BACKGROUND TO PERU
Peru is four times the size of Britain with a third of the population. It is a land of contrasts from a tropical climate in the east to dry desert in the west. In between are the Andean Mountains rising to 6000 metres high.
Peruvian people to-day are a mixture of Indian, Spanish and Black blood but their origins are not clear. The ancestors were made of many cultures before the Spanish conquest. The Incas, who ran Peru before the Spanish invasion in 1532 were the last of these cultures. Pizarro led the invasion and defeated the Incas at Cajamarca with a small army equipped with horses, gun and swords. At that time the Inca's kingdom extended from Ecuador to Chile. Inca society worshipped the sun, had no written language and built some magnificent stone buildings and highways with only simple tools without discovering the wheel. The Spaniards lusted for the Inca's gold, and having melted down many of the decorations, shipped the gold back to Spain. Great efforts were also made to convert the Indians to Christianity. Now the main religion is Catholicism, but many of the ancient traditions survive, and coincide with Catholic celebrations.
Nearly one third of the people of the population live in Lima, the capital. After the Second World War there was a mass migration to the cities in search of jobs and better educational opportunities. In the 1980's the problems of the Peruvians became more severe, due to a worsening economic situation and the rise of Maoist communist political party Sendero Luminoso (The Shining Path). Their reign of terror in some areas in the Andes meant more people fled to the capital, hoping to find safety. Over 25,000 people died or "disappeared" in the conflict.
Since the election in 1990 of President Alberto Fujimori and the subsequent collapse of the Shining Path following the capture of the leader, Peru's fortunes have improved. For some people, life has become easier again. With investment from overseas, there is more employment and for some, more money to spend on leisure. As communications improve, still more people look to live and work in the towns and there is a desire to look fashionable in Western dress. However, thousands still live in the shanty towns or "peublos jovenes" which have become established on the sandy hills surrounding Lima. In the mountains, fashions rarely change, life remains hard and the daily routine is about survival. 1998 has been made more difficult still due to the effect of "El Nino", the weather phenomena that has caused flooding, mud slides, and complete devastation in some areas wiping out homes, crops and livelihoods.