The end of 2012 marked the end of the project, “Supporting young and poor women in the marginzalized regions of Lima” funded by the Fundación Reina Sofía, with the local partner ADEFI in Peru.

The project was developed in the Northern Zone of Lima, an area of expansion, and the destination of migrantion flows within the country.

It lasted for 3 years and has benefited 1450 women and children.

The program was aimed at training young people, by conducting training courses in the areas and sectors most in demand, and giving nutrition training to women who run the cmmunal kitchens, with the aim of achieving higher quality and more efficiency.

Elvia García Pérez, a beneficiary of the project and “mother” of shanty town of Lord of Miracles, tells us her daily life as a mother of the Yung Valley Vaso de Leche kitchen. She has 4 children ages 10, 9, 6 and 4. A day in her life consists of:

“I get up at 4:30 a.m. in the morning to prepare breakfast in the Vaso de Leche kitchen in the community.  At 6:30 a.m. I finish distributing breakfasts and ready my children for school. Three are studying and the youngest is left with his dad, who is resting because he works as a cleaner in a school from 1:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight.

The days that it is my turn to cook, after leaving my children in school, I go to the market to buy groceries for dinner (chicken, vegetables, potatoes, etc.). At 9:00 a.m. we start to cook, and now we can cook faster in the kitchen because have been given good burners. At 12:30 p.m. we finish lunch and distribute the orders for the next day, paid in advance as we use that money for shopping. 

People are happier because we have variety on the menu with what we have learned in the nutrition classes. It is also easier to clean the room with the new floor we have.

At about 1:00 p.m. we have finished and I go home to meet my children coming from school accompanied by their older brother, taking 4 rations for free because I have cooked, and can share with all my family.

In the afternoon, work at home knitting sweaters or washing clothes of others, and help my children with their homework. At 6:30 p.m. I give them their last meal of milk with oatmeal, and bread and butter and they go to bed at about 8:00 p.m. After preparing their uniforms and cleaning my house I go to bed, at 10:00 p.m. On Saturdays I assist in cleaning the school where my children study.

My husband earns S /.550 per month (203 dollars) that is not enough for all household expenses: transportation, school supplies, clothing, medicine, food bought outside the house… so my participation in the Vaso de Leche kitchen is very important because it ensures stability for my family. The days I do not cook in the Vaso de Leche, I buy rations for the four children at S /. 1.50 each. Despite all the difficulties we went through, I’m very happy because this supports not only my family, but this hard work also benefits the families of my neighbors.”

Moreover, this project has contributed to the construction of a Vocational Training Centre and the rehabilitation and equipping of six communal kitchens.