The troubles in Peru have forced many people to seek refuge in new lands. One woman, Mariela Ochoa, was forced to leave for Bolivia. She tells her story in this piece.
The first picture shows her home in the hills of Ayacucho in Peru, when there were no problems. Here Mariela Ochoa grew up. In 1982, she began to study Social Work at the University. It was during her last year of studies that the troubles began.
The second picture shows the changes in Peru caused by the arrival of the military. The children are on the street, looking for their missing parents. They go to the military headquarters, hoping for some information on their parents' whereabouts. During this time, Mariela worked with the children in a small workshop to teach them all sorts of handicrafts and to get them off the streets.
In 1988, Mariela had to leave Ayacucho. She went to Lima and worked in a human rights group where she documented information from newspapers and also learned embroidery and appliqué. In the third picture, Mariela shows the women migrants, who live and suffer in straw huts in Lima. For these country people, life in the city is difficult. Everything from the clothes people wear to the language they speak is different. Because of this, the immigrants, and the women in particular, are pushed to the margins of society. They must make a living however they can, be it washing clothes or cooking. They dream of the life and foods they used to know, but it is an unreachable dream.
In 1991 Mariela was forced to become a migrant herself. In the fourth picture, she shows the Inti Illimani mountain, which supplies La Paz with water. She has also represented the hospital, where she worked part-time, as well as the pharmacy and the little house where she and her daughter live. In the evenings, she learns dressmaking and occasionally she works night duty at the hospital.
The final picture shows the Titicaca Lake and the city of Copacabana. The lake lies partly in Peru and partly in Bolivia. The Virgin of Copacabana is there for everyone.
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