Last week I traveled to the town of Espinar (approx. 13,000 ft altitude), to conduct a series of interviews with the people who are running the pilot
conditional cash-transfer savings program there. I decided to focus my research project on the women who live in this region, because it is the only location where savings incentives (through the
Sierra Sur program) and
conditional cash transfers (through the Juntos program) are BOTH being offerred to people who are eligible, in addition to financial education. Whew, that was a mouthful. Anyways, I think there may be some interesting insights that will come out of the experience of these women -- what incentives are most compelling to them, whether or not they save a portion of their Juntos money, etc.
Which is how I found myself in Espinar on Monday afternoon, with my Quechua translator - a sweet woman named Vilma, who is from outside of Cusco and was formerly a participant in the Puno-Cusco Corredor program (the matched savings program that just ended in Peru). We arrived to find the town basically deserted, everything was closed and the streets were empty of any cars. We heard at the bus station on the way down that a strike had just started in Espinar, but strikes are pretty common in Peru so I wasn't entirely sure what this would mean for our weeklong visit. We got off the bus, and I stepped directly into a pile of poop while trying to get my bag. It was not an auspicious start. The bus dropped us off outside the city, so we walked through the streets with all our luggage, searching for the hotel.
The streets of Espinar. Note the rocks in the road, to prevent any taxis or buses from driving during the strike. Not entirely effective.
A cell phone shop underneath our hotel. Almost all the stores and restaurants in the town were closed on the outside, but occasionally people would come out from these little doors, or let you in if you knocked....it all felt very secretive.
After finding our hotel, I wandered around the town, and found out where all the people were: gathered in the main plaza for a rally. From what I could understand from the blend of Espanol and Quechua that was being spoken, the town was on strike because they want better control of the local water source (Apurimac River). Now they only have access to running water a few hours a day, and they are unhappy with how water is being distributed between Espinar and Arequipa, another region and much larger city to the south. It was interesting to see an entire town basically shut down and rally around a common cause (the word for strike in Spanish is "paro," literally "stop"). 
Vilma and I walking through Espinar at dusk, looking for the Sierra Sur project office
Even though transportation was hard to come by, Tuesday morning there were still some buses leaving for the countryside early in the morning, so we were able to get out of Espinar with some of the staff from the Sierra Sur program to attend a financial education class
We visited the community of Huayhuahuasi (a name I cannot pronounce), about an hour outside of Espinar and about as remote a place as I have ever been. Tuesday was market day, so there were some tents set up selling produce and some basic goods. There was very little infrastructure, save some cinder block and wooden homes, a school, and an outhouse. Everyone gave me a good stare.
Vilma and I interviewed the president of the local savings club (for the Sierra Sur project), who was also busy selling bags of coca leaves. She is also in the Juntos program, and is saving some of her Juntos money (from Banco de la Nacion) in her incentivized savings account (held at the microfinance insitution, Credinka). A good sign for efforts to link these two types of programs!
Women coming inside for the financial education class. Someone forgot to tell me that the red paint on the floors had not yet dried completely, which was an unhappy surprise when I sat on the ground shortly after taking this photo. Below, a woman's savings journal with a picture of the bank.
We had some interesting interviews with participants on Tuesday, and for the rest of the week stayed in Espinar to meet with program staff (and also bc there were no more buses leaving town). Since the people we were interviewing in Espinar worked for government social programs and banks, they were still working, so luckily we were able to meet with everyone. The rest of the town, however, was out in the streets marching and protesting. Apparently the strike had caused enough unrest to spur some local leaders to meet in Lima to discuss the water issues, but it didn't look the confilct was going to be resolved anytime soon. Even the ladies selling produce at the market had stopped working, meaning that restaurants were making due with what was available. So if you went to one of the three restaurants secretly "open" (after knocking on the door), you'd usually have the option of between one or two dishes.
One morning, we had fried orange trout for breakfast (over rice and potatoes and some cabbage-- this was the standard base for everything we ate in Espinar). Was actually quite tasty, sort of like salmon! I was craving some veggies and fruit after a week of this, though....
On Thursday, after finishing our interviews, we wanted to head back to Cusco. Everyone told us to leave on a late night bus, when less people would be in the streets (at that point, crowds of people were running after cars, yelling, throwing rocks, forcing stores to remain closed, etc). The only problem: the bus terminal was closed, and there was nowhere to buy tickets. We tried to call and reserve them, but this was impossible without actually paying for them.
As Vilma and I were plotting in the lobby about how to get out of Espinar, the cleaning lady at the front desk overheard our conversation and mentioned that she had gotten a bus out of town the night before, and knew where to catch them. She called the bus company for us but all the seats were "full." She then casually mentioned that the reason she had gotten on the bus was bc her mom is friends with the woman who sells the tickets. Now that got our attention. With some pleading and begging, we got her to come with us that night to show us where the buses were meeting (a closed gas station at the edge of town) and talk her family friend into letting us on the bus. There were too many people gathered for the two buses leaving that night, but the cleaning lady did her magic and convinced the ticket lady to let us on. The bus was able to get out and off to Cusco despite the piles of rocks strewn about the roads on the way out of town....
Hanging out with some friends who work for IPA (Innovations for Poverty Action), a U.S. based research organization, back in CuscoIt was such a relief to get out of strike-ridden Espinar....people told me I should just "wait it out" but apparently these types of strikes can go on for months. Since I'm going home for Thanksgiving on Thursday, I didn't consider that an option! However, I'll probably head back to Espinar this spring to do more interviews with participants -- hopefully by then the water rights issue will be somewhat resolved. Despite the challenges, it was a really interesting week of learning for me, and also forced me to step back and really appreciate all the small things I take for granted -- clean and plentiful drinking water, fresh produce, freedom to travel, to have a quality education, to experience other parts of the world. And mostly, my wonderful family and friends. I'll be thinking about all these things and more when Thanksgiving comes around this year.
and of Cusco!:
The streets of Espinar. Note the rocks in the road, to prevent any taxis or buses from driving during the strike. Not entirely effective. 
Vilma and I interviewed the president of the local savings club (for the Sierra Sur project), who was also busy selling bags of coca leaves. She is also in the Juntos program, and is saving some of her Juntos money (from Banco de la Nacion) in her incentivized savings account (held at the microfinance insitution, Credinka). A good sign for efforts to link these two types of programs!
