It has been about six weeks since Marie-Eve and I arrived in Huaraz, a busy city in the Ancash Sierra with 100,000 inhabitants. Huaraz has experienced rapid growth over the past five years spurred largely by mining activity in the surrounding regions. Construction projects, large and small, are visible everywhere in the city and while Huaraz may never win an award for “City in Bloom” it has a spectacular setting in the valley between the White and Black Mountain ranges.Running North-South, the main street, Luzuriaga, has shops selling just about everything you would find in a department store. Parallel to Luzuriaga several blocks to the west, and in sharp contrast, is Huascaran, my favourite street in Huaraz and named after the highest peak in the White Mountain range. Along Huascaran men and women in more traditional dress sell local produce neatly displayed in sacks on the sidewalk and shop doors, as well as hats, textiles, economical meals, and all manner of hardware. The narrow sidewalks often force you back onto the busy street where you have to be ever vigilant of determined taxis, collectivos, and moto-taxis that weave amongst people, each other, and stray dogs. Huascaran concludes at the bridge crossing the River Quilcay where adobe houses are perched precariously along its banks. From there it is about a ten minute walk to the CARE office.
Marie-Eve and I do not spend a lot of time in the office. We usually find ourselves traveling to one of four zones in the Ancash Sierra where CARE is intervening and the companies we are coaching are based. Two of these zones, Conchucos Norte and Conchucos Sur, are to the east of the White Mountain range and require crossing at altitudes of 4700 and 4500 metres respectively. Conchucos Sur has a “paved” highway as far as Huari, about four hours away. During the rainy season the unstable slopes shift and the two year old highway has sunk in several sections, since filled in with dirt, and/or been reduced to a single lane because of landslides.
The paved road to Conchucos Norte ends after turning east - from the main North-South route in the Huaylas valley - to ascend the mountain range near Yungay. From Yungay it is seven hours of dirt roads to Pomabamba (which we were told has only had a passable road from the nearest town, Piscobamba, for the last five years). A third zone of intervention, Oro de los Andes, now benefits from a modern highway built by Antamina that extends from the mine to the highway connecting Huaraz and Lima.
In all cases, the difficult terrain has isolated these zones from any sophisticated interchange with urban markets. When we first came to these valleys I kept waiting for a flat lowland to appear between the mountain ranges. No such thing. Where the slopes of one mountain end, the slopes of the next begin, divided only by rivers that eventually feed into the Amazon. Corn, wheat, barley, potatoes and other produce are grown in plots as small as ½ hectare along the slopes, sometimes impossibly steep, of the mountains. The excess produce is then sold to intermediaries where it will find its way to local markets and major centres such as Lima and possibly exported.
Electricity, potable water, and proper sanitation do not extend very far outside of the small towns. I often feel like we are driving several centuries into the past. Donkeys are the pack animal of choice transporting everything from firewood to milk. Along with sheep and cattle, we are more likely to have to maneuver the truck around animals than other vehicles. Fields are often worked with hoes, picks, and, where it is flat enough, a wooden plough driven by two oxen.
Some farmers have improved their situation, especially with the assistance of CARE, by introducing reservoirs, new irrigation techniques, new crops, and improved breeds of livestock through insemination. It will take time, however, for these new techniques to diffuse amongst the many more farming families that live in chronic poverty.
Marie-Eve and I do not spend a lot of time in the office. We usually find ourselves traveling to one of four zones in the Ancash Sierra where CARE is intervening and the companies we are coaching are based. Two of these zones, Conchucos Norte and Conchucos Sur, are to the east of the White Mountain range and require crossing at altitudes of 4700 and 4500 metres respectively. Conchucos Sur has a “paved” highway as far as Huari, about four hours away. During the rainy season the unstable slopes shift and the two year old highway has sunk in several sections, since filled in with dirt, and/or been reduced to a single lane because of landslides.
The paved road to Conchucos Norte ends after turning east - from the main North-South route in the Huaylas valley - to ascend the mountain range near Yungay. From Yungay it is seven hours of dirt roads to Pomabamba (which we were told has only had a passable road from the nearest town, Piscobamba, for the last five years). A third zone of intervention, Oro de los Andes, now benefits from a modern highway built by Antamina that extends from the mine to the highway connecting Huaraz and Lima.
In all cases, the difficult terrain has isolated these zones from any sophisticated interchange with urban markets. When we first came to these valleys I kept waiting for a flat lowland to appear between the mountain ranges. No such thing. Where the slopes of one mountain end, the slopes of the next begin, divided only by rivers that eventually feed into the Amazon. Corn, wheat, barley, potatoes and other produce are grown in plots as small as ½ hectare along the slopes, sometimes impossibly steep, of the mountains. The excess produce is then sold to intermediaries where it will find its way to local markets and major centres such as Lima and possibly exported.
Electricity, potable water, and proper sanitation do not extend very far outside of the small towns. I often feel like we are driving several centuries into the past. Donkeys are the pack animal of choice transporting everything from firewood to milk. Along with sheep and cattle, we are more likely to have to maneuver the truck around animals than other vehicles. Fields are often worked with hoes, picks, and, where it is flat enough, a wooden plough driven by two oxen.
Some farmers have improved their situation, especially with the assistance of CARE, by introducing reservoirs, new irrigation techniques, new crops, and improved breeds of livestock through insemination. It will take time, however, for these new techniques to diffuse amongst the many more farming families that live in chronic poverty. 
Hi Tim, Marie-Eve,
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of internet access do you guys have?
Yolanda