The following was written by Jim Hintze, a Rotarian who has been dividing his time with his wife, Gloria, between the United States and Peru the past few years, working on countless projects in Alto Cayma. It provides a general idea of the area where I am working, and I´ve also pasted the link to the website for Serving Alto Cayma below and on the side bar to provide you with some visuals. I will try to have some of my own pictures up soon, but until then, this will give you a general feel for the area.
About Alto Cayma
Alto Cayma is a settlement on the outskirts of Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city. Arequipa is 1,000 km. (a 14-hour bus ride, or 1:15 plane ride) south of Lima. From Arequipa it is a 4-5 hour drive to Puno, Lake Titicaca and the Bolivian border, and approximately an equal distance to Tacna and the border with Chile. Three dormant volcanoes (Chachani, El Misti and Picchu Picchu) form a semi-circle around one side of Arequipa, and Alto Cayma is situated “on the skirts of Chachani”, as they say here. The Chili River valley divides Alto Cayma from the settlements going up towards El Misti.
Arequipa is at an altitude of 7,800 feet, and Alto Cayma is approximately 1,000 feet above the city. Looking down into the river valley one sees green, irrigated fields, but up in Alto Cayma it is very arid, with very little vegetation. Being not far south of the Equator, the seasons are reversed from ours but the temperature doesn’t vary much throughout the year. It typically is in the upper 70s during the day, and gets down into the low 50s at night. In Jul and Aug there are very strong winds every morning which fill the air with blowing dust and volcanic sand, especially up in dry, dusty Alto Cayma. Jan and Feb are the “rainy” season, but even then it doesn’t rain much. On top of the volcanoes, however, at altitudes of over 19,000 feet, the precipitation falls as snow, making the mountains a dramatic backdrop to the city panorama. There are 300 days of sunshine per year in Arequipa which, coupled with the agreeable temperatures, explains why we say that every morning the people of Arequipa look out their windows and say, “How boring – another fine day!”
About the People
At last count, there were 28,000 people living in Alto Cayma, with more arriving every day. People have been migrating for years from other parts of Peru to settlements like Alto Cayma for a number of reasons. Some, for example, came for security during the era of the Shining Path guerilla movement, but most come for economic reasons. Most of the people in Alto Cayma come from the mountains and highlands of southern Peru, and many of the older ones speak Spanish as a second language (the Quechua Indian dialect being their mother tongue).
When the people first arrive, they occupy any piece of vacant land and build a rude dwelling of “sillar” (soft volcanic stone) blocks, with a dirt floor and a corrugated metal roof. When enough such people, who are known as “invaders”, have congregated in a new area, they petitition the government for formal recognition as a settlement. Over time, the people work to improve their houses and their neighborhood.
Although the people migrate to the city for economic reasons, initially they may be worse off than they were in their mountain villages. They come with few employable skills with which to make a living in the city economy. As a result, they are relegated to performing manual labor for $3-4 a day. Even this work is unsteady, making each day literally a struggle for survivial. If the family has several children, or elderly parents who can no longer work, this small amount of money is nowhere near enough to go around. Under such severe economic pressure, the elderly are often neglected. Also, since school supplies, materials and uniforms cost money, the education of the children must sometimes be sacrificed.
Generally speaking, the people bear their hardships with grace and keep an optimistic spirit. Since there is no economic safety net for poor people in a country as impoverished as Peru (the second poorest country in South America, with an unemployment rate of 50% or more), there is no such thing as an “entitlement mentality”. The people know that their welfare depends on their own efforts, they are eager to learn new skills and are sincerely grateful for any opportunity anyone can give them to help themselves to get ahead. Despite their poverty, the people readily welcome visitors into their homes and offer to share whatever little they may have. They also enjoy church and community gatherings and events, where they can interact with their friends and neighbors at no cost.
Who’s There to Help the People?
The government in a poor country such as Peru doesn’t have the resources to help the people much. Their major source of aid is their parrish priest, Father Alex Busuttil. Father Alex is a native of Malta and is a member of the Missionary Society of Saint Paul, a small religious congregation that originated on that small Mediterranean island. While studying for the priesthood, he had the opportunity to serve an internship with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and became devoted to serving the poorest of the poor. Two years after his ordination, he was posted to Pakistan where he served for 7 years, followed by 2 years in Libya before moving on to Peru. He served for 4 years in a parrish down the hill from Alto Cayma in Arequipa before moving up to Alto Cayma 8 years ago. He speaks Maltese, English, Spanish, Italian, Urdu and Punjabi, although the latter 3 have grown quite rusty since he moved to Peru.
Father Alex has accomplished much in his 8 years in Alto Cayma (miracles, many would say). He built a Child Care Center which today provides early education, nutrition and other benefits to 120 children. He has built community kitchens with capacity to provide up to 650 nutritious meals a day for the most needy. He has built two churches, and is currently constructing a new Pastoral Center to better serve his parrishioners. He has built a medical clinic which offers the most commonly needed specialties (General Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Dental) plus a lab, a pharmacy and psychological services. This clinic now has histories on over 9,000 patients. He has a sponsorship program with CFCA (Christian Foundation for Children and Aging) which helps support 300 of the neediest children. He has created vocational training workshops for knitting (both hand and machine), computing, and just recently the building trades. When people hear where he’s been and what he’s done, they think he must be 100 years old, but he’s not. He’s still an energetic youngster of 49.
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