As I said in my first post, I'm from and live in Perú. It is, in so many ways, a wonderful, interesting, colourful country, but it is also an extremly poor country, where living is hard and next to impossible for many. It is a country full of contrasts, and while life is easy and pleasing for many, racism and class segregation still exists in people's minds. Ever since the Spanish Colonial time, Peru has been divided into those who have and enjoy and those who lack and serve. This became obvious during our last presidential election, when Ollanta Humala, an anti-democratic candidate with homofobic and pro-war comments nearly won. With a radically demagogic approach, Humala became a strong political force at the time, praising himself as the new leader of the indigenous revolution.
Politics are not the only problem here.
Winters get terribly cold, not so much in Lima (the capital), but mostly in the Sierra (the long stretch of mountains that are the Andres). The living conditions most people endure in the mountains are close to those of extreme poverty. It gets a lot tougher during the winter, when their lands freeze, they lose their crops and their animals die. As you can imagine, the ones that suffer when this happens are the children. Every year children die because of the cold while those in a more comfortable situation stand in indifference.
You can read a bit more about it here.
I'm planing a trip to Cuzco (up in the mountains) for next week, and my and my aunt have been knitting several little sweaters for babies and young children that I'm going to leave a shelter there. I also plan to travel a bit to the more remote towns and give away some sweaters to children of families I meet.
So that made me think. What if I used the fact that I just started a blog to get people into helping Peruvian children during the winter? What do you think? If I happen to get positive feedback (I'm still not sure how to get this out there since I just started my blog and don't really know how I'm doing with readers), I'll be glad to give anyone interested my adress so they could send sweaters, scars, socks, etc. I'd be glad to go up to little towns in the Sierra to deliver them and make sure they really reach those in need. I could even take pictures of the children wearing the donations so everyone could see where their efforts are going.
This is a photograph of a little boy I took on one of my last trips to a small town near Cuzco. If you are interested in how to contribute, leave me a comment and I'll reply with my adress or any other information you might like.
3 comentarios:
Vaya, que bueno que mi post te animó a abrir tu propio blog, en serio me da mucho gusto.
Bueno, esto de los blogs funciona así: Tu comentas en los blogs de otros (regularmente) y lo usual es que las personas te respondan con otro comentario. La mayoría funciona así.
Yo suelo hacer mis donaciones a los Traperos de Emaús y hace poco fui a Lambayeque, a la parte de chacra y llevé la otra caja de cosas que me quedaba. Me gustaría volver a Cuzco, la única vez que fui fue en mi prom y no lo ví en todo su esplendor (5 días no son suficientes).
Bueno, espero que sigas en esto. Al rato te agrego a mis links.
Pd. Me da curiosidad saber como encontraste mi blog, si te acuerdas, me cuentas.
i'd love to do this. I need to do some spring cleaning and still have tons of childrens clothing in my closet. please let me know what i can do.
Hello!
I just stumbled onto your blog today and I also knit! I would love to contribute to knitting some children's jumpers, scarves and things if you're still interested. I don't have a blogger account so just let me know how I can get in contact with you or how I can send my email address.
Cheers, Vanessa
PS. I live in Australia.
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