Valle Ecologico is a small community located near the top of one of the highest hills south of Lima, in the district of San Juan de Miraflores. It is one of Lima’s many “forgotten” communities, where families live in extreme poverty.
A few weeks ago, we discovered the area on one of our trips to bring food to another community. We were welcomed by the smiles of a few dozen children and their desperate mothers. We soon found out that the situation had become critical for most of the families. Without any form of income, far away from the nearest market, food had become very scarce and a daily meal was no longer guaranteed. The community felt completely abandoned.
Together with our friend Edwin Rojas and his team from ReciprocityNGO, an action plan was put in place. With the precious help of friends, sponsors and volunteers, several achievements were accomplished in just a few weeks:
- food was delivered to cover the most urgent nutritional needs
- a community kitchen (olla comun) was built
- a power generator was installed to bring electricity to the area
- tables, chairs, school supplies,… were collected from donor-friends in Lima and delivered to the community
- classes were organised by volunteers (and soon a little classroom will be built, financed by a fundraiser of our volunteers)
All of this was made possible by the goodwill, motivation, dedication and support of people that decided to act. Some of them donated clothes, toys or school supplies. Some of them donated money to buy food and build a kitchen. Some of them donated time and energy to teach the children. Together, they led by example and achieved something that is priceless: they brought HOPE to the children and their families.
