A visit to Chiara by Maria Anne Moore

This is a report and photos taken by Maria Anne Moore of her recent visit to the Andean village of Chiara in Apurimac Peru.

Visit to Chiara October – December 2010

From October to December of 2010 I was fortunate enough to be able to spend time in Chiara carrying out initial field research related to my PhD in Public Health. I would like to sincerely thank Claudio Chipana of Peru Apurimac Project for the invitation to his village and also the chiarinos who without exception made me very welcome in their community from the outset. In particular I would like to mention Marisol Buleje, Coordinator of the Mother’s Club, who not only took it upon herself to ensure the women in the Mother’s Club kept me well fed throughout my visit, but was an excellent friend to me during my stay. In addition, I would like to thank the staff of the Posta de Salud Chiara (health clinic) – Doctora Jeannette; José Luis, the Obstetrician; Yanet and Inés, the nurses - who allowed me to observe them in their duties, answered my many questions with infinite patience and also permitted me to make the Posta my home for 3 months.

During my stay, the people of Chiara told me on many occasions how grateful they were for the work carried out by Peru Apurimac Project, a charity organization set up in London in 2001 by Claudio Chipana and Judith Grimsdell. They asked me to express their gratitude to everyone who works with, or has supported the project in the past. They are extremely grateful for the recent donations received from PERUAP and in particular wish to extend their thanks to Claudio for never forgetting his community back home, despite having lived in London for many years now.

Based upon my experiences in Chiara, I have summarised below the main difficulties and problematic areas currently experienced by the chiarinos in the hope that it may act as a guide for the future allocation of donations and funds raised and encourage all of us to continue to support the excellent work done by PERUAP.

• Health Care (Maternal and Child Health)
• Transport (Infrastructure and Road Safety)
• Environment (Recycling, Rubbish and Reforestation)
• Community (Club de Adulto Mayor, Community Meeting Place, Club de Madres)

Health Care

The top Public Health priority identified by DISA (the Regional Health Authority) in the Apurímac region is Maternal and Child Health. Currently, although the Posta (clinic) in Chiara has a delivery room, the clinic lacks the necessary equipment to adequately care for newborns in difficulties. Accordingly, all births must take place in the Centro de Salud Huancaray (Huancaray Health Centre). This is a two hour drive away. The Posta has no ambulance of its own, which often means that heavily pregnant women and indeed any emergency patient needing to be transferred to Huancaray or Andahuaylas Hospital (a further two hours away) needs to be sent by combi (a mini bus). The village desperately needs an ambulance of its own. The recently elected Mayor, Nicanór, is currrently discussing the possibility of obtaining an ambulance from DISA. However, even if the ambulance is obtained, money will still be needed to pay for a driver and petrol as well as maintenance costs.

Childhood malnutrition is a serious problem affecting 25% of children in Chiara according to statistics compiled by DISA in December 2010. Whilst to some extent this may be due to poor diet, undoubtedly parasitic infection plays a part. The Posta lacks the necessary laboratory resources to carry out an effective deparasitation campaign. Again, the Mayor is investigating the possibility of organising a deparasitation campaign in 2012 with the assistance of NGO’s working in the area. Resources will however be needed to purchase medicines not available through the SIS (Health Insurance).

Transport

Last year, the roads leading to Chiara were widened and improved. However these improvements have not been reciprocated with respect to public transport. Chiara remains without a taxi service to transport people and goods to and from Andahuaylas, the regional capital. Three combi companies operate the only service connecting Chiara to the capital. Unfortunately there have been many accidents recently, in the course of the last 18 months despite improvements to the road. In October 2009 5 people were fatally injured in a combi accident as the bus was descending the mountain pass to Chiara. I was also involved in an accident in November 2010. I urge the owners of the combi companies to assume their responsibilities in respect to road safety and also ask the authorities to ensure that road safety is given top priority. What is the point of improving the road if the combis that travel along it are unsafe or are driven dangerously? Perhaps PERUAP, being a well respected organisation in Chiara can also bring pressure to bear on this point.

