clementina

Back in February, a team of doctors and nurses from Independent Presbyterian Church in Memphis came to serve in the Wichanzao Medical Clinic.  During their trip, they brought a mobile clinic out to a nearby squatter neighborhood called Clementina.  The squatters consider themselves pioneers, coming from the mountains to the city's outskirts for employment and educational opportunities.  They build their houses from what they have, usually the walls are woven thatch covered in plastic.  Inside the scattered shanties, fires burn.  Electricity is rigged and brought in by lines hidden under the sand.  By Peruvian law, if a squatter town is around for more than one year, the land is theirs. From the medical campaign in February, the community expressed a desire to have a church begin in their neighborhood.  A structure was built out of the same woven thatch and it stands as a symbol of identity and hope for the community.