Edith went Shopping

We’ve discussed in previous posts the poor circumstances Edith and her family live in. Given her situation we wondered what Edith would do if told she could go on a shopping spree with what to her would seem like an unlimited budget. We had the opportunity this morning to find out.

Edith Fuentes works at a store in Chiclayo from 9:00am to 9:00pm seven days per week. She earns $203 per month. She leaves for work at 7:30am and returns home at 11:00pm so really has no personal time. She asked for and was given permission by her employer to take the morning off so we could take her shopping. We met her at the Makro store in Chiclayo at 8:00am. When we began Edith was at first hesitant, looking at us for approval before placing each item on the cart, but when she realized we were serious about no limitation she shopped quickly and methodically. We didn’t stop her…she stopped herself. After placing a fresh chicken on the cart she firmly announced, “No mas.” These are the items Edith purchased:

Rice...........................108 lbs..........$35

Sugar.........................110 lbs..........$29

Beans........................22 lbs.............$16

Noodles.....................22 lbs.............$11

Peas..........................22 lbs.............$12

Oats...........................11 lbs.............$7

Milk............................24 cans..........$19

Peaches....................3 cans............$18

Tuna...........................6 cans............$11

Chicken.....................1 whole..........$6
Cooking oil................5 liters............$12

Laundry soap............10 lbs.............$12

Toilet paper...............24 rolls...........$4

Candy........................1 bag.............$1

Juice glasses............6 pack............$1      

                                   Total.............$194

Depending on where a person lives and what their circumstances are this list may not look very exciting. To a family like Edith’s, where money is scarce and regular meals are not always a sure thing these items represent a bonanza. For Edith they also represent nearly a month’s wage.

Before delivering the food to Edith’s house we stopped at the school in Casa De Madera to drop off the new dry-erase board we’d promised, along with the hardware to mount it. The teachers assured us that one of the village men would have it in place for classes on Monday.

As the truck neared Edith’s house we saw Leslie and Janina excitedly jumping up and down and waving signs to greet us. It’s a nice gesture that we appreciate.

With Edith’s approval we’re going to hold on to the remainder of the money donated for the Fuentes family while we explore the possibility over the next few days of using it for seed money to raise the needed cash to get Julio out of prison. We’re going to look at raffles, bake sales and any other fund raising activity we can think of. If this turns out not to be practicable we’ll give Edith the remainder of the donated money. That’s not normally our practice but we trust her to use the money in the best interests of her family.

To those who donated…thank you. You’ve fed a family of seven for better than a month, and for awhile at least have given peace of mind to Edith and her husband. You can feel justifiably proud of what you’ve accomplished.

News Regarding the Edith Fuentes Family

In a previous post titled The Caserio Casa de Madera I wrote about the family of Edith Fuentes and the problems they’re facing. We talked with an attorney last week to determine what the circumstances are regarding Edith’s husband Julio Campos and why he remains in jail two years after his four year sentence expired. We met with the attorney this morning and were given some very discouraging information, but first let me comment about the attorney.

I am often critical of the casual Peruvian attitude toward time, time commitments and quality of service. Attorney Hugo Zapata Farias is an exception. He is a 68 year old Chiclayo attorney who was a former Supreme Court judge.  He has an office in central Chiclayo that he shares with his son who is also a lawyer. When we met with him last week and explained that we were trying to help the Fuentes family he thanked us for our efforts and waived his normal fee; ultimately charging us only $19 for expenses incurred. He promised that he would have a complete report for us on Monday (this morning) at 9:30am and that is exactly what happened.

Some of what Hugo told us we already knew. In April of 2007 Julio Campos was involved in a fatal traffic accident and was found to be at fault. He was sentenced to four years and a fine of 15,000 soles (not four years or 50,000 soles as I mistakenly reported). In 2011 when his prison term expired he was released under the stipulation that he pay 100 soles per month until the 15,000 soles was paid. Court records show that for over a year payments were made regularly but then became sporadic. According to Edith there were times when it was a choice between putting food on the table or paying the court. After several consecutive months of missed payments Julio was seized and returned to prison.

Before Julio reentered prison the family had paid 2000 soles toward the fine, leaving a balance of 13,000 soles ($5,040 USD) still due. Hugo met with a judge this morning before seeing us in an attempt to negotiate a settlement of some sort but was not successful. The judge would not lower the amount outstanding and said monthly payments are not an option. So either the Fuentes family comes up with 13,000 soles or Julio sits in jail conceivably forever…something we’re powerless to do anything about with our limited resources.

Like I said, discouraging news, but there is a small bright spot. In response to our appeal for donations several people came forward with generous contributions, specifically stipulating that the money be used to help the Fuentes family. Included with one of the donations was a comment we’d like to share:

“I've read your posting about the Fuentes family with interest - a donation should be winging its way to you via the new PayPal button now...

I also read your more recent blog about considering shutting down your charitable work - this is sad news to say the least. I've always been inspired by your doggedness to help those with very little, even though you yourselves have little to help them with. One of the reasons I have donated to Promesa Peru in the past is that I like (perhaps a little selfishly!) to see directly the practical impact the money has - i.e. not to some large multi-national charity where it's anyone's guess where the money actually ends up.

I really hope you are able to keep plugging away on the front-line, finding the people you seem to have little trouble in meeting who need the practical help of others. I can understand the frustration as word of Promesa Peru spreads and people's expectations/hopes increase, but this is testament to what a fantastic job you are doing.”

The encouraging words and contributions came at a time when we needed them most. As the donor suggested we’re going to attempt to “keep plugging away”. The donations received will allow us to provide temporary relief to the Fuentes family. We’ll try to do that this week and post a follow-up report.

Progress in Pimentel

I’ve never been a fan of Pimentel, mostly because I think it’s vastly overrated as a beach town. All it has to offer is a beach that is not very attractive, and a ton of small overpriced restaurants. And the town shuts down at sundown. True…you can buy fresh fish on the beach when the fleet comes in, but you can do that at San Jose and Santa Rosa too, and for my money those are more interesting towns. Anyway, I think it was a little over three years ago that the town authorities unveiled their plans to construct a new boardwalk and refurbish the pier which had been closed to the public because of unsafe conditions. As I recall the schedule called for completion of the project in December 2011. Here we are in April of 2013 and rumors are circulating in Chiclayo that the Pimentel pier is open, so Maribel and I decided to check it out.

We got off the combi at the principal park. Pimentel has a nice park…one of the better designed and maintained parks in the Lambayeque Region. And it’s never crowded…you can walk and enjoy the trees, shrubbery and flowers, and usually find a bench in the shade to sit and watch the world go by.

I’ve got to admit I was impressed with what the town did with their boardwalk. It’s wide and spacious with plenty of benches. It appears that it will be well lit at night. There were no vendors on the boardwalk so I assume the authorities have prohibited that kind of activity.

There’s also been an attractive strip park constructed between the new boardwalk and beach. It doesn’t extend for much distance but it beats the garbage strewn area that previously occupied that location. Perhaps there are plans to extend it to the north.

The section of board walk that’s been rebuilt fronts the residential condos and apartments. The long expanse that fronts the restaurants hasn’t been touched, which means a tourist still has to negotiate a narrow walkway and uneven pavement while saying “no” to the swarms of restaurant employees who accost them.

The pier is not open. Progress seems to be limited to new lighting and a string of mini-kiosks – if that’s what they are, and a modern glass entryway. The reason the pier was closed was because it was dangerous, but as far as I can tell the planking hasn’t been replaced. Maybe that’s in the plans but if so it will be a long way down the road.

Pimentel is still not my favorite beach town, but it’s getting better.