The neighbors who prepared the land and will attend the gardens worked with us.
We took a two-day field trip to Villa Salvador, a relatively new urban area at the southern edge of Lima where Alicia (who prepares our lunches 2-3 times per week) and her extended family hosted us with beds and meals in their homes.
One of many activities during the trip was visiting an elementary school, where we painted a wall and learned from the director a little about schools in Peru. After leaving our luggage at Alicia’s home, she took us up one of the many surrounding hills being populated by new homes made from scrap wood, metal and plastic. One of those rustic houses she and her husband built for their son; for a large portion of Peruvians, having one’s own home means structures like these.
The next morning we had our main activity, working in bio-huertas, or urban gardens, where those in surrounding low income neighborhoods use vacant lots to grow fruit and vegetables. A video, From the Earth to the Pot, describes several bio-huertas in Lima, including the one we worked at. The project organizer, Senora Gregorio (seen at 8:44 and 14:30 in the video), told us that the land under powerlines could not be used for homes, and so had instead become a large, uncontrolled garbage field. They cleared out all the trash and got assistance from the power company to buy plants and water for converting the lifeless area into a green, life-giving oasis. The project continues to expand, putting more vacant land “under the plow,” and previous SST groups as well as ours have been privileged to help.
In the afternoon we went to visit the home of Corpusa, who told us a story repeated innumerable times on the outskirts of Lima: poor people with no resources for acquiring land, and during the 80’s and 90’s often fleeing violence in the Andes, settle en masse, or “invade,” empty lots. She explained that at first they only erected a simple woven straw hut, and not until more than a decade later was she able to get a title to the property that gave her the security to build a permanent structure. In the intervening years they had to use alternative arrangements for water, electricity and bathrooms.
We get an introduction to the school from the director, at right.A primary school class.A class for senior citizens to complete their primary education.Our service coordinator, Willy, introduces us to one of the students, his father.Women from Andean villages wear distinctive hats for their village, often even after moving to Lima.Before painting, the wall needed to be cleaned.Some students painted with rollers.Others used brushes for the spaces between bricks.With the whole group working, the job went quick.A job well done.The streets of Villa Salvador, where our housekeeper Alicia lives.At Alicia’s home, going upstairs to her apartment on the second floor.Lunch at Alicia’s home. The dark purple drinks in our glasses are chicha morada, a Peruvian favorite.After lunch we drove up into the hills to visit a house Alicia built for her son.We arrive, with Alicia leading the way.The stairs going down the slope are steep, but with an impressive view.The panorama before us.This is the home Alicia built for her son.Rachel takes a moment to take in the expansive image laid out in front of us.Inside the humble home with a dirt floor.Alicia (in blue vest) describes getting title to the land and living in a location without municipal electricity, water or sewer.On a walk around the hill.This side of the hill has not been built on yet.Three serious gentlemen wait for a ride down the hill in a moto-taxi.As shown, they were terribly sad they had to ride in a 3-wheeled moto-taxi.Back at Alicia’s home; the 6 men of Peru SST.The key ingredient for chicha morada: the cobs and kernels of purple corn.Early in the morning Alicia began simmering the cobs and corn for hours with pineapple, cinnamon, sugar, and cloves.More cobs are broken with a smooth rock. Chicha morada is a very popular Peruvian drink.Walking to the location of the bio-huertas, the urban gardens.Under the power lines sits a leafy, green oasis in the sand and concrete desert.Senora Gregoria, at the chalkboard, explains to us how and why the bio-huertas began.The chart shows the different fruits and vegetables cultivated in the 4 Peruvian seasons.From a green house we get the seedlings we will sow.One group gets to work planting vegetables.The empty plot as the work begins.Four months ago the Summer SST group planted vegetables in a barren plot here.Transforming the desert.Another group of students walking through an established garden.Senora Gregoria explains to the second group how they will plant a row of green trees along the wall. [Do you see the clay figures watching?]Step 1, dig the holes and add mulch/top soil in each.Watering is such hard work.The neighbors who prepared the land and will attend the gardens worked with us.Planting the trees along the fence.More top soil and sand are added to fill in the holes.The tree line will go up to the wall at the end.A woman from the Andean highlands explains how to use old tires to create a barrier.Achieng and John ‘plant’ a used tire with a large rock to anchor it.Rachel admires one of the established community gardensThe other project workers brought us welcome refreshments for a break.Planting more tires.Maddie inspects the exquisite florets and bell of a flowering banana plant in the Garden of Eden.We asked the Andean woman for a song from her home village, which she was eager to give us. Brad attempts Andean breakdancing.Walking back to Alicia’s home.Alicia and her daughter greeted us with “anticuchos,” or Peruvian shish kabobs.We set up chairs and ate outside in the glorious sun (not seen often in Lima’s winter).Everyone shows their glass of chicha morada Alicia prepared this morning.Lunch over; time for a photo with our hosts.Our visit at the home of Corpusa, in the blue shirt at right, who explained the land “invasion.”Our visit closes with another group photo with hosts.We got back and forth to Corpusa’s house in a ‘fleet’ of 5 moto-taxis.Alex, Maddie and Tim vote for moto-taxis in Goshen.
