How to learn from poverty

by Ivan Pegorari (Italy)

Making a local connection Italy

PachaMama - Mother Earth for Quechua people Luchambamba is the small village in the Santa Teresa Valley that from the Salkantay Pass 4628 meters, in front of the mountain of the same name, the Andean colossus of 6270 meters, marks the watershed towards the Peruvian amazonia. Today the walk was short, only 20 km of descent and 7 hours of walking, so once at the campsite, I relax under the thought of my first reflections of this mystical Peruvian journey. This rain valley, called the nebula, and why it is clear today, passes from the glaciers to the jungle in about thirty km. The descent crosses so varied climatic bands that it seems to live two different treks in two different countries. But in all this enchanting geographical evaluation there is the most profound aspect: the human being who lives there. The mind cannot but navigate through time and imagine the ancient Quechua populations, more commonly Incas, which for millennia have occupied these mountains and these valleys so remote and so inaccessible. For only 4 years the roads have reached these villages, bringing the consequent advantages such as small local schools and rudimentary medical clinics. The life close to the misery of these populations is hidden by true and spontaneous smiles that may seem driven to receive some Sol in exchange for a photo, but the innocence of children never lies and when they rush away and greet you with bright smiles you understand that they are truly happy. How can this be possible, one wonders, and then thinking of the grandchildren at home, in distant Italy, you ask yourself how the smile of these children would be in a engulfing context of well-being that, as long as it is always precarious, marks our western lives. Sometimes in life you have to learn from poverty