Common pot in San Juan de Luriguancho

Today is March 15th and actually my original departure date, which I have now postponed by 5 weeks. Today we were in a young population where the community supports a so-called olla común, which is run by women in their own initiative (Martin has reported on this). First, we drove for an hour and a half through heavy traffic with lots of honking and daring driving maneuvers, sometimes even gridlock in the San Juan de Luriguancho district, and then up the steep hill with a camionetta - even more adventurous - to a simple hut where the women cook for different families every day. There is only one driver who dares to take this steep and narrow path up. We were warmly welcomed at the top and were also served rice with mashed peas. With us came an engineer who wanted to get an impression on site, as a water tank will be installed there soon. Because there is no running water in the entire population. In the hut, there is only one table and a gas stove, nothing else. Since it is very hot there in the summer, a refrigerator is also absolutely necessary, otherwise the food spoils too quickly. In winter, on the other hand, it is cold with lots of fog. The houses only have thin wooden walls, often no windows, and certainly no heating. One can only keep warm in bed with blankets.

After a total of 5.5 hours, we were back in our oasis, in a completely different world. Our local friends are also currently in a 'different world', in the Altiplano near Cusco. They were there with a mobile dental team in remote villages to provide care for the people. We are really looking forward to their report. As you can see, it's not boring here. The next period is pretty packed anyway. Tomorrow we will drive to the campo - a 3-hour car ride - to a community member. We are really looking forward to it. We will stay until Thursday, and on Friday morning Martin will pick up the next applicants for the community at the airport. Until Monday evening, we have a lot of activities planned with them. We are really excited.