viernes, 15 de octubre de 2010

Living In Extreme Poverty

HERE IN CHIMBOTE there is a lot of very poor neighborhoods located in the outskirts of the city where most families live in extreme poverty. The great need to meet is food. So they do their best, in any way, I mean, in amazing ways, in order to earn some money to provide food for the whole family. It is about surviving each single day so there is no room to think of other needs, which is also necessary to focus on. One of those families is the Morán Ballesteros family living in Q-13 "10 de Setiembre" neighborhood. This familiy is composed by 6 people.

Mr. Evaristo Jaime Morán Campos is the family father and is 42 years old (his wife passed away because of bronchopneumonia in december 2007. When she was alive she used to sell cinnamon, cloves, pepper, salt and other spices walking around a local market called "2 de Mayo" and sometimes cooked for other people to make money) Presently Mr. Evaristo works in a fishing factory from Monday to Saturday and from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm but, unfortunately fishing is not a very profitable activity currently as it used to be before. So when he does not work at fishing factory he goes to a local market to sell pencils, pens, erasers, keyholders, etc. walking around.

These are his children: Edwar William Morán Ballesteros is the oldest son and is 18 years old. He suffered a terrible sickness when he was 2 years old. He overcame it but sadly his nervous system was affected slightly. He studied only at elementary school until the second grade. Jaime Junior Morán Ballesteros is 17 years old. He studied at high school until the second year; three years left for he to finish high school. He currently works selling the same stuff as his dad. He would like to finish high school and study at university or technical school. When he was at school he was trained as a carpenter. He is smart and took advantage of circumstances to learn shoemaking and welding also. Currently a friend of his is teaching him how to make bread.

Estefany Johana Morán Ballesteros is 15 years old. She studied in high school but only until the first year. She takes care of her younger brother who is disabled. Pedro José Morán Ballesteros is 12 years old and this little boy is disabled. He attended a special school for disabled children but only for two years. Ana Saraí Morán Ballesteros is the youngest and is 8 years old. She attended elementary school and studied there only until the second grade. She is no longer attending school but she would like to. I saw she also has ability to study. Even though all of them were studying in public schools for free however there are several expenses they had to face like cost of uniforms, school supplies, fee for copies, workshops, etc. Unfortunately the family didn't and doesn't have enough money for them to continue to study.

The family does not even have enough money to build their house because, as I told you lines above, all money earned must be used to buy food. The only choice they had to build their house was to use "estera" for walls and roof, a very cheap but unsafe material for this purpose. Each estera is a very flexible panel made of reed woven which is used by poor families. Some disadvantages of estera: Highly flammable, permeable to cold, short duration, vulnerable to theft, etc. In 2002 the non-profit organization Los Amigos del Padre Juan built a bathroom made of cement for this family. Some days ago its president Mr. Ron Stensgard visited this house.

Click on the image below or on the link to see more PICTURES.


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