The fate of this family in Curahuasi is exemplary of over 100,000 in the Peruvian Andes. The father is an alcoholic, who had been in prison for months. The mother is also an alcoholic trying to get sober. There are eight children, six of them living with their parents in Curahuasi.
The oldest of them, Maigot, is10, John-Fidel is 8, Carlos 4, Roger 3 and Ruth 20 months old. They live in a dump. Once in awhile, they find work in the fields of their landlord, where they can earn up to 6 soles ( less than $2) a day.
Only John-Fidel has been to school regularly more or less. All the kids sleep on the floor and, Monday through Friday, they eat at “inhabit,” a family day care in Curahuasi. There, in a very small place, 150 kids are being fed three meals a day. On the weekends, there’s food only if the parents hadn’t used up the money to get drunk.
This misery prompted Dr Martina John, Lyndal Maxwell and Barbara Klemenz to action. They bought 2 beds, and 3 matresses (1 old iron bed was existent) as well as two storage boxes. The three older siblings were signed up for school and got school uniforms, backpacks and shoes. A few nails were put in the wall to put aside their belongings. The engineers of the construction company Constructec picked up most of the costs.
Roger and Carlos are now enrolled in pre-school, and they, too, have uniforms and backpacks. Ruth stays at a day care or is with another Quechua woman who needs to earn some money. The Diospi Suyana staff pays for half of the costs, while the mother was encouraged to continue her work in the fields.
On top of that, the Diospi Suyana team had a sink installed and put up a clothes line so the family can do laundry. They cleaned the hut and provided firewood. Every Friday afternoon, the kids now come to the Diospi Suyana kids club. The mother participates in a bible study run by Lyndal Maxwell and Dr Martina John.
To fight poverty where fleas are abundant is not the most enjoyable thing. But Jesus once said that what you do to one of the least of His, you do onto Him
It is useless to speak of the love of God without rolling up one’s sleeves to help. Please help Diospi Suyana to fight the poverty and desolation in the Peruvian Andes.
