Ten Minutes from Lima

LDS Chapel at Cieneguilla 15 miles from Lima

The division between rich and very poor is seen everywhere.  And there is no better place to view poverty than a few miles outside Lima.  Cieneguilla is an up-scale area about 15 miles from Lima, but in-between are areas of very poor people living in home with dirt floors, tin roofs no running water and no satiation   Just across the street from are apartment is square mile of open land. The open land is part of the Agricultural University and many people live and work on the grounds.  The living conditions are very humble.  I have also noticed many people with sever deformity.  Perhaps, all they can do is work the streets begging for money.

Just yesterday, I noticed a woman with very deformed legs. She could not walk, and had no wheel chair.  She used automobiles tires cut in fourths to protect her knees as she scooted along the street on her knuckles.  She was selling candy.   We often stop at a bakery on the way home and walk the last half mile to our apt.  Every time we pass the bakery there is a lady selling small glass figures. She is seated on the curb between parked cars with her little stock of wares. She never has more than a handful of things, and if you don't look down it is easy to pass her by.

There are many opportunities to help people here. So many that it is hard to know where to start.  The street children and women with small babies on their back get my special attention. Unaccompanied children often hop on the bus, sing a song, play a drum, or sell gum and candy.  Their clothing is often  soiled and old.  They sing their song, collect a few coins and hop off the bus.