No work, no money, no food

A recent letter sent from Columban Fr Ed O’Connell gives an update of life in Peru.

Photo: Fr Ed O'Connell SSC

Photo: Fr Ed O'Connell SSC

In March 15, Sunday evening, the President of Peru declared a State of Emergency, which meant none of us, except those with essential tasks to fulfil can leave their homes. From April 8 the lockdown was further extended with a curfew from 6pm to 4am.

At the time of writing, the total number of people with coronavirus exceeds 16,325 but the number of people infected is probably near to double that. There have been 500 deaths from the coronavirus in Peru so far.

Lima will continue on lockdown until further notice. Unlike the UK where people have been asked to stay at home and maintain social distancing, here the people find it difficult to keep distance when shopping and often two or more go together.

Normal life has been suspended. But how will the poor survive, as 70% of the population are in the informal sector, hand to mouth, as it were. No work, no money! There must be many going hungry.

The State has given the poorest families $100 in a lump sum, which was repeated, but not all have received the first amount, as it is difficult to administer such a program and many fall outside of those selected anyway.

New measures, to distribute funding via Regional Administrations, Provincial and District Municipalities, has been underway. The effectiveness of this approach is not clear yet.

The teachers of the Manuel Duato Special Needs School, of which I chair the Board of Governors, have set up virtual contact with the parents for work with the nearly 400 children. Though, given their severity, it is more to make sure they have a routine in their day, reinforce the hand-washing and keeping distance as well as taking exercise. The autistic children have special permission to go outside as they find confinement unbearable.

I also support the Warmi Huasi (Women's House) project which offers concrete solutions to the most vulnerable families in Lima.

One team normally works in San Benito, a township on the northern side of Lima in the district of Carabayllo and the other team in the Province of Paucar de Sara Sara, high up in the Andes mountains of the department of Ayacucho.

We are finding out from the Ministry of Education at local levels and from the Municipalities in the two areas, our two main allies in our work to accompany children and adolescents at risk, as to what are their priorities now. The financial organisations that support our work from UK, Ireland and Australia, have given us flexibility in our plan of action for this year so that we are able to take into account new priorities.

At the moment in San Benito, there are families with no money, as they live hand to mouth and there has been no work for weeks, due to the lockdown. These families fall outside of the help offered by the Government, so are desperate. We are finding ways to help them.

We held our Holy Week ceremonies and offered our prayers for all whom we know and work alongside.

I miss not being with the people, as presently I live in our Centre House, where I am the House Manager. We have 12 living in the House, some caught by the travel restrictions. Six of us are in the vulnerable older category, so we have to be extra careful. So far, we are getting along well, praying together, enjoying each others company and sharing out the chores of the house.

As one missionary said a long time ago about Peru, "many a sad moment but never a dull one!"

Columban Fr Ed O’Connell is the Central House Manager in Lima.

Listen to "No work, no money, no food"

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