General elections last Sunday highlighted public frustration with a political class whose dealings have aggravated the health crisis. Six presidential frontrunners competed for popular support but none of them received the 50% plus one required to avoid a runoff election in June.

Preliminary results indicate the face-off in June will be between Keiko Fujimori, who faces criminal charges for money laundering, and Pedro Castillo, a populist who has promised a shift to the left economically but also reversals in some policies that advance the rights of women and same-sex couples.

(Listen to our Tapestry 2030 podcast to learn how Heart-Links partner Centro Santa Angela
is fostering a different kind of leadership in Peru.)

Many observers see another winner: more than 2 millions voters (over 12%) left their ballots blank. Since voting in Peru is mandatory, this is one way voters demonstrate their opposition to the candidates or to the process itself.

After lining up at the polls, many voters then went to line up to buy oxygen tanks for sick relatives. Unlike in Canada, when people in Peru are hospitalized, they usually have to provide supplies like oxygen themselves. Oxygen costs about $7 per cubic metre. COVID-19 tests range from $50 to $75 each. (Minimum wage is $370 per month.)

The human and economic devastation wrought by COVID-19 plus the failures of the country’s leaders have many people despairing for the future. “I feel like we’ve hit rock bottom,” one of Heart-Links partners told us. “It’s going to take years to dig ourselves out of this hole.”

But the commitment to building a different future is also there. In the coming year, our partners will continue to help the people in their communities through programs that offer emotional and material support and a path forward.

• Centro Esperanza will help the people of San Isidro develop their sustainable chicken hatchery.
• Latidos will support families and individuals in need in the Zaña Valley with educational materials, nutritious food and mental health counselling.
• The Rural Libraries Network is investing in technology so they can continue to support literacy and preserve and promote Indigenous knowledge in remote communities in Cajamarca.

These and other vital programs and projects are what your donations make possible.

Consider a donation to Heart-Links today.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), overreliance on a few select industries has made Peru’s economy particularly vulnerable. The organization predicts that by the end of 2020, as many as 1.5 million people will have lost their jobs. Wages have fallen too—by 10% in the capital, for instance.

Government measures to offset income loss during the pandemic, such as a monthly family bonus of S/760 (CAD340) and food baskets, reach only a fraction of families in need.

In the impoverished district of José Leonardo Ortiz, Heart-Links’ partner Centro Santa Angela is helping families get through the pandemic.

Participants of Centro Santa Angela’s Leadership School—a project financed by Heart-Links donors—have forged a new partnership with the Peruvian branch of Aldeas Infantiles SOS to bring food and supplies to families in the marginal settlements María Cruz and Fundo El Abuelo.

Community members also form part of the partnership. They shared their knowledge of the neighbourhood with Centro Santa Angela’s young leaders and told them what would make it a better place to live: electricity, running water, sewers, paved roads, green spaces, garbage pickup, schools.

Centro Santa Angela will continue to work with María Cruz and Fundo El Abuelo to achieve their goals. And Heart-Links’ will continue to support Centro Santa Angela’s efforts to generate lasting change in these hard-hit communities.

In Peru, the arrival of COVID-19 coincided with the beginning of the school year, and during the first months of the pandemic, children were not allowed to leave their homes.

Today, more than six months since the pandemic hit, children are still at home. Schooling is available through the government program “I learn at home,” accessed via a government website or over television or radio. For many families, however, this kind of programming is not enough.

The pandemic is widening the gap in education between families with access to resources and those without. It is placing an even greater strain on parents who already face many obstacles.

That’s why Heart-Links partner Latidos is helping fill the gap with activities that run from wellness workshops with parents and children to arts and crafts to reading and storytelling. The program is part of the project Live and Travel with Words—financed by Heart-Links donors and readapted for COVID-19.

Latidos’ monthly storytelling contests have been a big hit. Contestants read and then reenact fables distributed by Latidos. The entries are uploaded to Facebook and voted on and, yes, there are prizes. But it looks likes these kids are having a great time whatever the outcome.

You can help Latidos and other Heart-Links partners continue to build literacy, develop leadership, care for our planet, empower women and girls and more—pandemic or no pandemic. Consider making a donation to Heart-Links today.

In the town of Cajamarca, a town of about 200,000 people, more than 4,000 cases have been confirmed. The entire province reports 11,550 cases as of July 27 and 294 deaths.

“What is happening in Peru is very sad,” says Isabel Gutiérrez, director of Heart-Links’ partner ACIES, based in Cajamarca. “But we resist, armed with hope.” ACIES is working on ways to help stop the spread, including making and distributing masks.

To encourage their fellow Cajamarquinos to follow the public health guidelines that will keep them safe but also to let them know they are not alone, ACIES produced this video. “We need to unite our strands, weave them together and rebuild our community,” says Isabel.

