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.

From Morocco to Chiclayo in just 113 Years

History and all things historical have always held a fascination for me. Over my lifetime probably 75% of my reading has been directly or indirectly about history. Occasionally when I feel the urge to change directions for awhile I pick up a Stephen King novel. Anyway, this is a story about two spoons. It’s an incomplete story because there are huge gaps of time between known events, and because the story of the spoons will continue on to whatever their ultimate end may be long after I and anyone reading this has finished our journey.

The spoons were sent to me some years ago by a friend in Poland. The friend knew nothing about them other than that her mother had owned them for many years. I kept them in a curio cabinet alongside other artifacts that only I and a relative handful of people on this planet would appreciate. I know this because I could see people’s eyes glaze over as I explained what I knew about the history of each piece. It’s hard for me to understand why people don’t get excited when holding, for example an original nail from Andy Jackson’s Hermitage, or a minie ball from the Gettysburg battlefield, or an Egyptian coin minted in 256 BC. I mean…it’s not like I was showing them a stamp or plate collection…that kind of stuff would bore anybody!

Other than posting inquires on a couple of antique forums that resulted in no information I didn’t make any serious effort to identify the spoons, but every time I picked them up I was intrigued by two things…one, the design appeared to be either Arabic symbols or writing, and two, the numbers 1320 and 1321. Was it possible that the spoons were from the middle-east, and from medieval times?  

It seems that information on the internet grows daily. I know that in my genealogy research I find church and cemetery records that weren’t available only two years ago. That may have been the case with my spoons when I sat down at the computer one recent morning determined to make an all-out effort to identify them. I started my search with the term ‘snuff spoons’, simply because I thought that’s what they might be. The resulting search images showed lots of small spoons, including a collection of coin-bowl spoons which closely resembled my spoons. Next I searched specifically for coin-bowl spoons and added the number 1321. Bingo!...in under 5 minutes a mystery that had intrigued me for years had been solved.

What I have are two Moroccan souvenir coin-bowl spoons manufactured probably by an artesian by hand from Moroccan coins minted during or after 1903. The larger coins are the Moroccan AH 1321 BE ¼ Rial. AH 1321 is a date that translates to 1903. The coins were minted during the reign of Abdul al-Aziz, (1903 - 1908) in Paris, London and Berlin. Apparently Morocco did not mint its own coins. The smaller coins are Moroccan AH 1321 BE 1/10 Rial. The coins are 0.835 silver. The spoon’s stems are hard wound wire of unknown material.

My spoons began their lives as coins minted in Berlin Germany. At some point the coins were shipped to Morocco where an artesian made spoons of them. Then they were either purchased by a tourist in Morocco, or exported to another country for sale. Either way they somehow found themselves in Poland. What other countries and continents they may have visited before arriving in Poland is unknown but it is probable there were several. From Poland they made their way to the United States where they rested for a few years before continuing on to their current address in Chiclayo Peru.

During my search I found that many other countries have impressive examples of antique coin bowl spoons including Peru. The example in this photo is of .925 silver. The bowl is a 1908 Peruvian ½ Sol.    

That my spoons have no monetary value is of no concern. That they don’t date back to medieval times is only slightly disappointing. As with all my artifacts they provide pleasure to me in thinking about what they’ve seen, where they’ve been and speculating about where they’ll go to next. 

Promesa Peru needs Help

During a recent board meeting Promesa Peru members discussed the possibility of discontinuing our charitable activities due to a lack of financial resources. Over the course of our four year history Promesa Peru board members have on average personally paid for two-thirds of all activity costs, the other third coming from donations. Lately it’s becoming difficult for us to continue our activity because the US dollar continues to lose value against Peruvian currency; costs for everything associated with our activities keep rising while donations have not kept pace.

Because of the work we’ve done we’re regularly contacted by schools and communities who have been referred to us by district authorities or others that we’ve helped, and invited to visit them. In the past few months we’ve become hesitant to accept those invitations because, even though we clearly tell the people who contact us that we’re dependent on donations and can make no promises, our simply being there creates expectations. Recently we’ve had to say no to some deserving requests for assistance simply because we’re not confident we can raise the money. That’s a disappointing and discouraging position to be in.

There are kids in school today because of the school supplies donated by Promesa Peru. There are people who have gotten medical and dental treatment because of Promesa Peru’s medical campaigns. And there are children and families who have been able to celebrate Christmas because of a Promesa Peru chocolatada. We believe this work is worthwhile and would like to continue but that’s not likely to happen without help. If you’d like to see the work we’re doing continue please consider helping us with a donation. Thank you.

Joyce Ann Cline – Treasurer, Promesa Peru Inc

Rosario Maribel Mestar Macalupu de Filipowicz – Treasurer, Promesa Peru Chiclayo

A Visit to Tablazos

Many of our travels to the more distant villages, say twenty miles or more begin at Chiclayo’s Terminal EPSEL. It’s a chaotically cheery place, with upwards of ninety combis in the process of arriving or departing. Popping in and out of the combis are vendors offering everything from sunglasses to razors to beverages and food of every flavor. Often the vendors inside a combi outnumber the waiting passengers. From this terminal you can get a combi to just about anywhere in the Lambayeque Region. Frequently they don’t go directly to your destination; sidetracking to various off the path villages to pick up passengers or off-load groceries or other items, but eventually you get to where you want to go.

This morning we wanted to go to Tablazos. To get to Tablazos what you have to do is take a combi that is going to Chongoyape of which there are many, but one that also detours through sugar canes fields on a rocky wagon path for five miles to Tablazos before continuing on to Chongoyape, of which there are not many. The Toyota combi in the photo was going to Tablazos. It was scheduled to leave at 9:00am, but in Peru schedules are only broad guidelines. Most combis don’t leave until they have enough passengers to make the trip worthwhile.

