cafod.org.uk/connect2peru

Sharing lives across the world

Peru at a glance:

• Peru is situated on the west coast of South America.

• It has a population of 30.97 million (World Bank 2014).

• It has a tropical climate, with wet and dry seasons.

• The official language is Spanish, but there are several indigenous languages, including Quechua and Aymara.

• 22% of people live in rural areas.

• The majority of Peruvians are Roman Catholic.

• St Rose of Lima is the Patron Saint of Peru.

• St Martin de Porres is another famous Saint from Peru.

• Peruvian exports include copper, gold, lead, zinc, tin, iron ore, silver; coffee, fruit, vegetables, textiles, and fish.

Cruz de Mayo Community

CAFOD has worked with partners inPeru since 1968.

Peru is a beautiful, varied country,with deserts, rainforest, and highmountains. Like much of LatinAmerica and the Caribbean, it isrich in natural resources.

Nearly a quarter of the populationin Peru lives below the poverty line,with most of the poverty in ruralareas.

Peru is the third most vulnerablecountry in the world to the impactsof climate change.

Peru is home to 70% of the tropicalglaciers in the world, however sincethe 1970s an estimated 40% ofglacier coverage has melted in theCordillera Blanca mountain range inPeru.

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Above: Fr. Ed, saying Mass in the Columban parish Our Lady of the Missions, in Lima

Columban Fathers:The Fathers have worked inPeru since 1951. They workwith some of the poorestcommunities in and aroundLima to build a strong laychurch with social justice at itsheart.

One of the organisations set up by the Columban Fathersis Warmi Huasi. The name is Quechua (an indigenouslanguage in Peru) meaning "Woman's Home". We aresupporting their work with children in Lima.

CEAS:CEAS is the Peruvian ChurchSocial Action Commission. Weare supporting their work withthe Cruz de Mayo communitywho are standing up for theprotection of their environmentand water.

Above: Cruz de Mayo

We work with partners across Peru who are helpingcommunities to be active in local and nationaldecision making processes that affect their dailylives.

Warmi Huasi

Our Partners

Adán

Adán lives in Cruz de Mayo, withhis wife and baby. He is young,energetic and sociable, and deeplycommitted to the community andits well-being. He is building ahome for his new family and ishappiest when surrounded byfamily and friends. He is proud ofwhere he lives, saying:

"the community of Cruz de Mayo isvery beautiful. Where the waterflows there are lots of treesoffering shade, and you can walkthere and think.“

At 26, Adán was elected Presidentof the Water Users Committee forthe area, a role which he held forfive years. It was a challengingrole as the committee representedthe community and the local townand the fertile valley. Adán had tolead them all through difficultnegotiations with a privateinternational hydro-electriccompany, and the Peruvian Stateover the management of LakeParón.

As President of the Water UsersCommittee, Adán learnt a lotabout water management with thesupport of our partner CEAS.Recently his term as President ofthe Water Users Committee ended,

but he continues to beconcerned about theenvironment.

"The environment goes hand inhand with human life. If wedamage the environment, wedamage ourselves too."

Adán dreams of a time whengirls and women in hiscommunity have the sameopportunities as boys and men:

"As I see it, men and womenhave the same worth; we areequal and we have equal claimto freedom and other rights.Equality is what matters - menand women as equals. This willhelp the community toprogress."

Meet the narrators

“Without water here, there wouldn’t

be life”

Above: Adán in the house he is building for his family

Flor

Flor is 36 years old. She lives inCruz de Mayo, where she wasborn, and has lived all her life.She is a farmer, growing food forher family and flowers to sell.She has two sisters and fourbrothers, but she is the only onewho has stayed in Cruz de Mayo.Her parents live here too. Shehas five children. Her eldest sonis 21 and now lives in Lima. Herother children all still live withher. Flor’s husband died 12 yearsago, just after her youngestchildren, twins, were born, andshe has brought up her familyherself since then.

Flor loves living in Cruz de Mayo.She says,

“Look how beautiful it is here:our landscape and the nature.Day or night we can step outsideinto a shining world”.

