Surviving Life in Peru

What is it like living in rural Peru?  Not me, not a volunteer that earns “relatively” nothing, yet can live comfortably, eat well, take vacations.  I am referring to the people I live with.  The people of the most rural parts of the country.  The farmers/agriculturists that provide food for the rest of the country, yet can hardly feed themselves.

After two years living in my Andean community of 300, I have been present for four harvests.  Approximately every six months, from planting to harvest, a crop is produced.  Unlike other parts of the country which rely on annual rains, the people of the Cordillera Blanca have the benefit of year-round glacial melt from the surrounding mountains.  Even so, the profit margin is slim.  The best prices come to those who harvest first, before the market is saturated.  The main products of the region are potatoes, corn, peas, wheat, and kiwicha (amaranth). 

Last month, it was time to harvest the peas my host family had spent six months preparing: plowing the field with two bulls, planting, watering, caring for, and finally harvesting.  The whole family comes out to pick the pods off the vines.  After a couple days’ work, the sacks are taken by car to the nearest town where they are sold at market.  According to my host mom, a sack of peas sold for S/.120 ($43) a few months ago.  Now late in the season, they sold each sack for a mere S/.50 ($18).  [Current exchange rate $1 = S/.2.8.]  Each family member is paid S/.10 ($3.50) and the transportation costs S/.4 ($1.50) per sack.  After six months of work, my host father earned S/.30 ($10.70.)  As he recounted all these details to me just a few hours ago, he described the latest harvest as a “failure.” 

With less than two months of Peace Corps service to go, I can’t help but imagine what will become of my host family after I leave.  I pay monthly rent of S/.120 ($43) to cover room & board.  They surely depend on that income to survive.  They have been talking of moving to “the city” after I leave.  Whether that means an hour away or 8 hours away to Lima, I can’t imagine how that will improve their opportunities.  For miles and miles outside of Lima, there are pueblos jovenes or “young towns” that are cropping up as people are abandoning the country in search of a better life.  Unfortunately, what they are finding on the sandy coast is infertile farm land, higher cost of living, pollution, and distance from support of friends of family.  

So what is the solution to survive?

I don’t know.