Welcome to the Village of Tabacal

Many years ago, when a large percentage of the adult population of Peru and the rest of the world smoked, much of the land to the west of Tùcume was dedicated to growing tobacco. In the midst of the tobacco fields the village of Tabacal sprang up. Tabacal means ‘land planted with tobacco’. The inhabitants of Tabacal didn’t own the fields they worked in. The land belonged to a collective. Now the collective and tobacco fields are no more. Kidney and lima beans, corn, sweet potatoes and rice are the cash crops these days. What hasn’t changed is that the people of the village still work in fields they don’t own.

Also years ago there was a narrow one lane dirt road leading to the village. It’s not there anymore because the man who owned the land that the road was located on decided that he needed the space for his bean fields. The only way to get to Tabacal now is to walk. The path starts at the sluice gate in the photo; continues beyond the tree line in the distance, turns left for about one-quarter mile and then north again for another half-mile. At a steady pace it’s a 20 minute walk. We viewed it as practice for next week’s visit to Salas.

The kids and a few of their mothers were waiting for us at the pronoei Joyitas de Cristo. There are about 100 families living in Tabacal. It’s not possible to take a photo of the village or to determine its center because the houses are scattered over a large territory.

Patricia Carrasco has been the teacher at this school for three years. The room is on permanent loan at no charge. There are 20 students for this school term. Four will graduate and attend primary school in a different city. The school has 2 tables and 12 chairs that are serviceable. Patricia has asked for 3 tables, 8 chairs, a storage shelf and a whiteboard. We think Patricia and the parents association are doing the best they can with limited means, and that the items asked for are a good investment in the kid’s education.

The cost for these items would be:

3 wood tables - $109.99

8 wood chairs – 112.44

1 storage shelf – 24.44

1 whiteboard – 42.77

Transport – 24.44

Total - $314.08

Please think about helping us with this project. $15 will provide a chair - $36 a table. If you can help us please visit the Promesa Peru webpage. Thank you.