She is passionate about protecting the environment where she lives:

“Our environment will stay likethis because we are fighting for it.It is important to defend the landfor our life, for our right to life, forour children, our greatgrandchildren, our families.”

Flor wakes up at 1:30am on market days (Wednesdays and Sundays) to sell her carnations in the local market.

“It is great that you are supporting us in our

struggle to look after our environment.”

Meet the narrators

The community of Cruz deMayo is working hard to protectLake Parón – an importantwater source for them. Theland here is also rich inminerals which miningcompanies are keen to extract,so they are also learning aboutthe impacts of large-scalemining on local communities sothey can negotiate the land useas equals.

SantosSantos is 50 years old and wasborn in Cruz de Mayo. He is afarmer, and has eight children.

Santos has seen lots of change inhis community, such as roadsand more opportunities forchildren to study for longer, buthe is worried for the future of theland and water. Miningcompanies would like to startwork in the area, but thecommunity is concerned aboutthe impact this may have on thelocal environment. Ahydroelectric company uses thelake that is an important sourceof water for them and people inthe nearby town and valley.CEAS have worked with thecommunity to help them tonegotiate the management of thelake with the company.

“Without God neither work, nor our

problems will go well”

"When it comes to the waterand the mining, we thinksadness is coming sooner orlater. It's not just about today,we have to think about ourchildren"

Santos is very resilient. In thepast, he dug a small reservoiron his land to save water. Healso goes to the communityassembly meetings, where theydiscuss and agree how to lookafter their best interests.

Santos explains, "Now wemonitor the quality of thewater, so that we know how itis before any mining takesplace."

Meet the narrators

Milka

Milka is the Coordinator of ourpartner Warmi Huasi. Driven bya deep faith and strong sense ofsocial justice, Milka is dedicatedto leading the Warmi Huasi teamin its efforts to ensure thatchildren in Lomas de Carabayllocan grow up in an environmentwhere they can thrive. In return,she feels her faith is deepened:

"When I am here, I am filled withGod by the children. Thechildren give us so much of God,the women too.“

“We want to offer education,skills-building, training that willserve people for life and enablethem to be active citizens.”

“I find a lot of value in the act of praying, in the

liturgy, and the mass. It’s very important for

me in my life. But it has little meaning if it is not

also accompanied by some kind of concrete

action. The one nourishes the other.”

"I send my thanks and eternal affection to you,

who live in solidarity with us. We may not know each

other in person, but you hold us in your thoughts

and prayers. Thank you."

"People here are so friendly and full of solidarity. We love to share.If you ask someone here for a glass of water, they won't just giveyou water, but lemons and sugar too to make lemonade. This iswhat I love about Peruvians, this ability to make every effort to helpothers."

Meet the narrators

Fr. Ed – a.k.a Padre Lalo

Fr. Ed, also known as PadreLalo by his parishioners, is aColumban priest. He first wentto Peru as a newly ordained,missionary in 1973.

Fr. Ed’s parish in Lima is calledOur Lady of the Missions. It isa large and vibrant parish. Solarge that there are severalchapels in it. When theColumban Fathers started theirmission here, it was a place ofgreat poverty. Fr. Ed and theColumban Fathers set upWarmi Huasi to help families inthe parish.

Today, many young people inthe parish now have thechance to go to university. Fr.Ed and his fellow missionariesdecided that the social workthey had started in the parishcould be extended to otherparts of Lima where people stilllive in poverty. This is howthey decided that Warmi Huasiwould start to work in Lomasde Carabayllo, on the outskirtsof Lima.

“when we have had big events in the parish, we have taken a collection supporting the work of Warmi Huasi. So a lot of the parishioners know about Warmi Huasi. We have also had a collection of second-

hand primary and secondary books for the libraries and

homework clubs.”

“There is a lot to share between local churches here and local

churches back home (in England and Wales).”

