Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lima (Agenzia Fides) - 25% of Peru's population, or 7 million 700 thousand people, live in poverty, mainly in rural areas. One million people live in extreme poverty, less than one dollar a day. To help families, thousands of children are engaged all day in work activities of all kinds, thereby jeopardizing their future. In the department of Pasco, one of the poorest regions of Peru, 64% of children work in restaurants or in agriculture, such as coffee plantations, where they cut, sow, water and collect. Every morning these little ones get up at 5 to go and pick coffee beans. They work eight hours without wearing boots and gloves. After work, they study from six to ten in the evening. Many of them work at the weekend, in restaurants, selling food, or in other activities. The most serious case is that of girls working as domestic servants and often end up being exploited and abused. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 03/07/2015)
