Jun. 7, 2007 - Peru Chronicles Day 2

 When I visited my wonderful financial planner, Pat Raskob, yesterday and was sharing about the trip tp Peru, she asked me if the federales with Uzis were on every corner. I realized, unlike our previous trip, I saw no soldiers with machine guns. While there still was one posted in front of each bank, the guns were not evident. Hopefully this says something good.

Sunday May 27  Lima Peru

The cafe con leche was a welcome start to the morning. We gathered for a traditional Peruvian Breakfast of fresh rolls, fruit, and hard boiled eggs. Kique was our host and interpreter for the day. We loaded into a van and drove about 40 minutes to Villa El Salvador neighborhood. Lima is very much a desert city that gets little rain and it showed as we drove through the streets. The air quality is filled with smog from the 8.5 million residents. It was cloudy and misty.

We were greeted at a community center called Los Martincitos by the director and Sister Jacci.  Villa El Salvador was created when 150 Incan families joined to start a well organized structure to serve their needs. The Peruvian governement did not allow them to build where they originally took their stand, but peacefully relocated them to where Villa El Salvador is today. Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, this neighborborhood is governed democraticatically and with great pride. It has grown to a community of over 35,000.

From there, we went shopping! The Inca Market was scores of stores with alpaca sweaters, jewelry, leather and cloth items. I got a great red wool sweater you will see me in! Others bought presents and treasures. Spending some money in the local economy seemed a good thing to do and we had fun!

We went back to the CCS home base for lunch. Lunch is the big meal of the day in Peru. We had a delicious soup and  a white meal (hardboiled eggs, potatoes) and fruit.

Then we loaded back in the van for a visit to Casa de Panchita, a center for domestic workers. We were told that the families in the mountains send their daughters into Lima to work for families and hopefully have a better life. In reality, it is a hard life, sometimes even abusive, for these girls that work from morning until night. Casa de Panchita is a refruge they can visit on Sundays for support and services. We had been told that these girls leave their families as young as 6-8, but I don't think that really sunk in until we met a 7 year old who was the nanny for a 2 year old. Made me think how sad it would be to send Lily (my 5 year old grandadughter) off to live in another city. At the center, they were able to relax and do crafts, visit with each other and do studies. There was also employment services that would help them find good jobs and had blacklisted dangerous ones. We heard how the girls are often not sent to school-only the boys and how difficult it is for them. This visit was sobering and gave us our first real insight into the cultural differences, how the women are treated and what is being done.

See this with pictures and the sunsequent days over at www.WebWomenGivingCircle.com