The Current Conditions of Street Life in Perú

Essay written in September, 2003

During the last ten years, news about Perú outside the country has appeared to be positive. The Fujimori government defeated Sendero Luminoso, the very high rates of inflation were controlled and democracy was restored under the present government of Alejandro Toledo. Sadly, however, the perspective within the country is not as optimistic.

In order to understand the Peruvian situation, one needs to understand the importance of the black market within the country. Since Fujimori´s second term in office, Perú has become increasingly globalized as shown by its low import tariffs, its encouragement of international investment and its support for monetarist politics in general. This has done much to reduce the rate of inflation in the country but has also resulted in the destruction of many national companies. Although there are no reliable statistics, some researchers suggest that the rate of unemployment is as high as 70-80%.

This figure should not lead one to imagine that Peruvians are not working. The majority now work in the black market without any labour rights, without social security and without paying taxes. In the past, the informal sector consisted mainly of those working on the streets. However, now, there are many large companies, factories and shops that operate off the books and function underground.

Along with the expansion of the informal economy, there is a concomitant expansion of the informal housing sector. The majority of the poor -- migrant farmers or indigenous people -- now live in squatter settlements built in the hills near Lima. As with those who live in the slums (favelas) in Brasil, those who live in the settlements in Perú live outside the law and many of the areas are extremely violent. Many of the residents of these areas are people who were displaced as a result of the war during the last decade. Others come to the capital because the poor economic situation in rural areas does not allow them to earn enough money or to have enough food in order to survive.

Solving the many social and economic problems in Lima is complicated by its Byzantine political structure. Instead of having a government for the whole city of Lima, the city is divided into 40 districts, each one having its own mayor, cabinet and administration. Therefore, government strategies to combat the problem of youth homelessness hardly exist because the majority of street children live in the centre of Lima but come from areas that are far away and therefore have no formal connection with the city.

Peruvian politics is either post or anti-ideological. Political parties have neither rightist nor leftist platforms. Instead, candidates are nominated on the basis of being personally attractive or charismatic or because they promise work to their supporters.

It is within this context that one has to understand youth homelessness in Lima. In reality, the number of children living in the streets is not that high. It has been estimated that there are around 1300 in a city having a population of around 10,000,000. The biggest problem is the large number of children working on the streets who abandon their studies and face the risks of forced prostitution and other dangers.

There have been many responses by NGOs to this problem. For example, Acción por los Ñiños provides scholarships to working children. La Semilla, CEDRO and PUC-Lima help residents of the settlements to contruct libraries to prepare children for their studies. CEDRO also provides vocational training for children working in the informal sector. MANTHOC helps children to understand their basic rights and tries to give them a sense of the dignity of the work they do. For those children who have been lucky enough to participate in such projects, the results have been favourable. However, for the majority of working children the situation remains bleak.

Street children in Lima have the reputation of being violent. Tourists and residents of Lima refer to them as “piranhas” because they operate in gangs and rob people at knife point. Furthermore, there is a very serious drug problem (especially with glue sniffing and with crack), STDs and juvenile pregnancy. In addition, in spite of its tropical location 500 miles south of the equator, Lima is a very cold city and many children become sick as a result of the climate. Furthermore, although classes by street workers, especially those from CEDRO, INPPARES and some evangelical NGOs have benefited many children, most remain outside the system.

In the provincial cities as well, the incidence of youth homelessness is increasing. There have always been many working children in the Peruvian countryside and in the smaller cities- street sellers, shoe shiners and those working in the markets. More worrying still is the large increase in the number of children sleeping on the streets in cities having less than 100,000 residents.

If the Peruvian economy continues its decline -- and the majority of Peruvians feel this to be inevitable -- the incidence of youth homelessness could reach critical levels within a very short time.