Environment

During my stay in Chiara much work was done on reforestation of the hillsides surrounding Chiara, which have suffered the consequences of deforestation over the years due to the constant use of wood burning stoves in the town. Several faenas or minkas (community work) were called by Señor Mercedio, the Community President and other village authories. Even the pupils in Secondary school participated over two days,digging holes for the trees to be replanted.
Unfortunately, it has to be noted that at present the Muncipality, after collecting the rubbish from the village, simply discards it on the mountainside a few kilometres from Chiara. Much of this rubbish is non biodegradable (plastic bottles and bags, tin cans etc.) but could easily be recycled. Facilities do not exist in Chiara to do this, but perhaps with support and encouragement the Municipality could be persuaded to transport the rubbish for recycling to Andahuaylas or the nearest recycling facility. At present, the current situation, apart from being an eyesore on what is otherwise a beautiful landscape, poses a health risk as the rubbish dump is in close proximity to a nearby stream and water supply.

Last year in Andahuaylas several nearby communities implemented the use of “cocinas mejoradas” (improved stoves). This consists in adapting the existing open wood burning stove to incorporate a metal chimney which effectively funnels the wood smoke out of the living quarters and into the open air. This can only have a positive effect on health, in a community where many inhabitants,particularly the elderly suffer from acute respiratory infections. The cost of adapting the stoves is minimal, but highly beneficial. Resources will be needed to purchase materials and pay for labour.

Community

The Club de Adulto Mayor (OAP’s Club) continues to grow in popularity in Chiara. The club is now looking for a venue in which to host its monthly meetings, having now outgrown its old meeting room in the Posta. The Club provides the opportunity for the older generation in Chiara to meet, discuss health issues with Doctora Jeanette, receive health advice from the Doctora and mutual support from each other, chat, relax, watch a DVD and dance lots of Huayno! The Club are committed to finding their own venue but will need assistance in possible renovation costs.

The community also need a communal meeting place. Building work has begun on a communal centre off the main square which has been funded by PERUAP. To date, only the first floor has been built and remains largely a shell. More funding would enable the community to complete the building, which would also provide the Club de Adulto Mayor with the perfect venue for their monthly meetings.

The Club de Madres (Mother’s Club) and Comedor Popular (Communal Kitchen) have also begun further construction work on sealing the roof structure in order to make it water tight. This work has also been funded wholly by PERUAP, but further resources are needed to complete the work.

Chocolatada in "El Progreso" in Callao

Photos taken by Amistad a voluntary asscociation based in Callao.

Chocolatada and Christmas party in the shanty town El Progreso in Callao organised by Amistad Association thanks to a donation made by Peru Apurimac Project, December 2010

Peruap Bulletin No 17 Dec 2010

PERUAP (Peru Apurimac Project) Supporting community projects in Peru
Bulletin No 17 http://peru-ap.blogspot.com/ London 06 Dec 2010

Latest trip to Peru and Christmas greetings

Dear Friends,

In “Nueva Esperanza” shanty town

In July 2010 we visited “Nueva Esperanza” (New Hope), a shanty town in Callao which is the main port of Peru which is situated next to Lima and has the international “Jorge Chavez” airport which serves Peru.

Nueva Esperanza was founded in 1993 by people who came down to the capital of Peru looking for a better life. It is situated next to the river Rimac, which is dry for part of the year, and on the other side of the shanty town is a tributary of the river which when we were there in July, the dry season when the Rimac is dry, was quite fast flowing. The houses are made of panels of wood hammered together and the poorest people live in pieces of sacking. They make their money by recycling, and go out in the afternoons with their carts to pick up whatever discarded object may bring in some money, returning to the shanty town the following morning with their “treasures” in their carts. Whilst we were visiting we saw several people pushing their carts over the rickety bridge that separates Nueva Esperanza from the next town of Callao, and two women on separate occasions had their babies in the cart on top of the rubbish that they had accumulated during their travels around Lima/Callao. One woman was pushing her cart helped by her elder daughter who didn’t look more than about ten years old. The bridge has no sides and occasionally a cart – or a child – falls into the flowing tributary of the river which flows underneath the bridge.

The head of the village, Señor Bruno, and his fellow villagers, made us very welcome on our first visit, but were rather suspicious. We were told that various groups of people had visited the village in the past, “gringos” (white visitors) and people from the local government, who had promised them help which had never materialised. So they were not really convinced that we meant to help them, which made it very important that we kept in touch with them after our visit, to arrange a date to meet to buy the materials that they needed and get them taken to the shanty town.

