Canto Grande

Slums. Shantytowns. Barriendas. Pueblos jóvenes. Asentamientos humanos. There are a lot of terms to describe what we saw yesterday and today, but it’s hard to exactly describe the feeling of witnessing extreme poverty. Canto Grande is a result of a land invasion where peasants from the mountains came to Lima and staked out land surrounding the city and essentially built their life here. Most everything in this area is part of the “informal economy” of Peru meaning a typical family here does not pay taxes, does not have title to their land, and does not have proper legal documents for identification. They are literally living “outside of the law,” but that is the only way they can survive.

In a way, I suppose I am desensitized to seeing how these people live as I’ve seen it before in Piura. I guess that’s all I’ve ever known of Peru (before this trip). As everyone else was shocked to see shacks perched precariously on the side of a mountain, I was more shocked to see how nice our host family’s house was when we first arrived in Lima. Although I say I’m desensitized, there’s really no getting used to seeing this. I still can’t get over the fact that in 2010, there are people (millions of people) living without water, sewage, or electricity. Can you imagine going to bed when the sun sets simply because there’s no light? And as we learned today, it’s not that Peru is an especially poor country, it’s just that there is so much inequality among the people living here. This has a profound impact on me, but what really worries me is how easily I forget. Inevitably, I will return to my daily routine in Oklahoma, and only stop once in a while to think how fortunate I am to have a family free of drug abuse and domestic violence, a car, air conditioning, clean water, an education, and ample opportunities for success. I’m thinking I can remedy this selfishness by moving down here after graduation (hopefully Boo and Curt won’t mind).

After all of that profound introspection, I suppose I can say what we actually did in Canto Grande. First we went to Yancana Huasy, which is a center for disabled children and adults and their families. They offer physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, nutrition help, psychiatric help – basically anything you can think of to help these people who have no other resources. Everyone in Canto Grande has the odds stacked against them anyways, and to add a disability to the equation really hinders them. What really struck me was Yancana Huasy’s emphasis on family involvement. Parents are supposed to come with their children to learn how to help them and provide these same services at home. It really was just an awesome place all around.

Later we visited a beautiful chapel on the hillside that had a health clinic attached to it. Their previous chapel had been burnt down (most likely by the Shining Path terrorist group). But they weren’t so easily discouraged and came back better and stronger (go Catholics!).

We stayed the night at a sort of retreat center called Peyton Center. It was built by the Catholic Church, but many other groups use it as well (like us!). It was sort of like the compound at Santísimo Sacramento in Piura. The whole time in Lima thus far, 17 of us have stayed with 5 different host families, so it was fun for all of to be in one place. We played basketball and I naturally showed off my extreme baller skills (thank you Chris for hoopin it up with me last semester, otherwise it would have been a pretty weak showing). Kathryn and I went to sleep giggling in our adjacent top bunks like we were at camp or something.

This morning we had two speakers at Peyton Center. The first one was Father David Farrell and he was fascinating. He first moved to Peru in 1964 and his insight to the country, its problems, and its people was really interesting. Our next speaker was a Peruvian who had lived in Canto Grande for the majority of his life and spoke to us about his involvement in politics.

Now for the best part: Fe y Alegría No. 25. This is a school that was built by the Church and is administered by a religious order, however all of the teachers are paid by the state. Say what you will about the separation of church and state, but this evidently works for these kids because they are beyond precious. We toured the school and I loved every single minute. The three year olds captured our hearts with their smiles and songs and the middle schoolers impressed us with their English. I took entirely too many pictures and got entirely too excited. All the girls were talking about how they desperately wanted to adopt a Peruvian child, but I could do them one better – I’m just going to marry a Peruvian so I can have my own Peruvian babies. Boom.

Afterwards, we went to “La Lombriz Feliz” or “The Happy Worm.” Kathryn and I were obsessed with saying it with a Spanish (as in from Spain) lisp. It’s a really cool ecological project where they break down waste with worms and in turn use the worm’s waste as fertilizer. I was a little too busy taking pictures of children on a playground (I am such a creep).

Now I’m just going to put up a lot of pictures of adorable children. And there's a video at the end that I hope works because it took me years to upload. Enjoy!