Shanty Town

Volunteered to deliver supplies to a shanty town in Miraflores. There were 4 of us, 2 Americans and 2 Germans, along with a guide and driver.
We packed up the van and then made a stop at one of the richest neighborhoods in Miraflores to pick up donations. This man is a descendent of Kaiser (royalty in Germany) whose great grandfather relocated to Peru. He and his wife routinely donate items.

Then we were off to the Shanty Town in the mountains near Miraflores. Way up in the mountains it is actually illegal for them to live there, but the government allows it. It has been raining and the van cannot make it up the hill…

So we begin walking and carrying the bags up the hill…

Lots of steps and rocky pathways… and I thought Koko Head stairs were difficult. This was not quite an long, but just as steep

Once at the top the community leader came out. She was a nice looking young lady with a big smile.

One thing I have to say is that all the local people there were clean and looked well kept. Many homes do not have electricity nor water so it is not easy to maintain appearances. They have to bring up supplies frequently because they have no refrigeration.

She invited us in and served us coffee and crackers. Her 5 year old had a birthday last week so the decorations were still up. One of the German volunteers knew how to do magic so she did some tricks and made balloon animals. That brought smiles to the kids.

The house was small but well kept. I made sure to tell her that her house was beautiful.

We walked down to our waiting car and went to the market to buy supplies for the families. Our guide also made sure he bought from a single parent.

We bought supplies for 5 families in extreme poverty. Extreme poverty means children living with only one parent or no parents.

Later that day the mothers went down to pick up their supplies.

Haku Tours is the organization that donates a portion of all the tours to assist the communitiesin need. I heard about them during my Historic Lima walking tour. The guide told me they were doing this the next day and asked if I wanted to help. Of course I jumped at the opportunity, but didn’t realize it would be so inpactful.

I was told that many 70% of the population lives in some form of poverty. When we come as tourists we don’t see that. It makes me sad and humbles me. It also makes me appreciate the comforts that I do have. The communities that do live like this work together because it is the only way they can survive. That’s what we can learn from them. A hotel guest from India said that in his country they have many different cultures and that it is the differsity that makes them unified. I said America is not there yet… we have a long ways to go for that. We are differse but not unified.