We were told that they were in need of a concrete floor for their “locale”, a wooden building with a stamped earth floor which was wet and stony and certainly not conducive to being sat on. They also wanted a toilet and sink in the locale, and told us that if we could provide the materials that they could do the work. So we met Sr. Bruno and from Project funds bought the materials for the floor, cement and sand, and bricks to construct the wall around the toilet. On another trip Project money bought a toilet and cistern and a sink and stand. We had been told about a family who were the poorest in the town: a woman, her two grown-up daughters, one of whom had a neurological condition, and the 3 year old son of the affected daughter – the 3 year old was far from normal, not speaking and appearing to be hyperactive. They were living in part of a dwelling of another inhabitant of the shanty town, using a huge cardboard box as their walls and ceiling and with orange boxes pushed together as beds.

Their neighbours were concerned enough about this family to ask if we could help them, and it was shocking being taken into their home and seeing the awful conditions in which they were living. There was rubbish from ceiling to floor in part of the dwelling, recycling materials which they had yet to sort out. It was difficult to imagine living there, to think that that was someone’s home. Outside a pregnant dog with mange was wandering about looking for food. From each of the dwellings in the shanty town there were pipes taking waste which emptied either into the River Rimac or into the tributary at the back of the shanty town.

The project felt that as the other people of Nueva Esperanza were asking for help for the poor family mentioned above, that it would be appropriate to help them and bought 3 wooden panels and some plastic corrugated roofing to make a little home for them. The wooden panels were duly lashed onto the roof of a taxi, and the driver charged us for the fine that he would have to pay when the police charged him for carrying goods which exceeded the size of the roof of his vehicle, and off he went with one of the group “Amistad” who help us when we are in Peru and who keep an eye on Project work when we are in the UK. Meanwhile we had an interesting journey to the shanty town with a car full of the other goods, bent double under the roll of corrugated roofing which went through the car and out of the front passenger window.

Nueva Esperanza also asked for warm clothing for the children, and the Project was able to provide them with 80 fleece jumpers bought in “Gamarra”, a part of Lima where it is possible to find all types of clothing and where clothing is made for some of the well known names. With our helpers from “Amistad” we gave out the jumpers, one to each child, from a list that Sr. Bruno had drawn up with help from the women of the village.
Although Nueva Esperanza had asked us for help to provide them with a new bridge over to the shanty town, a member of “Amistad” who works with metal, was able to assure us that the bridge was stable and that although it would benefit from having sides on it, the cost would be out of the reach of our Project and that it would be better to approach the Municipality for funds to help with replacing it.

In Chiara, Andahuaylas

The Project also visited the village of Chiara in Apurimac where the Project began in 2001. Before visiting we had been in touch with the village by phone (many villagers now have mobile phones, an irony in a village where many of the inhabitants are still semi literate), and with the help of the nurse, Yanet, from the medical centre there, who is married to the village Governor Percy Ochoa, we were able to buy jumpers for each of the children of 6 years old and under, and toys for the children of 7 and 8 years old. Yanet made a list of all the children for us so that we knew the numbers to buy for. We bought the jumpers in Andahuaylas, although we later learned when we bought the jumpers for Nueva Esperanza that it would have been cheaper to buy in Gamarra in Lima and transport them to the village. Yanet and her helper in the village helped us to ensure that each child received a jumper, and the pregnant women received a shawl, and that each child received a toy. The toy planes proved very popular amongst the boys and the little tea-sets proved popular amongst the girls, which we will remember for next time.

The Project also provided 20 books to help with the education of children in the primary and infants school.
Yanet told us about the projects which are providing food supplements for the children and women of child bearing age in the village, trying to overcome the anaemia and lack of protein suffered there. The staff of the medical centre help with classes teaching child development and preventative medicine to the mothers, and a nutritionist visits regularly. The Midwife told us that she keeps an eye on and teaches the pregnant women of the village, but that the women give birth in Huancaray, about two hours by road from Chiara and where there is a
hospital and medical facilities for an instrumental delivery or Caesarean section if necessary, and resuscitation facilities for both mother and baby. The women go there about two weeks before they are due to deliver and return to the village by minibus after their delivery. We were travelling to Chiara a few years ago when the minibus picked up a young girl and her baby to take them back to the village.

