say NO to conga!



One of the lakes that will be destroyed by the Conga Mine project.



I feel compelled to write about the Conga project, one of the biggest issues today for Peru and for all consumers and defenders of our world’s natural resources.



The existing Yanacocha mine near Cajamarca.



Conga is a mining expansion of the Yanacocha mine in Cajamarca, Peru, operated by Newmont Mining Corporation from Denver, Colorado. Newmont, with the millions of dollars it has to invest in Conga, hopes to expand its mining operations to include a mountain overlooking Cajamarca believed to contain large amounts of gold. But for the people of Cajamarca, it is a proposal to destroy their way of life. This mountain is viewed as sacred by the community, and is the source of several rivers and lakes that provide the drinking water for Cajarmarca and the surrounding area. The entire area has mobilized into massive strikes that, at the end of last year, shut down Cajamarca for multiple months. The regional president has voiced his opposition to the project, in addition to many other community leaders. But we still keep waiting for an answer.



As a result of the strikes last year, President Humala and other government leaders came to an agreement with the strike organizers to pause the project in order to conduct further studies about its potential environmental impact. Today, the results of an international appraisal with the power to settle the issue once and for all were supposed to be released. Anticipating its release, the people of Cajamarca again came together to protest for 24 hours until its release, saying that if the results came out in favor of Newmont, they would move together to the sites of their lakes and reservoirs and physically block the machinery from beginning demolition. And today, holding our breath, we find out that the results have been postponed another week. One of my Peruvian friends, after finding out, scoffed and said, “That means corruption.” I wouldn’t be surprised, as the company and the Peruvian government already have a history of corruption, as documented in a PBS special done in 2006 about the very same mountain, and in which Newmont vowed to never again try to exploit that area. (The documentary is called “The Curse of Inca Gold,” and I highly encourage you to watch it online, just search for it on Google). I believe it is also a tactic to break up the extremely united community of Cajamarca while they wait another week for the results. But I suspect that a community that has fought for so long and so hard to defend their natural resources will not back down.



Prayer vigil in the plaza of Cajamarca.  Photo from La Republica.



So, what does this have to do with you? First of all, it’s a United States company and United States investors who are fueling this inhumane and completely disrespectful project completely against the wishes of the local community. You can even look up the Conga project on financial pages (NEW). So, if you have money in the stocks, I encourage you to find out if Newmont Mining or Conga is part of that portfolio, and drop it immediately. Or, as a stockholder, write to them and demand that they respect environmental and human rights. Also, avoid buying gold and other precious metals, because they likely come from this or other unjust mining projects. If you aren’t a stockholder, pray for the leaders, pray for the community of Cajamarca, and tell other people about it so more people are aware of the destruction being caused by our hands.

This is yet another example of how much ground is being lost (literally) in the battle between profit and concern for the common good. And this issue does not stop short of touching the life of each and every one of us. But if you are really interested, don’t just take my word for it. Do research. Learn more. Visit. Look at images of gold mines in Peru. Do anything. But don’t do nothing.

Thanks for reading. I wish you the best!

water wars

Things have been pretty stirred up here in our neck of Chimbote these past few days.  Apparently, something broke, or something had to be turned off, or something, and what we know for sure is that this whole corner of the city has been without water for five whole days with no certainty of when it’s coming back.

In our part of town, the city water usually comes twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, for an hour or two at a time.  During that time period, most households fill up large tanks, some on the ground and some on top of the roof, for daily usage.  Once in awhile, the water doesn’t show up, so most people have enough capacity to last a day or two on what they have, but not much longer.  Sometimes a specific house or street will go several days without water, but in that case neighbors are quick to share.  In this case, we’re going on six days of no water to an area of perhaps 3-5,000 households (or maybe more), with no forewarning that people should conserve as much as possible. 

We didn’t even notice until day 3 when one of our neighbors commented on it.  We, unlike most households, have a small well in our backyard that fills automatically when the city water comes.  Then we pump it to a tank on our roof, and thus get running water.  So we started conserving – minimal showering, saving sink water to flush the toilet, etc. – and we still haven’t run out completely.

Saturday night, just about the time when everybody had finally run out of water, I walked out of theater practice and saw a huge line up of people with their buckets lined up on the curb.  Several blocks away, a huge water truck was making its way toward us.  It seemed like a good solution, so I went home unconcerned.  A little while later I went with a neighbor family to take buckets to be filled by the same truck.  What I saw when I got there was complete chaos – the hose on the back of the water truck open, with nobody designated to control it, and ten to twenty people pushing and shoving with their buckets to get filled up.  People were yelling, water was being spilled, the truck driver tried to do his best by advancing when it seemed to get too crazy and going to a spot in the line that was more orderly.  But then people would just bombard the water hose all over again, pushing and yelling to get their share. 

My 15-year-old neighbor said to me, “And these people claim to be Christians.” 

I told him, “In the moment of desperation, we forget what it means to be Christian.”  But I don’t know who’s to blame.

Suddenly, with the water hose still open, the truck driver just took off, leaving water spilling out and lots of people with empty buckets behind him.  I suppose he finally just got fed up.  I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same.

Since that night, the situation seems to have calmed down a bit.  Other water trucks have been coming to fill buckets, and people have realized that there is enough to go around.  But we still wait anxiously, because when conserving water, sanitation tends to go down, everyone seems a little more stressed out, clothes don’t get washed, plants don’t get watered, etc., etc.  It’s okay, though.  Our lives aren’t being threatened, and hey, millions of people around the world live in worse conditions every day, so I can push my water conservation to the limit for a few days. 

It does make one pause and think, though.  The poverty in Chimbote is not a desperate poverty, but where there is a denial of a basic right, there is undignified living.  So we will continue to fight, so that Jesus may be dignified in every man, woman, and child in Chimbote, in Peru, and around the world.

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Two days after I wrote the original post, today, I am finally posting it, and I am happy to say that the water is back!  Yesterday´s newspaper headline on the front page was ¿Until When? with a huge photo of people waiting with their buckets.  Finally lots of pressure got them to hurry up and fix whatever was broken!