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A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

The Impact of Service "Speaking with locals and living in a country is the best way to learn about the real lives of citizens, not just the stories in the mainstream media. I will be more critical of what I read as a result of this experience. I also feel even more grateful for my education, and I feel a stronger responsibility to assist others who do not have resources or access to opportunities in their communities." Maria Skouras (New York University) volunteered in 2011 as a Peace Fellow for eHomemakers in Malaysia. For more 2011 feedback click here.

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Profile

Peru's Indigenous Communities

Indigenous communities remain marginalized economically, socially, and politically due to the institutional effects of discrimination as a result of colonization.  A Spaniard by the name of Francisco Pizarro set sail from Spain to the New World among a fleet of 30 ships. Pizarro is known as the conqueror of the great Inca empire, which ruled considerable parts of western South America from the early 13th century to the early 16th century. Pizarro conquered Peru in 1533 and founded the city of Lima two years later.  Through the colonization of the region, indigenous communities were systemically opressed in order to assert Spanish dominance and control.  These effects are still felt in indigenous communities that lack basic necessities such as running water, electricity, and adequate shelter.


Although the six most affected rural regions of Peru accounted for only 9 percent of the country's population, 85 percent of those killed and disappeared came from these areas.
These communities are removed from urban centers like Lima and therefore many in urban areas are not aware of the impact the violence has had on these communities and the challenges they still face.
The rural poor that suffered within the far removed regions of Peru described their communities as "pueblos ajenos dentro del Peru" ("foreign countries inside Peru")

Putis

In the case of Putis, the Shining Path went to a handful of surrounding communities near Putis and displaced hundreds of Quechua-speaking peoples by pushing them up higher into the mountains. When the Peruvian military set up a base near Putis in September 1984, they started searching for "senderistas," or followers of the Shining Path. When the Shining Path learned of the army's activities, they abandoned the people they had displaced. The army arrived, promising to provide safe refuge to the people if they returned to Putis. Dividing the group into two groups, the military brought one group of 123 people back to Putis. When everyone arrived, the military asked some to dig what they were told would be a community pond. Once the pit was dug, the military had approximately 60-70 people enter the pit, and all were killed by gunfire for being suspected senderistas - men, women, and a staggering number of children, some as young as one year old. The rest were killed in nearby locations - some infront of a church altar, others within two classrooms in a community school.

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La Cantuta

La Cantuta University is located in Lima, and on July 18, 1991, nine students and one professor were kidnapped and murdered by members of the Peruvian Army Intelligence Service, in connection with the Colina death squad.  In response to the Shining Path bombing of Tarata, the military increased their vigilance on the campus, and came to view everyone as potential terrorists.  The student- led demonstrations against the harsh treatment of students furthered the military’s belief that the students were a source of resistance to the government.  The victims’ remains were finally exhumed and returned to relatives after almost twenty years.

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