It’s Saturday morning and to get some exercise, I hike up the Curahuasi mountain. On my climb up, I notice a woman and girl, putting numerous plastic bottles into a big bags. A baby stands next to them, crying. I keep going. As I am on my descend, however, my curiosity takes over.
"What are you doing?", I ask them.
They answer immediately. "We collect plastic bottles that are laying on the mountain side."
"But what are you doing with them?, I ask.
"We sell the empty bottles in Curahuasi and get 1 Sol for each bag!"
"How many hours have you been working today?" – "Five!", they say.
I said good-bye, mentioning how important I thought their work was. As I am walking back home, I have time to calculate the hourly rate of the two bottle collectors. Four bags full of bottles make 4 Soles ($ 1.50). With two people working for five hours that makes an hourly rate of $ 0.15 per person.
The other day when I was at the Cusco airport, I bought three pieces of chocolate for 3 Soles. Two minutes later, they were gone. Does justice exist in this world?
