1st WGC Field Report

Most of the things I’d heard about, and learned about Chimbote before coming have proven true. I have seen the realities of the surveys. What were once numbers and percentages are now faces and families. The statistics, for instance, are all pretty accurate. Of the 1,000,000 people living in the Ancash region (the state Chimbote is in) 32% are considered to be poor. 17.6% are considered to be living in extreme poverty.

These are, no doubt, pretty shocking percentages.

320,000 people living in poverty.

176,000 men, women and children are living in extreme poverty, which means—according to the World Bank—that entire families are subsisting on about $1.50 US dollars a day.

$10.50 a week to buy food, clothes and to seek healthcare.

What does this translate to in terms of actual realities?

It means that many families are placed in the position of having to decide whether to buy 1 kilo of potatoes, a pair of shoes for their barefoot child, or to seek medical attention for their elderly relative who’s had a fever for three days.

They can’t choose all three.

Over the past two months I have noted what I see as the major problems afflicting this particular population and have divided them into three categories, Healthcare, Education, and Income.

Healthcare – There is not an adequate level of quality healthcare available. The Posta in Cambio Puente is state-run, understaffed and ill-equipped. They are making do with what they have. Their work is commendable but it simply isn’t adequate, and that’s a fact. For a town of over 2,000 people, a medical team of 20 is not sufficient.

According to a 2007 survey by Doctors of the World, the average ration of doctors to patients in the US is about 390 to 1.

In Peru it is around 850 to 1.

In Cambio Puente it fluctuates between 1,000 to 1 and 2,000 to 1. Those who can afford to travel for medical attention do, those who can’t are forced to wait in long lines, they are given minutes with a doctor or staff member and they are forced to take their advice. No second opinions. No questions asked. I heard a woman say that a nurse had been telling the mothers who hadn’t been taking their children in for vaccinations, “Fine. But you’re baby is going to die. Don’t vaccinate them, they’ll die.”

We know that vaccines prevent a lot of deadly diseases, but to use fear instead of education to convince mothers to vaccinate their children isn’t right. The people here need alternatives.

Education – One of the most proven and effective ways to end a negative cycle is through education of a population’s youth. By giving the youth opportunities to improve their own lives and the lives of their families, entire communities can be transformed in a relatively short period of time. Again, just like the problem with the lack of healthcare, there is a lack of reliable, affordable education options. According to Nation Master, the average Peruvian has about 7.6 years of education. Too often I have seen children babysitting children, children accompanying their parents into the fields while they work for a lack of alternatives. Montessori type centers are being created for early childhood stimulation, but this is still an area that needs a lot of work.

Income – With about half a million people, Chimbote is a large city. Like most large cities, Chimbote attracts thousands of people looking for work. Especially people who are living in extreme poverty in the mountains and surrounding rural areas. Many believe that because Chimbote is so large, there must be an abundance of job opportunities. This, sadly, is not the case. Therefore men and women are forced to rely on part-time jobs or resort to working the types of jobs where they are needed, sporadically, whenever there is work to be done, like during harvest time.

These types of jobs almost always include manual labor, are hazardous to ones health, don’t come with benefits and don’t cultivate skills that can help better a person’s economic situation. People working these types of jobs are also more vulnerable to be taken advantage of in terms of pay and number hours they are made to work. Programs which help increase a family’s economic stability would help greatly in the Healthcare and Education categories, as it is well known that an increase in disposable income usually correlates with an increase in healthcare and education opportunities.

One organization’s project in Cambio Puente worked with families to help cultivate small plots of vegetables and was received with much enthusiasm and produced impressive results. By having their own home-grown vegetables, they had more money to spend on things other than groceries, which helped to relieve some of their monetary burden. It was also something that was fun and allowed the families to feel like they were taking ownership of their situation.

While the statistics are troubling, and seeing how these statistics manifest themselves in real life is even more troubling, they don’t paint a completely accurate picture. I have realized that it is unfair to generalize entire populations here solely based on studies and statistics.

There are many problems here, true. But there are also many assets here, especially in the form of human capital. The people here are resourceful and when they work together as a community it will definitely be possible to bring about the changes they desire. Along with well-organized and focused social services, the people here really do have an opportunity to break the cycle of poverty they are in.