According to the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, more than 75% of the victims from the internal armed conflict were rural, indigenous, and poor. These factors exposed them to acts of extreme brutality during the war and continue to impede their ability to exercise their rights and seek redress for the crimes committed against them. In response to this situation, EPAF works to promote and develop projects that provide socio-economic development opportunities for the people and the communities affected by the conflict.
Paradero Esperanza
Potato Harvest in Putis
Development in Post-Conflict Areas
Paradero Esperanza is a development program intended to overcome the factors and sequels of the conflict, taking into account three fundamental aspects:
· Historical memory.
· Strengthening of associations.
· Productive development.
EPAF’s development work is oriented by the human development paradigm. As opposed to the classic focus, the objective of the human development paradigm is to increase the capacities and freedoms of individuals and not only in their consumption of goods.
First Paradero: Putis
Burial of the remains in Putis
Putis is a village located in the San José de Santillana district, in Huanta, Ayacucho. It is composed by 9 communities. Due to the high level of violence lived during the 1980s, its population was obligated to migrate to other areas of the country. By the end of the armed conflict, people returned to their communities, but in conditions of extreme poverty and in a context of latent conflict due to the presence of narcotrafficking.
It is estimated that approximately 400 people died or were forcefully disappeared during the conflict in Putis. In 2008, EPAF worked to recover 92 human remains from a mass grave located in the community. As a result of that intervention, an organization of relatives was formed around a process of collective memory construction, which allowed a progressive cohesion of the entire village. In the process, Putis has gone from a dispersed group of communities to a village that today enjoys its own political jurisdiction.
In 2009, after conducting the expert examination of the remains, EPAF returned the bodies to the relatives for their proper burial. In 2010, EPAF, using the social capital originated in the community, began to implement productive activities as part of the Paradero Esperanza development project, which is currently starting to show some results.
Activities conducted
- Creation of social networks in the community through partnerships.
- Discussions and meetings to coordinate a common development vision.
- Identification of strengths and opportunities.
- Exhibition of agricultural and craftwork products.
- Implementation of a seed bank of native potatoes.
- First sowing and harvest between 2010 and 2011.
- Assistance and monitoring from the National Institute for Agricultural Innovation (INIA).
Click here for more information on Paradero Esperanza.
Click here to see a photo album of the first native potato harvest in Putis.
Top photo: Jonathan Moller