Our combi pulled out of the terminal at 9:45. It turns out we were waiting for this bag of pigs, that were to be delivered to one of the small towns we’d be going through. After the pigs were securely tied to the combi’s top (sometimes we catch a break) we were on our way.

The initial impression after getting off the combi is that Tablazos doesn’t have a whole lot going for it as a tourist destination. It’s got this old steam engine on display next to the principal and only park, but it’s surprising how many villages we’ve been to that have that same engine or one like it in their park as well. There is no vehicle traffic and few people on the dirt streets. It has that familiar look and feel of a town where men are in the fields cutting sugar cane and the women are indoors washing clothes or cooking. The church is located a few blocks from the park.

The school dates back to 1950 when it was converted from a grand hacienda owned by a wealthy family.  The high ceilings, wood floors and large ornate doors all speak of an impressive appearance in days gone by.

One of what were many inner courtyards now contains restrooms and showers. Another former courtyard contains a kitchen area with large pots and a brick cooking stove, but these things are not used on a daily basis. The regional government says that Tablazos does not qualify as a poor community so does not donate food. We saw many students buying their lunch from a woman with her house adjacent to the school and assumed these kids lived some distance from the village. Those students living in Tablazos probably go home for lunch.

The school is set up for six classrooms but only three are being used. According to Teresa Luk the school’s director, school enrollment has dropped primarily because parents object to first, second and third grade students being taught in the same classroom at the same time, so have placed their kids in different schools in other communities. Teresa says she has no control over the situation because the Minister of Education will not provide additional teachers. When we asked her what kind of improvements she’d like to see, she said her first wish would be for two more teachers. She’d also like desks and chairs for the kids, and a canopy constructed outside to keep kids and parents out of the sun when outside activities/ceremonies take place.

Following our visit to the school we briefly toured the village and came upon a couple of things we’d never seen before. The sugar cane fields surrounding Tablazos are owned by the cooperative in Tuman. On the 15^th and 30^th of each month a cooperative’s paymaster sets up inside the blue doors and then hammers on the metal gong to announce his presence. Hearing the gong, the men line up in front of the office to receive their pay.

Another unique item was this ‘tower’ adjacent to the school. Many years ago the regional government placed a large television in it so people could watch news and soccer. No one we talked with remembered how or when the TV disappeared.

Though some combis go through Tablazos on their way to Chongoyape, none pass through the village on the return trip to Chiclayo. It is necessary to take a moto taxi five grueling miles to the highway. We like these off the beaten path excursions but the travel and desert heat has a way or wearing us (me) out. It feels good to get home to a shower and relax in a favorite easy chair.

A Matter of Pride

I received an email in response to the recent post, The Caserio Casa de Madera. In the email the writer commented that, in contrast to the poor conditions I’ve described, the school and people in the photos “don’t look poor”. I’ve occasionally heard similar comments about other posts I’ve written. What I’d like to do with this post is to try to deal with the philosophical question, “What does poor look like?” But in doing that let me explain that this post is not a rebuttal to the email I received, and I’ve already hopefully made that clear to the sender. I appreciate constructive comments, questions and criticism.  

Some years ago there was a slogan on the wall of Chiclayo’s post office that read, “Poor does not mean dirty.” I was never sure if the intent was a defense of poor people or if it was to exhort people to focus on cleanliness, but either way it’s at the heart of what I’m about to write.

Peruvians are a proud people, and especially in the small villages where a sense of community is still found. They may not know where their next meal is coming from, but they will do everything humanly possible to insure that their church and school are clean and provided for.

Does this classroom look poor? The furniture was donated five years ago (and has been kept in remarkably good condition). The paint on the walls and ceiling was donated last year. When a floor tile breaks, the schools director, Maribel Andaviza Vilchez, who with the other teacher mops floors and washes walls, will get a donated replacement tile and one of the men from the village will install it. The food the kids eat for lunch is donated by the Peruvian government. The kids don’t wear the required school uniform because the families can’t afford them. The teachers are paying transportation costs for at least three students to and from the school out of their own pockets because the parents don’t have the money. We have a formal request in our files from Maribel asking us to donate a chalkboard because the village has no money to buy a new one. The classroom in the photo is bright, clean and well maintained. It is kept that way not because of any wealth in the community, but through the diligent effort of the parents and school staff and donations. So…is this classroom poor or not?

Do the kids in this photo look poor? Peruvian pride carries through to personal appearance. These three kids of the Fuentes family are well dressed in what appears to be new clothing, sandals and shoes. The kids are clean, well groomed and their hair is freshly washed. We see this every time we visit a family if they know we are coming. Every person in the house will wear the best clothing they have. If they don’t have suitable clothing they will disappear until we have gone. The clothing these kids are wearing is used clothing and was donated by a family in Lima. It arrived a few days before our visit with their older sister who works as a maid for the people who donated the clothing. What will happen after we leave is the clothing will be taken off and put away, to be replaced by raggedy shorts. Young girls with developing breasts will wear a tattered t-shirt. Kids under the age of five or six may go naked. Nobody will wear shoes. All seven members of the Fuentes family live in one room behind the kids. They washed themselves and their clothing in the red tub in the room on the left. Occasionally there isn’t enough food in the house. Their teachers pay for their transportation to and from school, and that’s after the kids have forded a dangerous river to get to the highway. So…are these kids poor or not?

What does poor look like?