Peru: Los Olvidados

Education in Peru is compulsory, and it is estimated approximately 95% of Peruvian children enroll in primary school. As children become older, many are pulled out to help with family run businesses, particularly in rural areas. Peru is teeming with bodegas, restaurants, businesses producing and selling handicrafts for tourists, farms, and local markets where produce is bought and sold. Some children whose parents have pulled them from school, however, aren’t participating in the production of a tangible product or a service. For those without skill or trade, options are limited. These are the forgotten, individuals working alone or in pairs, donning traditional garments and toting alpacas through the streets, with the sole aim of begging money from tourists. Without education or trade, they roam the narrow roads from early in the morning to late at night. In Cusco, local authorities have corralled them to the east side of the city, and they are not permitted near the churches. The following photos are from Cusco and other Andean villages.