I want to share an experience I had living with a family for a few days on Lake Titicaca, Peru. This summer I went on a 2-month backpacking trip throughout Peru and Colombia with a friend. Part of our time spend in Peru was experiencing the spiritual and famous Lake Titicaca. My friend and I had the opportunity to stay with a mother and her two young boys on Uros Island, a historic volcanic island on Lake Titicaca. This stay involved three homemade meals and a one night sleep in her house.

When my friend and I first arrived to the island and were introduced to Mariana and her two boys, 6 and 4 years old, the first thing that struck me was how stunted all the women and children were. Now, I am not a tall girl, in fact, I only stand 5 feet, 1.5 inches tall. Back home, I am thought of as quite short, however, down in South America, I am more than the average height (this was quite a nice feeling!). Mariana was at most 4’9″ and her two boys looked half their age. This struck me as odd, however, when we helped her prepare the meals, it was evident where their stunted height came from.

I can honestly say that I can count that island’s staple foods on 5 fingers: quinoa, potatoes, cheese, pancakes and a few vegetables. Mariana is so poor that she cannot afford red meat, which is a very high source of protein and iron needed for a child’s growth. They are seriously lacking dairy and fruits as well. We were told that when you visit these families, a gift of thanks is recommended, food, in particular. My friend and I stocked up on oranges, rice, eggs and even school supplies for the two boys. The problem with living on the island that they do is that it is a 4 hour boat ride to the mainland. It is isolated and has at most two to three ‘tiendas’ that might sell eggs, but mostly unhealthy snack foods like chips and candy bars. Therefore, most families grow their own food and live off this foods for years. However, this food is mostly starch and is lacking the essential nutrients needed for optimal growth and a strong and healthy immune system.

Not only is the family deficient in many essential nutrients, their material contexts, such as the kitchen and cooking supplies is lacking as well. The kitchen consists of a small, square hut with dirt floors and one shelf that holds all but one pan, one pot, three bowls and one wooden spoon. She cooks all her foods in a wood fire oven but all the smoke that accumulates stays in the hut due to poor ventilation; there is only the door, that is kept closed and a small window that is too rusty to open up all the way. I felt our friendship blossomed in this poverished small, square area and in speaking spanish to Mariana we learned that her husband left her for another woman on the mainland and that he has not come back to visit his boys once since departing. We also learned that her life consists of feeding her boys, cooking, prepping food almost 10 hours every day, due to having to cook from scratch for three meals a day. Her life is very repetitive and has been ever since she was 12 years old, the age she started cooking for her brothers and sisters.

This experience had a strong impact on me, in that it made me realize how fortunate we are back home and the great variety of foods we have available to us. Living with Mariana and experiencing her struggles was tough and at times very emotional, but it was amazing to see how strong that woman is and how she pushes through every day for her two boys and for herself.