Marisol washes her face, in Pamplona Alta, Peru, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018. (AtlasNetwork.org Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Marisol lives with her three children and 74-year-old mom in Pamplona Alta, on the desert mountainside on the outskirts of Lima, Peru.
An estimated 130,000 people live in the Pamplona region, and a vast majority don’t have running water. This daily struggle affects everything Marisol and her family does. They spend so much time thinking about it, working around it, and struggling to get it. And when the water trucks do finally decide to visit her block, she’s forced to pay at least ten times more than what the average Lima city-dweller pays.
But Marisol is brave.
MARISOL trailer directed by Charlie Fritschner; produced by Charlie Fritschner, Daniel Anthony, Conrado Etchebarne. Extended video coming soon.
She raises her family in a home that is only 150 square feet. She sells her home-cooking to the neighbors and makes extra money by sewing.
And even though she can never really get ahead financially, that concern always takes a back seat to the fact that she doesn’t have running water.
Marisol has decided to fight for change. Because she knows that if she doesn’t voice her concerns, she and others like her in Pamplona will be left in the margins.
So now she’s asking the tough questions—questions that often get people silenced in Peru. Like why is the state-run water service so obtuse and inefficient? And why can’t it adopt more public and private partnerships that could help deliver running water to her family and neighbors?
José Beteta met Marisol a couple of years ago. He and his small but talented think tank team at Asociación de Contribuyentes del Perú—one of Atlas Network’s independent partners in Latin America—are dedicated to amplifying Marisol’s voice and championing her cause. José and his team are doing the rigorous research and advocacy work to push for public-private partnerships. And they’re advocating for a more transparent process in the complex infrastructure issue of water services for the people of Pamplona Alta.
On the day the Atlas Network team visited with Marisol, she and her mom spent an intense 5 hours waiting for the water truck. That same water truck accidentally ran over a child directly in front of her a few months ago. The child died.
These water trucks have all the power. They usually charge a set fee, but really they can charge anything they want. They sometimes keep a set schedule, but really they come whenever they want. And today, the truck was late.
The entire process is chaotic. Completely inefficient. And words alone can’t describe just how disheartening the whole situation is for the entire community.
These water trucks have all the power. They usually charge a set fee, but really they can charge anything they want.
That’s why Atlas Network wants to share her story—and that’s why Doing Development Differently, our new initiative to give people the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty—is so important.
Marisol’s situation is an urgent one. Her 74-year-old mom is sick from malnutrition. Her 4-year-old son Ronald has a severe tooth infection from the lack of water for dental hygiene. But Ronald and his siblings are the bright light for Marisol. She lights up when she talks about the joy she feels from raising her children and supporting her mother.
And yet she never once said she was poor.
Peru needs free-market solutions to its water infrastructure problems. And people like Marisol need Asociación de Contribuyentes del Perú to be successful advocates for them. Over the last few years, Atlas Network’s investment in their research and advocacy has given them the resources they need to take their work to the next level. Their efforts to improve water access through public-private partnerships is their latest effort to reform public policy.
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