Peruvians learn to live with nature's wrath

By Hannah Hennessy
BBC correspondent in Peru

Elisabeth's rosy red cheeks are caused by the blinding sun and the biting wind. She is small for her age, but her bloodshot eyes, which are shielded by a pink felt hat, betray experiences beyond her six years.

Feeding a family is not easy when natural disasters strike so often

Beneath her muddied magenta skirt, her cracked, filthy feet are stuffed inside sandals made from old car tyres.

Two months ago the lives of thousands of Peruvians like Elisabeth were devastated yet again, when unseasonably cold weather battered the southern Andes.

Thousands of children caught respiratory diseases. Without warm clothes, food and medicine, dozens died.

Some families lost one third of their flocks of alpaca and llama, which provide the only means of survival for many who exchange their wool and meat for food that does not grow at altitudes of nearly 15,000 feet.

This was just the latest in a series of natural disasters - from earthquakes to landslides, droughts to volcanic eruptions - threatening some of Peru's most vulnerable people.

Forgotten?

In a four-wheel drive it takes five hours from the southern city of Arequipa to reach these communities in the dry season.

In winter these rutted roads become almost impassable.

Many people here feel neglected by the government hundreds of miles away in Lima.

Although children often speak some Spanish, the language of the government, many adults only speak Quechua, the language of the Andes.

"We are the forgotten people, far away and we don't speak their language, so they think they can neglect us," said a young woman in one village.

An official from the National Civil Defence Institute, the government agency responsible for providing emergency aid in Peru, insists however that the authorities are trying to help people.

"A natural event is very difficult to avoid. The plan we have allows us through the corresponding sectors, for example like the Housing Ministry to improve living conditions, through the Agriculture Ministry to supply shelters for the animals," said the agency's regional director Horacio Araujao Rozas.

But as well as responding to an emergency, Mr Rozas said the authorities must think seriously about planning for the longer term: providing better housing, more warm clothing and a better supply of food to the region.

Better than cure

To help people prepare and prevent natural disasters rather than just deal with the consequences, the British charity Oxfam GB has teamed up with the Peruvian authorities, a local non-governmental organisation - the Centre for Study and Prevention of Disasters - as well as the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office, to implement a programme in four districts.

Many children's cheeks are burned by sun and wind

Geologists, engineers, vets and farming experts are helping communities understand the risks they face.

They are showing them how to build animal shelters, manage water supplies and look for places to relocate to if they live in a danger zone.

Oxfam project coordinator Yamina Himeur says emergency relief is important, but communities must be able to sustain themselves in the longer term.

"We are not doing it instead of the people. As they told you in the communities, we are not giving them fish, but we are teaching them how to fish. They want to get organised, but sometimes they just don't know how," she said.

Lloque is one of the target areas. Perched on the mountain side at an altitude of 3,700 metres, the village is in an earthquake zone. The soil beneath Lloque is slipping towards the river below, because of faults in the land and the community's own mismanagement of the water.

Blankets can be distributed, but longer term plans are needed

Selinda Calizaya Tito is head of the Mother's Club in Lloque, one of various groups of villagers, who have been meeting together to put into practice what they have learned.

"We used to be disunited and then these organisations came along and thanks to them we have picked ourselves up.

"We live in a dangerous zone, we are always at threat. We are afraid because when there are tremors, the stones fall down the mountain, or we get rain and mudslides. Our animals are sick, our children are sick," she said.

"But thanks to them we have learned about what is a natural disaster and our vulnerabilities. Now, we are prepared for whatever problem, whether it be earthquakes or landslides. We meet frequently and we practice disasters: what we would do if there is a landslide, where must run, what the children and the adults must do.

"We know now we all have a job to do and we always want to learn more."