PIRCAS DEL MIRADOR - A FORGOTTEN COMMUNITY

As you venture higher and higher up the mountain where the shanty towns lie, both the altitude and the degree of poverty increase. The poverty zone begins at the base of the mountain and extends to the extreme poverty zone at the summit. Most NGOs and charities reach out to the poverty zone because the roads are easily accessible. On the the other hand, other organizations specialize in alleviating extreme poverty. In between these two zones, the forgotten communities can be found. This is where Pircas del Mirador is located.

The viewpoint from the top of Pircas del Mirador faces the affluent neighborhoods of
Lima, showing the stark contrast in income inequality between these two worlds.

As a newly-formed community, Pircas del Mirador will require a lot of assistance in establishing the fundamental needs of a shanty town community. These needs include: safe infrastructure (stairways and handrails), a wawawasi (daycare center), and educational and health support. Because the initial steps of forming a community are crucial to its sustainability, Reciprocity NGO seeks to aid this process.

However, entering a community is not as simple as walking in with gifts and expecting the community to welcome you with open arms. The first step in being invited into a community is meeting the leader(s) to discuss our intentions. If the leader(s) agree to welcome us, we can then have a formal meeting to talk in detail about future plans.

These four children smile brightly next to the bags of cement that will be
used to build the stairs that connect the different houses in the community.

During the last few Volunteer Days, the Reciprocity NGO team and our dedicated volunteers have worked hard to build a strong relationship with the community members of Pircas del Mirador. We have visited this community several times to share gifts and donations as well as to perform a census. This census will allow us to obtain and analyze the demographics of the community, so that we can decide how best to help them. With this information, we can now plan and put into action some new social projects!

To stay updated on our progress in Pircas del Mirador, please continue to read our blog, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram.



Meygan Ngo
Communications &
Project Coordinator
Reciprocity NGO 🌈