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Published: November 23rd 2005
Ciao Caroline
From the left:
Vicki, Caroline, Lesley and WendySaturday 19 November
Hello all,
Had a nice longish lie today until around 8.30am. Headed into town in the morning (10am) to the Colliseo with Wendy, Vicki and Caroline to see a dancing dispay which was advertised from 9am to 3pm. Got there to discover that it wasn´t actually starting until 3pm!! Guess that means you can´t really rely on Peruvian adverts!!
After that, Vicki, Caroline and I headed into town, where I managed to acquire a really funky pair of boots (photo attached). Mum - know that you will be horrified by them!! Guess they rank up there with my red patent loafers, tartan doc martins and the orange boots I bought just before I left!! I really like them. Might wear there for Christmas in America!!
My roommate Caroline was due to leave on Monday morning, but when in town Vicki and I bumped into Marisol (one of the CCS staff) who had been passing the Aero Condor office. The woman there called her in and asked her to let Caroline know that the flight on Monday was cancelled!! She had the choice of leaving either Sunday or Tuesday!! This is pretty typical of the
Kids in the shanty town
They were very curious about us and loved having their photos taken!! way things are done here. Caroline decided to go for Sunday, so the rest of her weekend was pretty hectic getting organised!!
Wasn´t feeling great in the afternoon. You know that way when you´re just not firing on all pistons?? This wasn´t helped by a (yet another) lukewarm shower!! Decided to have an easy one - did some washing and read or slept for most of the afternoon. Felt much better by dinner. After dinner we headed out to Magica Negro for a farewell drink with Caroline (photos attached). Will miss her a lot, but it will also be nice to have a room to myself.
There was a party going full swing in the street, so struggled to sleep, but I´m sure I´ll make up for that tomorow!!
Sunday 20 November
Was up at 6am to bid a fond farewell to Caroline. Went back to bed for an hour, but Wendy, Vicki and I were meeting Pancho at 8am to head out to see a shanty town and meet some of the people there.
Our journey started in a taxi to a town just on the outskirts of Ayacucho. It turned out to be
Dog in the shanty town
A gorgeous friendly puppy!! a really interesting morning!!
The shanty towns effectively start out as squatters, squatting on privately owned land. They set up camp there and wait for the landowner to try to move them on. The landowner has three attempts to shift the squatters, and can enlist the help of the police. If they are unsuccessful by the third attempt to move them, the squatters are allowed to stay on the land.
To counter the attempts of the landowners, the squatters present a combined fighting force, often teaming up with people from other shanty towns for support. When it is acknowledged that they can stay on the land after three attempts to move them have failed, they then start to build houses and commence legal proceeding to obtain ownership of the land. They also start to pay a rental to the landowner, although this will be much less than the commercial rate!!
Part of me feels that the actions of the squatters are inappropriate, but then if the Peruvian government won´t help them, I guess they have to fend for themselves somehow. From what I´ve seen here, it really is a case of survival of the fittest in some
Latrine
This is the latrine in one of the poorest houses in the town - effectively a hole in the yard!! areas!!
The town we visited was called San Juan de Frontera (St John of the Frontier), and has been established for the last 5 years. The towns organise themselves into small cooperatives - there is a committee including a president and a secretary established for each block of houses, and an overall committee made up of all the presidents for the full community. The cost of land payable to the community council is approx 600 - 800 soles (120 - 160 pounds). There is a long waiting list for property in the community and a strict set of rules. For example, if a resident is not living in their property, then the community council can reallocate their property to someone else on the waiting list - with (it appears) no refund of the original payment!!
We spoke to a number of people there and visited a number of houses. I had a bag of clothes with me (a combination of mine and Caroline´s) which I gave to some of the girls - they were delighted!! They have no electricty or sewerage systems at present, although water is obtained from taps dotted around the village as opposed to the
More kids
Some more of the kids in the town nearest stream. These taps are only turned on at certain times, so the water has to be collected and stored. There is a primary school and a health centre. The health centre is used by visiting medics. In an emergency, patients must be transported to Ayacucho.
