First Person

Voices, video, and photos from Oxfam's fight against poverty

Peru: Scenes from a flood

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Residents of the New Generation neighborhood in Cusco, Peru, are living in temporary shelters in Andahuylillas after their homes were declared uninhabitable. Photo: Roberto Guerrero/Oxfam America

A colleague just sent us these photos from southern Peru, where heavy rainfall has caused flooding and left widespread damage, including the destruction of homes, crops, and small businesses. Oxfam is supporting its local partner, PREDES, to help 529 families living in temporary shelters in the provinces of Anta, Calca, and Urubamba.

Like many of the photos I’ve seen of displaced families after the Haiti earthquake, these images highlight people’s resilience in the face of tremendous losses.

“The only thing we haven’t lost is our health and our lives,” Eufemia Araníbar, a member of the Nueva Esperanza neighborhood committee in the district of Izcuchaca, told Oxfam’s Celia Aldana. “We haven’t lost our children or our husbands. Everything else we can rebuild, because we have our health.”

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Photo: Roberto Guerrero / Oxfam America

 See more photos from Peru here.