El Contraste

I've been here in Peru for about five weeks now, and I wanted to share with you a few images that stand out in my mind. In many ways the contrast between the haves and the have-nots is ever-present, but there two times when it was made especially clear.

It was cloudy when I flew into Lima. We spent a good twenty minutes descending until we finally burst through the clouds so I could get a peek at the place I'd be spending the next three months. The very first thing I saw was an adobe shack with a bamboo roof. It was in a general state of disrepair and desperation, conditions that most of us could not imagine. The thing that stood out to me was that everyday modern marvels of aviation fly over the same poorly constructed bamboo roof. The planes overhead contain wealthy tourists, visitors, and people like myself who are lucky enough to study and travel, while the people in the house below could not afford to study or travel, even if it was their one and only desire.

The second image that stands out to me was something that happened just the other day. I was in Mancora, a small surfing town in North of the country, for an extended weekend. The town is full of rich tourists and surfers from all over the world. One morning I was walking along the beach when I noticed a Peruvian woman bathing her two naked children in the ocean. At that very moment an American man and his young son walked by on their way to go surfing. At one point the two children, the American boy in his wetsuit and surfboard in hand and the young naked Peruvian girl who had just finished bathing, were standing side by side. They were about the same size and age, but couldn't possibly have more different backgrounds. There is a sad and interesting contrast in this image between the white man and the native, the rich and the poor, that has deep roots and a complicated past. Even if we change the way we think, can we ever change the effects of centuries of abusive and racist policy?