The song in the video, composed and sung by ACIES volunteer Martín Bustamente, tells viewers that now is not the time to give up on safety measures. It is not time “to celebrate a victory that hasn’t yet been won.”

But by pulling together, watching out for each other, they will recover from this pandemic. “Understand that your safety depends on you and everybody else. For you own good and mine, we have to protect ourselves.”

The chorus emphasizes solidarity and community and caring at a time when many people feel afraid and alone: “But look, my brother, your pain is mine. I offer you my hand today and invite you to walk with greater courage.”

Reaching out, taking another person’s hand and walking side by side, shoulder to shoulder, towards a better future and a more just world—that’s what Heart-Links and our partners are all about. Solidarity and community from people like Isabel and Martín, from people like you, will get us there.

The long lockdown has been devastating for many family incomes. In José Leonardo Ortiz, an impoverished urban district on the outskirts of Chiclayo, Centro Santa Angela is helping meet the needs of families who have not received government aid and have not been able to work during quarantine. Most of these families are headed by single mothers.

Centro Santa Angela has delivered food baskets, masks and cleaning supplies to 175 families in the district. “A huge thank you for thinking about our needs,” said one recipient. “Since the pandemic began, none of us have been able to bring daily sustenance to our homes. But somehow this whole situation has united us in mutual support of those who have the least.”

This emergency project was funded from a generous donation by the Ursuline Sisters of Chatham. Local businesses also chipped in by donating or discounting products so Centro Santa Angela could reach more families than originally planned. Centro Santa Angela’s ecological program and its Leadership School, both financed by Heart-Links’ donors, made sure the food baskets got to the families most in need.

“It’s a gesture that shows what we are made of,” writes Zoila Burgos, of Centro Santa Angela. “Giving to those in need fills both the giver and the receiver with joy.” For Zoila, giving is at the heart of solidarity because it brings people closer together and humanizes us in each other’s eyes.

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Peru have surged past 350,000, and more than 17,000 people have died. Peru currently ranks 6th worldwide for the number of people infected.

By the end of the year, Madre Oliva Association reported substantial progress. The school-aged children were in school and family incomes had increased. Significantly, the follow-up project the Association submitted to Heart-Links for consideration did not include supplying food.

Then COVID-19 hit. Lockdown orders prevented many families in Peru from going out to make a living. The Peruvian government offered aid but it did not always reach the most in need.

Each of Heart-Links’ partners had to devise new ways of working with the communities they served. This meant adapting projects already underway to the new reality or developing completely new initiatives.

In Nuevo Mocupe, the families who had been working with Madre Oliva Association turned to each other for support. They practiced the same kindness and solidarity the members of Madre Oliva Association had shown them.

“Ms. María, who has stronger organizational skills than some of the others, managed to register to receive government benefits,” says Association president Delicia Romero. “When she received her food basket, she shared it with the other families.”

Madre Oliva Association, themselves under lockdown, decided to focus their efforts on helping these families through the crisis. They submitted a new project proposal to Heart-Links that would continue the work of last year but add actions made necessary by the pandemic. These include supplying basic foods, masks and cleaning supplies, providing guidance in health and safety during COVID-19, and helping the families access government aid.

Heart-Links is proud to fund this new project.

In fact, we’ve been so impressed by the way all our partners have responded to this crisis—with creativity, perseverance and heart. We are honoured to be able to partner with such committed and caring people.

And we are grateful to all the people and organizations here in Canada who have donated to Heart-Links so that this work of building a more just world continues.

“Today I couldn’t rest, what with trying to analyse and see what to do in the days that are coming with the lifting of quarantine, thinking of the most vulnerable,” Flor wrote. “I think about the collapse of the health care system that awaits us because people don’t understand what they have to do to stay safe, and they don’t value their health.”

Although Zaña has so far managed to keep the number of COVID-19 cases low, people there depend on hospital care in nearby Chiclayo, one of the hardest-hit places in Peru. The father of one of Latidos’ volunteers died recently after contracting the virus in the hospital there.

Flor knows the time to act to prevent greater tragedy is now. She is one of many local partners who are helping Heart-Links understand evolving needs in the communities we support. We decided early on to allow our partners to use existing funds from Heart-Links for immediate pandemic needs. Quick action was critical to reach the most vulnerable.

“We are trying to help as much as we can, coordinating with the authorities so as not to duplicate efforts,” she says. “Mostly I go alone, as many of my team members have their older parents or children in their homes, so I don’t want them exposed.” Flor has even given lodging in her home to soldiers who are in town to help with disinfection.

