A day in the field: Trip to Santa Rosa

Hello everyone!

I hope this post finds you all well as October is winding down to an end! I'd like to share with you what I learned, saw, experienced, and felt yesterday when I travelled to Santa Rosa with the EMAPA crew. It was a really eye-opening trip, and definitely one of the highlights of my time here so far in Peru. You know when you just have a day that really stands out and makes you think? That's how I felt yesterday. It was a great way to celebrate the 7-week mark of my time here (as of today, I have been here for 50 days already! Times flies!).

This is someone's house.



And this is someone else's house (with nice cactus plants outside and the Peruvian flag on the roof).

This is someone's bathroom - actually, it is more likely to be a communal bathroom for a group of houses.

Here you can see a group of communal latrines and shower stalls (the wooden structure is a pig pen). These installations are located only a few metres away from a group of houses.

Alright, so I didn't say international development was always pretty. But these pictures represent the reality for many people living in the village of Santa Rosa.

A bit of background info before I start explaining my day... Santa Rosa is a village of roughly 1,600 inhabitants, located south-east of Huacho. It is a bit inland, and there is no paved road going to it, so you have to down a sand road for about an hour to get there. Quite an adventure. Santa Rosa is in the district of Sayán (and if you've been reading faithfully, you'll remember that the municipality of Sayán is serviced by EMAPA Huacho), but EMAPA does not provide the water or waste water treatment here. Citizens in Santa Rosa came together a few years ago to ask the region to build them a water facility, and so in 2008 a well was dug and a large water storage tank was built, along with a water network all throughout the town in order to bring running water to people's homes and small businesses (there are currently 415 connections to the network). The only problem here is that the work was very poorly executed and not properly supervised (unfortunately, this isn't an unusual occurance).


The water tank in Santa Rosa (you'll notice that the name of the mayor or alcalde who was in office at the time is painted in bright, bold colours). Note that the water being pumped up from the well in travelling through the tube on the left of the tank and then into the tank (it has not been properly designed). Also note the orange bucket on top of the water tank: it contains liquid chlorine, which is added by hand to the water to 'purify' it before being distributed to the houses.



The line in the middle of the picture represents where the water line goes directly upon leaving the water tank. Notice all the dark spots on the sand: this is where the pipes have holes or the connections between pipes were poorly done, because you can clearly see that there is a lot of water escaping from the piping.

So for the past three years the citizens of Santa Rosa have had running water in their homes for 1-2 hours per day, yet there are staggering losses of water before it can even reach their taps. We were asked to go visit Santa Rosa because for the past 3 days (4 now, we were there yesterday) they have not been able to distribute water adequately because of a problem with the system (but where along the system, no one knows: the well, pump, water tank, or water network, who knows!). So we spent the day visiting the many installations and running some tests to try to help them identify the problem.

In the afternoon, we walked around most of the village to get an idea of their current situation. The pictures above give you a bit of an idea of the types of houses and facilities that they have (there are also some brick houses in the area, but they are not the majority). Although they now have running water (albeit for only a few hours per day), there is no waste water treatment, so everyone uses latrines, communal latrines, or open defecation. Showers are taken either in the local irrigation canals or with buckets of water. I must admit, it was quite shocking to see this reality, and I think it is the longest stretch of time that I have ever spent in such a poor area (I'm sure I have driven through villages with similar difficulties in other parts of Peru, Central America, China, and Morocco as well - the 'bathroom' I had on my build site in El Salvador quite ressembled the ones pictured above).

What made me think even more though, wasn't just about the lack of infrastructure in Santa Rosa, but about the fact that it is not one of the poorest parts of Peru - not even close. Nearly everyone in the village works in the nearby fields, as it is an international exportation zone. Bananas, avocadoes, mandarins, clementines, and other citrus fruits are grown here and then sold in bulk to a nearby town, which exports them to North American and European markets. So there is a considerable source of income, but a lack of access to services and facilities. And as more people come to the region to participate in its economic activities, the city is forced to grow, mostly uphill, and in some unfavourable locations, such as this one.


A house in Santa Rosa.

Considering the fact that we are in a highly seismic zone, that during the years of El Niño there are very strong winds and rains, and that the soil is highly prone to erosion and landslides, I cannot imagine that building your house in this location is anywhere near optimal. Yet it is the reality of many people here.

The difficulty here is not a lack of willingness to improve their infrastructure, but a lack of access to resources (financial, capital, and intellectual). This is in large part due to the fact that Santa Rosa is but a small village and the majority of things are centralized in Lima, so getting things done is slow. Very time consuming and costly. And as things are heavily influenced by politics, plans often change from one mayor to the next, so projects may be dropped without notice if the political policy and focus changes.

I guess that yesterday was such an incredible day because it reminded me of everything that I have to be grateful for. I truly admire people who are resilient and can live in such situations. While I think that I might be able to handle it for a little bit, I am glad to know that I can come home to running water, a working sewage system, electricity, and a few other basic necessities. Yesterday I was reminded that I really won the lottery of life: to be born and raised in a safe environment, full of opportunities, with a loving family that supports me in everything that I do. It was a day for me to reflect and truly appreciate every living moment that I have here.

The wonderful thing about visiting Santa Rosa was the warm, cheerful atmosphere of being in a small town. Everyone we passed on the street greeted us with a smile and 'hola, ¿como estás?'. While we were waiting for some of the tests to be done in the morning, one of the guys we were with went to the neighbouring fields to pick avocadoes, and so I came home with 4 freshly picked, ripe avocadoes. On our way home, our taxi driver asked us if we liked mandarines, and proceeded to take us to his house and give us a bag full of different varieties mandarines to enjoy on the ride back and at home. A small town, but with such a big heart.

View of Santa Rosa from atop the water tower.

I hope you can all take the time to appreciate the little things in life, or the things you may sometimes take for granted. For me, I love taking the time to smell flowers as I walk by them. I know that sometimes I may be having a bad day, but I always try to think of everything good that I have going for me. Hopefully you can, too.

That pretty much sums up my day yesterday - I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. Leave me a comment about what picks you up on a down day if you'd like, or what you're thankful for.

I hope you have a great afternoon and a wonderful weekend!
Sheila