Volunteering appeal
In order to continue with our fundraising events we are looking for volunteers to help us to organise our next fundraising event for Peru Apurimac Project. Anyone interested please let us know.

Christmas greetings
We take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and excellent New Year. We look forward to continue enjoying your support

Latest news
With the help of our friends of Amistad group in Callao Peru, Peruap will be able to send a donation of £400 to organize a traditional “chocolatada” celebration at Christmas for more than 100 children of El Progreso shanty Town in Callao. We will inform you about the results of this donation which will include toys and paneton, a Peruvian style Christmas cake, for the children.

Donations
Peruap is a voluntary organization and its funds come only from the generous donations of our friends and our fundraising events. We always are grateful for any donation to help us to continue helping poor people in Peru. If you wish to make a donation to Peruap you can send us a cheque or alternatively you can make a deposit to Peruap’s account.

About us
Peruap is a charity group based in London that started in 2001. We organise fundraising events to help community groups in marginal areas of Peru, mainly in the Andes. We mostly help small projects in health and educational needs in areas where people live in conditions of extreme poverty. Our Project has paid especial attention to children living in shanty towns and poor communities.

Peruap is a voluntary group so we are always looking for volunteers to help our fundraising events.

Contact us
For further information about our project, please email us to:
peruapu@yahoo.co.uk.
Or call us on Tel 0208 6998731

You are also invited to visit our blog at: http://peru-ap.blogspot.com/
Thank you
Claudio Chipana
Email: claudiochipana@yahoo.com
Judith Grimsdell
Liz Kalinauckas (Treasurer)

Cusco Fundraising event: Report of the event

Let’s Help Cusco
London 20 February 2010


We are pleased to inform you that the net income raised during the event of 20 February 2010 is:
£ 1,785.51 (This sum includes the selling of drinks, food, entrance tickets, raffle, some generous
donations in money and prizes for the raffle) and after all costs (hiring of venue, cost of food and drinks,
transport, etc)
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our friends, to everybody who has helped one way or another, volunteers, artists, and the public who attended that evening.

Our special thanks to:
Volunteers: Rosa and Eddie Bond, Elvira, Bertha, Faviola, Gregorio Cueto, Dante Concha, Carolina, Nico and Danniel, Rosa Ward, Andrea Luna, Myriam Hay, Alexandra Pereyra, Maria Anne Moore, Annie Bazan, Jaime Hoyos, Juan Herrera, Gustavo Pezzia, Talise Quispe, Jose Navarro, John Loayza, Claudio Chipana, Jude, Paloma, Fabiola, Carlos Niño, Antonio Bustos.

Many thanks for the kind donations made by: Peruvian Consulate in the UK, Peru Apurimac Project, Peru-UK, , Petronila Schulz, Tian, Sue Ellenby, Sue Pinter, Carlos Diaz, Sofia and Paloma, Betha Huallani, Annie Bazan, Lidia Roca, Andrea Luna, Aculco Radio.

Our special thanks to the following artists who offered a splendid show during the event:
Expresión Inca, Kausary, Los Chinches, Jose Navarro, Sofia Buchuck and Paloma, Somos Peru, La Frontera, Chica Latina, Killa Raymi, Juan Calle, Cristina Motta, Kieffer Santander (Manos Negras), Shakirita.

The money will be sent to Cusco as soon as possible. In order to do that we started to contact a group of people in Cusco who will take responsibility of the donation in the areas where help is much needed.
We will keep you informed about the results of the donation.

Our gratitude to everybody for their support that made possible this event. We are looking forward to giving some aid to the most vulnerable and the poorest in the rural areas of Cusco.

The organizers
London 24 February 2010

Let's help Cusco - Apoyemos a Cusco - Change of venue to Latin Palace 146 Camberwell new rd SE5 0RR

Click on the picture to enlarge

Recent donations made by Peru Apurimac Project in Peru Dec 9009

Peruap would like to thank Grupo Amistad for making possible these donations:

Asociacion de padres de niños especiales "Tener un amigo" Pedro Ruiz Gallo -Tarapaca Callao

Centro de Salud "Santa fe" Callao

Pueblo Joven Nueva Esperanza en el Callao Dic 2009