Meet the narrators

Meet the narrators

Amparo

Amparo has two grown up children- a son and daughter. It has beenher lifelong dream to get herEducation Degree. Twice she hasstarted, but she interrupted herstudies, first so she could look afterher elderly parents, and thenputting her children's needs first.

"I still believe that one day I willfinish my studies. Age is no barrierto study, when I am so motivated."

"Miss Amparito" is employed as atutor for one of the Warmi Huasihomework clubs. The homeworkclubs are run by localneighbourhood groups, with thesupport of Warmi Huasi andCAFOD.

Amparo says, "As well as providingacademic support, I try to teachthe children values, such asrespect, solidarity, love, help, andabove all sincerity.“

"Warmi Huasi is making a bigdifference providing academicsupport for children. They also runchildren's workshops and teachthem about their rights. They helpthem if they are being badlytreated or have difficulties."

Amparo outside the homework club where she works for Warmi Huasi

Did you know?Amparo means help,

shelter, protect - what an appropriate name

for a Warmi Huasi tutor!

"My Dad used to tell me, "If you love children you have

Jesus at your side."

Amparo at work in the homework club.

Dany

Dany is a teenager, living and goingto school in Lomas de Carabayllo.She believes teenagers have a lotto contribute to their communities.

"I think our opinion is the mostimportant thing of all. Our opinionis very important, as are our rights.And we are willing to be involved inthings."

These words ring with sincerity.Dany was elected by the otherpupils in her school to representthem for a year as leader of theirpupils council. It was a challengingrole, but she embraced it fully, andwhen she had to stand up to theteachers or authorities, she feltconfident: "If I challengesomething, it is always with thetruth. Sometimes I can feel afraid,but if I am speaking the truth,there is no need for me to beafraid.“

In her spare time, Dany isdedicated to volunteering at theWarmi Huasi Saturday ReadingClub, which is run by localteenagers.

They take their duties veryseriously, and work hard tomake sure the Reading Club isa welcoming, friendly andhappy place for youngerchildren.

Dany has lots of ideas of whatshe would like to do with herlife, but underpinning them allis a strong call to service: "I'dlike to be a chef, an architect,or a graphic designer. Anarchitect: so I can help mycommunity; a chef to help mycountry by creating dishes,and graphic designer to helpmy country by designingcampaigns."

Dany showing a child how to use a glove puppet at the Reading Club.

"Don't be afraid. Get involved. Yes, we can make mistakes, but

let's work for the good of everyone."

Meet the narrators

Luz

Luz first came to know WarmiHuasi when she joined in theirtraining with mothers on first aid.Now, she works for Warmi Huasias an outreach and youth worker.

She migrated to Lima as a younggirl, as it was considered saferthan her own village during theyears of civil conflict, and that shewould have better prospectsthere. Some years later, she andher husband moved to Lomas deCarabayllo, on the outskirts ofLima. She says, "I like it in thisneighbourhood. I think it is agood community, peaceful, thereisn't a lot of noise from the road.It's quiet and you can relax.“

Luz noticed a big difference whenshe first arrived in Lima. "I grewup in the hills, so I love naturebecause it makes you feel free.When I first came to Lima, I wasshocked that in summer youdon't' see any plants. Everythingis dust, and this made me sad. Ilove flowers, I have lots offlowers. Maybe one day we willbuild a bit more, but I alwayswant my garden with plants in it."

“What I really love about WarmiHuasi is that it does somethingfor the children; it may not bemuch, it may not be a financialsupport, but the little childrenwe work with are going to growand develop and be different.”

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“I work with children to help my community, because I see the need

for my community to grow, and children are my source of hope."

One of Luz's key responsibilities isto oversee the Saturday ReadingClub. She also supports theWarmi Huasi Children's Councilwhich meets on Fridays.

"The idea is to form a Children'sCouncil that can speak withauthorities like the town councilor provincial government. Thenchildren can stand up for theirrights using their own words andorganisation, to ask for things likea playground designed bychildren. Lomas is starting todevelop. There aren't roads andpavements, parks and gardens,so the Children's Council canpromote community developmentfrom a child's perspective.”

Meet the narrators