There are also no telephone lines. Instead, in a house, there is the equivalent of a citizens band (CB) radio, which is used by the villagers (they pay for the service) to contact and speak to their relatives across Peru.
I got chatting to some young girls and made friends with a very cute puppy. The next lady we spoke to was in tears. She had been allocated a house by the council as the owner had not been staying in the village. She had taken possession of the land and had today been challenged by the previous owner very aggressively. She was very upset and I was frustrated that there was little I could do. She had no husband and appeared to be reliant on assistance from the neighbours to deal with the situation. She was probably around 50 years old.
We then visited the local store where we bought
Chickens
They were everywhere - even wandering across the football pitch!! some cola, and also a family in one of the smaller houses. Photo of their girls, their chickens and the outdoor latrine is attached.
We came across a chicken barbecue party which had been organised by the community to help raise funds for a single mother of 3 children (Julia) who was struggling to meet her financial commitments. We each gave her 10 soles each (six pounds in total) which moved her to tears!! Was lovely to see the community supporting one of their own - something I think we rarely see at home!!
The most interesting part of the trip for me was speaking to an elderly Peruvian lady and her pet piglet, which was extremely cute!! She was with two other ladies, one of whom had a one year old boy called Raphael. The wee boy was gorgeous and started to play a game with me, handing me leaves and then taking them back. I was absolutely thrilled when he threw himself against me and gave me a big cuddle!! The ladies were telling us that there are a lot of widows in the village who lost their husbands and other family members to the Shining
Baby Chicken (Pollito)
This was soooooo cute!! Path terrorist group. One of the ladies we spoke to had lost her husband, and was very emotional about it. I fully intend to do some more research on Shining Path when I get home and can purchase some books about them in English. From what I have heard, they have a helluva lot to answer for, as do the military who were drafted in to put an end to their activities!!
Our trip back was on the local bus, and it was very definitely a case of ´heids in and feet oot´ as my gran would say!! Imagine a very small mini bus crammed full with about twenty people when it should seat maybe 10, a very steep, narrow and bumpy mountain road and you get the picture. Needless to say I was saying my prayers again!! I was sitting beside a wee old and wizened Peruvian lady who tried to strike up a conversation. My Spanish isn´t great, but I really think she was speaking in Qechuan (the historic language of the Peruvian highlands which pre dates Spanish). It didn´t help that she had no teeth either!! I smiled, nodded and tried my best to be polite!!
The local store
This is the local store in the town and the lady shopkeeper. She was originally from the jungle and moved here to help her toddler son recover from yellow fever. Pancho is talking about heading back to the shanty town to maybe provide haircuts for the kids. Have volunteered to help (Steven Ramsay - if you are reading this then all hints and tips much appreciated!!).
Headed home for lunch and (believe it or not) a roasting hot shower!! Bliss!! All I need now is for the care package from mum to arrive and I´m sorted!!
After lunch I caught up on some sleep and did some reading - a nice relaxing afternoon.
Caught up with my mum afterwards who had been organising all my mail. Discovered that I´ve been cited to attend as a witness in court in February (related to when my car was broken into outside the Church and my flute stolen) and also that I´ve received my P45 from the Inland Revenue!! Either my boss isn´t telling me something or our personnel department have messed up big time!! Could also be some sort of sign that I´m either supposed to stay here or change career - who knows?? All very exciting!!
Anyway, enough blurb for now. Hope that you all enjoy the update!!
Lesley x
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MUM
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UDDING BARBER !!!!!
DONT KNOW WHATS WRONG NOT GETTINGALL THE PAGES OF YOUR BLOGG BUT HOPE THESE POOR SOULS DONT SUE ME FOR YOUR ATTEMPS AT CUTTING HAIR - YET ANOTHER STORY EH