Peru in the 1980s : a photographic display

      During the first week of January, 1980, I arrived in Lima, Peru, actually on the outskirts, in a relatively new land invasion that had begun with 5,000 people, mostly young couples from the city, who had invaded a piece of public land near downtown. After negotiation, the government came to an understanding for them to be resettled in an uninhabited valley several kilometers away. Within weeks the population had grown to 45,000 and then just kept going throughout the 1980s until it reached more than 500,000 people. Today the entire valley is inhabited, there are roads, electricity, water and sewage, bus transportation lines, a hospital and medical clinics, schools (primary and secondary). None of this was present when I arrived. The people I worked with estimated that the mortality rate for newborns was about 250/1000. The basic problem was hygene.
      I offer you 15 photos, taken at that time. Actually they were prepared by the Communications Office of the Peruvian Bishops' Conference and they are views of various communities around Lima, noteably Villa El Salvador, a similar experience in the southern end of Lima just three or four years earlier. That experience was the model for the development of our area: Canto Grande. They show the story at various stages and also the struggle of the people to survive: hauling cargo, shining shoes, selling stuff on the street.
    If you go to Youtube there is a video of Huascar, where I lived, as it is today. The quality is poor but it give an idea of the change. Click here. There isn't much I have found to give an idea of the story.  Somehow or other, I think it would be important to tell the story. But I leave that for another moment.

 Meanwhile here are the pictures: (Some are taken in the city where they went to find food, sell something or work. The difference between the city and Canto Grande at that time is startling.)

The video is also on Youtube:  here


If you want to download any of the pictures, here are the links:   (Just click on the link and the photo will open. They are a bit large so it may take a few seconds.)

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Time has passed; the area has changed but, most of the people are still there; they deserve our admiration for their courage and capacity to organize.