What's Left (by Lawrs)

We had heard a lot about the damage caused by last week's flooding, but it seemed all we could do to help was bring bags of non-perishable food down to the collection site in the central plaza.  I asked a few agencies about going out to the villages to help on the ground, but nobody was interested.

Our friend Amy Tai, a Boston ex-pat who has lived here for ten years, had the idea to do some grassroots flood relief.  She would use the van belonging to her water deliveryman to carry supplies herself to those most in need.  I asked if we could join her last Monday and it was a date.  Amy had heard that what people needed the most were blankets and water, so we loaded 40 20-liter bottles and 85 blankets into the back of her friend's cargo van and headed downstream from Cusco.  

The Sacred Valley is definitely on the hit list of any foreign traveler visiting the Cusco region, but the area we were headed too is further upstream and is not in the guidebooks or in the consciousness 

of most travelers.  The towns of Lucre and Huacarpay don't have fancy vacation homes owned by Lima socialites or hotels offering facials and reflexology.  These are agricultural communities where people live off the land and depend more on each other for their livelihood than on visits from tourists.  Amy figured that if anyone was going to be forgotten in this disaster it was likely going to be the residents of this area.

Our first stop was at a large tent camp and there was a crowd waiting for us as we pulled in.  Some people clamored for more water, more blankets, but Amy calmly explained that we were non an agency, but individuals who bought these things with our own money to give to them.  After this first stop, we all became a bit more discriminating in our decision as  to who would get what.  Amy and our driver had some heart to heart talks as we drove by tent villages trying to assess the needs of the people.  If they looked like they were doing OK, we moved on.

It was eye opening and really moving for all of us to see what these folks had lost, and how well they were coping with the situation.  They were tremendously gracious and even took the time to ask about us.  Where were we from?  How did we like Peru?  Pleasantries from people whose lives had just been washed down the river.

I  am really grateful to Amy for organizing this effort.  It was an amazing experience for us and I know we helped some people who really needed it.