Getting The Basics

As much as I desire and strive to open the eyes of the communities here, I believe the opposite is happening right now. Living and working day in and day out in a developing country such as Peru has completely picked apart, scrambled up, and then thrown on the wall all that I thought I knew about the world. Before I came here, I considered myself a pretty well-educated, well-experienced, open-minded young woman. I’ve travelled the world, studied in a well-acknowledged University, and had many educational experiences growing up; however, there is nothing that could have prepared me for the life that I find myself living here. I never knew I had so much to learn.

First off, everything I am writing about is my personal thoughts and opinions. It does not reflect that of any other institution or entity.

Second, AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, now that I got that out I can begin. To be honest with you, the longer I am here the deeper I find myself getting into this culture and the system of things here. In one sense- it’s scary and depressing. In the other- it’s exciting and motivating. Living in a foreign country is a complete 180 degree turn in lifestyle. The people here deal with issues that us as Americans rarely ever even think about in our lives. The basics of life- shelter (safe and sound), water, food, wastes deposit. These are the basic essentials to human life. These very essentials are the daily struggle for a large portion of the world; the people I work with included.

Shelter: Many of the people I work with live in a “house” that is essentially several straw mats placed together to form walls with a tarp as a roof. Cook over wood-burning fire that fills their lungs day in and day out. The floor is dirt, flies fill the house, one bed is enough for the entire family, electricity is often not an option. Many mothers are single (because their husband have left them) with 3 or 4 children running around- while the mother has to leave them at home all day while she works in the farm fields. Of the mothers that do have husbands, the majority are beaten on a regular basis. Domestic violence is unfortunately a very common thing here. Why don’t the women try to stop it? Because if they stand up for themselves, often time the husband will withhold giving them money for food (because he is in charge of the money) or will just leave them for an “obedient” woman, leaving the wife alone to fend for all the children.


*Photo1: A view of one of the pueblos I am working with "Cajuca".

Water: As the saying goes “El agua es la vida”—Water is life. This statement holds true in every respect, too bad it’s easier said than done here in the desert. Many of the homes in the pueblos do not have water connection. They purchase the water every few days from a water truck that comes by. And for the homes that do have water connections, they receive water for only 30 minutes per day. The water they receive is contaminated and if they do not boil the water before drinking (which a lot of them don’t) then they and their growing kids get sicknesses such as parasites and diarrhea (the leading cause of malnutrition within children). Asi es.


*Photo2: An example of the containers that some families keep their water in.

Food: Their food mainly consists of white rice and potatoes. For many kids, the mothers give them whatever amounts of sugar they want so they will stop whining- sodas, cookies, ice cream. That’s pretty much what goes on.

Waste deposit: First off, I want you to imagine your bathroom situation right now: complete privacy (well, unless you live in the college residence halls…), clean porcelain throne, a nice clean tiled floor, sometimes even a nice little mat to put your clean barefeet on. *siiiiigh* Oh how nice! Now take a moment to imagine the a large portion of the rest of the world: no bathroom whatsoever. Having to duck into the shadows of the fields to lay your piece in peace. Flies everywhere. The same flies that enjoy their lunch on your shit are the same ones that bring your shit onto your lunch. Yet again, causing sicknesses in many people. Open defecation is a serious problem. It’s low, embarrassing, dirty, the cause of a lot of contamination.

Another part of waste deposit is the trash. Solid waste. Basura. Residuos sólidos. It is surely one thing that is not lacking in this place. It is everywhere. In the streets, in the rivers, around the houses… everywhere. There’s a trash system, but it comes sporadically and doesn’t hit everywhere. The people have a dirty habit of just throwing their trash wherever they may be. “The world is your trashcan” someone once said. Well, unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way. The trash that is collected is brought to an area a few miles outside the city. There is a bunch of people that go out there and sort through it all (with no sort of body protection) collecting the recyclable goods so they can sell them and make money. All the rest of the trash they burn right there. This is the trash system here.


*Photo3: River bed of Tierras Blancas that runs through Nasca. Most of the year there is no water in the river bed, so many people here use it as their personal trash dump.



So these are some of the situations going on where I am at. This is just the beginning, but this is enough to express right now. I can only hope to improve some of these situations, even just a little bit. But for now, I am the student. Learning little by little. Making mistakes and stumbling a bit, but a toddler doesn’t learn how to walk in just one day.