ODI Global
Jessica, Peru
Six years ago I used to live with my husband Serapio in a rented room. I was pregnant with my daughter Alison and we were getting ready for her arrival. But it was too expensive to rent a room so we decided to look for a different place. We asked advice from many people and that’s how I arrived in Virgen de la Candelaria, where there was some land to buy.
After we bought the plot, we started to clear the land, to put in some floors and build a room with whatever we had. When my daughter was born we started to live there but I was really uncomfortable because it was very small and in winter it was extremely cold and in summer it was really hot. This was because of the material that it was built with. The walls were made of cardboard and the roof was made of metal. In summer it turned into an oven. I had to put plastic bags on the walls so the rain could not touch them, otherwise they would fall down. We used to get really sick all the time and in these conditions my daughter Helen was born.
One day, our leader told us that there was an organisation called Desco that wanted to give us some workshops to tell us how to protect ourselves from earthquakes and other catastrophes. In one of these workshops they told us how to secure our plots and how to take care of the environment. Then they told me that they were going to visit all the plots and take photographs.
They came to my house, they interviewed me and after some days they told me that I was being chosen for assistance. I told my family and they were so happy. After a while they told me that all the materials were on their way – sand, nails and even a door and a window. Desco sent some builders for the construction of the house and when they finished I welcomed it with so much happiness. Today my house is a very special place. We can sleep warm in winter. But I would like to have a house in the future made up with bricks like my other neighbours have. That is my dream.
Jessica Rulo Bendezu
Resident of Virgen de la Candelaria, Peru
© Jessica Rulo Bendezu / Desco / ODI / PhotoVoice
Jessica, Peru
Six years ago I used to live with my husband Serapio in a rented room. I was pregnant with my daughter Alison and we were getting ready for her arrival. But it was too expensive to rent a room so we decided to look for a different place. We asked advice from many people and that’s how I arrived in Virgen de la Candelaria, where there was some land to buy.
After we bought the plot, we started to clear the land, to put in some floors and build a room with whatever we had. When my daughter was born we started to live there but I was really uncomfortable because it was very small and in winter it was extremely cold and in summer it was really hot. This was because of the material that it was built with. The walls were made of cardboard and the roof was made of metal. In summer it turned into an oven. I had to put plastic bags on the walls so the rain could not touch them, otherwise they would fall down. We used to get really sick all the time and in these conditions my daughter Helen was born.
One day, our leader told us that there was an organisation called Desco that wanted to give us some workshops to tell us how to protect ourselves from earthquakes and other catastrophes. In one of these workshops they told us how to secure our plots and how to take care of the environment. Then they told me that they were going to visit all the plots and take photographs.
They came to my house, they interviewed me and after some days they told me that I was being chosen for assistance. I told my family and they were so happy. After a while they told me that all the materials were on their way – sand, nails and even a door and a window. Desco sent some builders for the construction of the house and when they finished I welcomed it with so much happiness. Today my house is a very special place. We can sleep warm in winter. But I would like to have a house in the future made up with bricks like my other neighbours have. That is my dream.
Jessica Rulo Bendezu
Resident of Virgen de la Candelaria, Peru
© Jessica Rulo Bendezu / Desco / ODI / PhotoVoice