Self Revelation

On a recent trip to Peru I experienced what can only be described as an amazing self-revelation.

The temperature was over 100 degrees Farhenheit. We were zipping along the Pan American Highway just outside the city of Lima on our way to the site of some ancient Mayan Ruins. I snapped two interestiing pictures from the window of our "deluxe air-conditioned motor coach" as our tour guide often referred to it. (See the pictures at the right)

The first image shows an entire mountain of sand, compactly covered with hundreds of tiny, pitiable shacks. At first I thought that the place was abandoned but I soon saw that these hovels were literally crammed with people. How could any people live here? How could people live like this? I began to imagine the possible reasons for their poverty. They are probably lazy, uneducated and unskilled, ignorant folk. Perhaps they had been betrayed by their government, over taxed by greedy officials, and left to fend for themselves in this brutal climate. Their only success seemed to be having multiple children, which they could hardly provide for.

The second image shows another mountain of sand. This one had hundreds of trees planted on the steep slopes and was immediately adjacent to the shanty town. These green trees were planted in neat rows all across the mountain but they had not yet grown large enough to provide any valuable shade or fruit. Someone asked our tour guide about these two areas. He smiled and said, "Oh yes, that is a region of great pride to the people of Lima". What? How could this place represent anything but an embarrassment, gloom, and even despair?

It turns out that the people living in this area were recent war refugees. The tour guide frowned and refused to even speak the name of the place where the conflict had occurred. He told us that when these people came here they had nothing. They chose to live on this particular hill because the elevation offered at least a sense of safety. But their personal wealth was zero. Yet they imediately began to gather together and comfort one another. Everyone contributed what they could to help, if not with resources, then with labor or just moral support. Soon "homes" were being built. The new democratically elected leaders laid out a street plan and extablished property boundaries and wrote "rules to live by".

Eventually they applied to the government, not for money, but for materials to build steps, to connect the levels. They constructed a basketball court and a hard surface soccer field to keep predominately young population occupied and happy. Once again the government was petitioned. This time for the trees which were planted for the future benefit of the community as it grew both politically ad economically.

I learned that this area had named itself the "Municipal de Lima Escaleras" a city of stairs, and the government of Lima officially recognized them for their community spirit, social equality and economic growth. They serve as a worthy example and goal for each of us.

What I had first observed as a worthless area of hopeless poverty and urban failure was actually a model loving group of hard working people trying to make a better life for themselves and their families.