for what.
The recipients are Pachamama, the earth, and the apus, the mountain powers of a particular place, which are named individually and are not interchangeable. The reasons are concrete rather than abstract: an illness, a journey, a new house, a herd in difficulty, a dispute in a family. This is a working practice, done because something needs doing.