September 22, 2007 - Lucha

I must say that I hold Corvallis near and dear to my heart. Not only was I born there, but my 4-year-old son was too. Living in Corvallis, it’s so easy to NOT realize how most people in the world live. Oh how the building codes can be frustrating, but they are really for our protection; and the zoning, well that’s important too. Sometimes so much infrastructure bothers us, but it’s better to have too much than too little.

I can’t put into words what Chincha is like. It’s dirty, chaotic, unorganized…can I think of any other negative descriptive words? That’s what it was like before the earthquake, NOW it’s worse. There are piles of adobe, dirt, and garbage everywhere.

Let me introduce you to Lucha. Lucha is nearly 60-years-old. She raises her four grandchildren, her husband became deaf from one of the jobs he held. Lucha is a domestic worker in the condominium where I live. She makes 16.50 Soles a day (not even $6) working from 7am to 5pm, Monday-Saturday. It costs her 4 Soles to get to and from work. Lucha’s house collapsed during the earthquake, fortunately everyone in her family is okay.

From the more than generous GBF clothing donations, Lucha received two coats and a sweater (as seen in the picture) for three of her four grandchildren. Her grandchildren are 3, 6, 9, and 14 years old. Because I couldn’t bring all the donations to Chincha at once, I was unable to find anything that would fit the 14yr old. Lucha is extremely grateful, she told me, “God Bless your mother and her church.”

Many people have not gone back to work, as they have gotten used to receiving the food rations. There is a man who is a janitor where Chalo works in Pisco, Chalo took him a jacket for each of his three children ages 2, 3, and 8. His house in Pisco also collapsed.

Last weekend we went out and about the small villages around Chincha: El Carmen, Tambo de Mora, and Chincha Baja. All the historical Catholic Churches are no longer safe and the majority of people are living in Coleman tents or homemade tents from tarps and whatever other plastic materials the people can find. We were able to donate several coats to children we came across in the streets, unfortunately we didn’t have the camera with us.