Walking Tour Continued

In the past, Cusco’s Plaza de Armas has been the stage for major historical events in Peru’s history, including the declaration of Peru’s independence from Spain in 1814 during the Cusco rebellion. Today, the Plaza is the stage for cultural festivals throughout the year.

We sat beside the central fountain enjoying the bright sunshine and relaxing after our walking tour. We found it interesting to watch local Peruvian families and vendors going about their everyday activities or just strolling around the gardens, chatting and enjoying the warmth of the mid-morning sun.

Many of the locals were distinguished by their brightly coloured Peruvian clothing and woven blanket-shawls which are used for warm and for carrying goods or babies. We noticed many young girls in their mid to late teens with either babies in their arms or strapped on their backs in brightly coloured cloth slings. Jamie explained that girls can marry at 16 with parental consent but some village families encourage their girls to marry or partner at 14 or even younger. The government calls child marriages illegal but in Peru flexibility is usually applies in all areas of life. Many Peruvians have parejas (partners) rather than spouses and having children out of wedlock seems acceptable which was surprising because Peru is such a Catholic country. Church weddings are not considered legal by the government whose laws state that the only legal marriages are those which take place at city hall. Many people have both ceremonies and celebrate with families and whoever turns up on the day. Peruvians love to celebrate but on the opposite side of marriage, divorce is also very common. In 2014 it was estimated that 13% of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 were married, divorced or widowed. We felt for these young mothers and the difficulties they faced raising babies in Cusco. Jamie quoted some sad facts about life in Peru, released by the United Nations. 

We were astounded to learn that the maternal mortality rate is high and that for every 1000 babies born, more than 22 do not survive infancy and 29 do not reach the age of 5. The reason for such high death rates in young children can be attributed to the fact that only the larger cities in Peru have running tap water whereas most towns and villages rely upon streams, tanks and commercially produced bottled water. Water borne diseases spread easily in the community and unless sanitation is also available and garbage is disposed of by town authorities’ people are at further risk of illnesses. The government seeks to educate the people about these matters but sound private education in Peru is expensive and out of the reach of most families and village children are inconsistent in their attendance at the ‘free’ government schools because crops and animals require ‘all hands on deck’ in different seasons.