What new and critical projects have emerged? Flor is working with her library team to convert reading material into a virtual format to help parents. For families who do not have access to digital media or the government’s televised learning program, they are delivering print materials and books.

In agriculture, Flor is supplying rural mothers with vegetable seeds and instructions so they can grow healthy produce at home for themselves and their families to eat. She is also helping out farmers in neighbouring rural communities by buying their produce and donating it to families in need.

“It’s let us reach many families of scarce resources and to identify the very vulnerable families we can continue to support in different ways,” Flor says. Latidos is also helping deliver medicines and protective gear like masks to health care providers, front line allies, vulnerable families, and businesses that are helping disinfect streets and homes.

On Mother’s Day, Flor was able to bring some positivity to the people she serves. She joined a police parade on horseback to send greeting to all the mothers in Zaña and went door to door to deliver masks, chocolates and other small gifts “to brighten their day.”

How is Flor coping with the pandemic? “What I value most is the strength God has given me at every moment and the presence of people like you who were put in my path, who enable me to continue helping, and make my family and my team part of this whole social endeavour.”

Flor’s words, her commitment and bravery confirm that Heart-Links’ work in Peru is needed now more than ever. Your support is needed now more than ever. Show your support for Flor’s bravery with a gift today.

As Peru enters its third month of quarantine, Heart-Links’ partners continue to work to stop the disease’s spread and to keep the people in their communities safe and healthy.

In José Leonardo Ortiz, in Lambayeque province, Centro Santa Angela is encouraging children in their ecological program to become citizen reporters. From their homes, boys and girls are delivering public service messages to their friends and neighbours by video and home-made posters placed in their windows for passersby to see.

What are the messages children are delivering? Stay at home. Continue to reduce, reuse and recycle. Dispose properly of tissues and other waste that could be infected with COVID-19. Spread love.

As of May 31, Peru reports 164,476 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Authorities have extended the quarantine to the end of June, although some industries will be allowed to resume operations. Lambayeque province, which includes José Leondardo Ortiz, continues to be one of the hardest hit regions, but there are signs of hope. On May 29, Lambayeque for the first time saw a decrease in the daily number of fatalities.

José Leonardo Ortiz reports 1,000 cases and 85 deaths.

Communities are struggling to meet current emergency needs and at the same time prepare for life after lockdown.

In San Isidro, a rural community still recovering from the 2017 floods that washed away homes, crops, tools and the community well, people have learned that their best defence against threats like COVID-19 is to pool their resources and skills and plan their future together.

With funds provided by Heart-Links’ donors, our partner Centro Esperanza has worked with the community over the last year to establish a community association, develop sustainable farming practices, ensure a water supply for consumption and irrigation and defend community members’ rights under Peruvian law.

“I’ve always said that if we organize, we can achieve our goals,” says association president José Santamaría. “Now people are beginning to participate more. They see we are serious. They see the benefits. It’s the only way we’ll move forward.”

With the onset of COVID-19 and disruptions in agriculture and commerce, the association has been forced to redirect some of those project funds to purchasing food for community members. Some, but not all. They decided to put aside monies earmarked for their guinea pig business until COVID-19 has passed. “They asked us to reserve it because it’s the only thing they’ll have to be able to survive afterward,” said project coordinator Ana Mio.

COVID-19 has spread to the countryside, where health care services are inadequate and water is scarce. In a community near San Isidro, seven people have died recently in quick succession. Centro Esperanza is sharing with community leaders guidelines about social distancing and hygiene. And they are working with them to access government emergency benefits.

In the coming months, Heart-Links hopes to reinforce the efforts of families in San Isidro “to move forward.” We, too, want to ensure community members are able to meet their needs now and in the future. Your donations will help the people of San Isidro reach their goals.

Last week, Heart-Links’ partner Centro Santa Angela held an online forum with educators, counselors and community workers to look at ways to address the problem in the communities in northern Peru where they work. The event forms part of the project Men for Gender Equality financed by Heart-Links’ donors.

Called Men at Home: Masculinity and Gender-Based Violence in Times of Coronavirus, the forum examined why men are becoming more violent during lockdown and how to help them manage their anger and other emotions during this time without turning to violence.

Participants also spoke about the opportunities for personal growth the lockdown offers men. Men who normally spend their days away from home are seeing up close the work involved in keeping house and caring for children. Men can assume their share of household chores and spend time with their children, caring for them and helping them with their schoolwork. “There’s an opportunity here for developing more equal and healthier relationships,” said forum leader Yair Vásquez.

Participants will take the tools learned during the forum back to the communities and groups of men they work with and apply them in their own lives as well.

Seven women in Peru have been killed by men since the state of emergency was declared on March 15. In the same period, the offices of the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations has responded to 1,585 reports of violence against women and 704 reports of violence against children.