Can You Stomach It?

On June 4th, our group arrived at the Lima airport at 5:00 am local time, where we saw images of Lima for the first time. It was filled with pollution and run down buildings. The transportation in Peru is far different than that of Canada. Here it appears that the rules of the road are non existant and for someone who gets easily car sick, for example...myself, its quite the experience. It seems the only thing that slows these drivers down is the sound of a car horn or the speed bumps and potholes in the road. However, even though these travel experience are stomach turning, nothing can compare to the sights that can be seen in north Lima. Today was an eye opening experience; where one could see the clear cut differences between the rich and the poor. The city of Lima is an excellent example of how two different classes live in one city. On the peripheries of Lima, people live in unfinished homes due to a lack of financial means and poor infrastructure. Thousands of people are forced to live up the mountain side on unstable grounds - there is simply no where else to live. In the past five years the people have started breaking apart the rocks from the mountain side - they turn this into a business to make a small profit as a means to live. These people are breaking apart the foundations where their houses lay, compromising the structural intergrity of their homes to make some money for their family to survie. However, twenty minutes away there are rich, commercial shopping malls staring out at the mountain side where many live in disparity - quite ironic and certainly illustrates the gap between the "rich" and the "poor". It is quite a distrubing though to think that such poverty exists in the world but North America and the world still produces so much waste. The vast differences in the city of Lima provides a stomach turning thought and brings sobering thoughts to one´s mind. It is our responsability to provide a better future through the choices and actions in our day-to-day lives. -Jordan