Jan 29 El Augustino

Encuentros is located in the district of Lima called El Agustino. Lima, the capital of Peru, has been facing a rapid increase in population in the past seventy years, as millions of people from the provinces migrate to the capital in search of work and education. Lima has a population of 7, 800,00. El Agustino is one of the most impoverished districts of Lima, with a population of 167, 000. Only 59% of the inhabitants have running water, and 89% have electricity.

I have been doing a lot of home visits with the social workers and psychologists. El Agustino is very similar to the colonias of Cd.Juarez, where I lived for a while. Lima doesn´t get much rain, and so there is dirt and dust everywhere. At one of the homes yesterday I tried juice of maracuya-the national fruit of Peru.

I have discovered that the international language of adolescent boys is ¨Mumbish". Adding that to my still limited Spanish, I have many moments of misunderstanding.