Empowering after the oil spill in Peru
Updated: Sep 27, 2022
Universidad Científica del Sur | Peru
Team members: Adriana Cecilia Ballena Blas, Ariana Paola Cerna Arrué, Carlos Andrés Silva Quiroz, Carlos Gustavo Villegas Gálvez, and Grace Nicole Rázuri Reyes.
Empowering after the Oil Spill in Peru is a project formulated by students and graduates of the Marine Biology career at the Cientifica del Sur University in Peru. The idea of this project emerged from the fact that recently, our country was affected by a disastrous problem: a spill of 11,900 barrels of oil on the Peruvian coast. The previous fact led us to the idea of promoting adaptation to future climatic and/or anthropogenic disasters. We will focus on implementing strategies to change horizons and climate transformation to avoid irreversible damage to the coastal population. The members are Nicole Reyes, a marine biology graduate since 2021; I am the project leader; Carlos Andrés Silva and Adriana Ballena are, ninth-cycle students. Ariana Cerna and Carlos Villegas, tenth cycle students. The five of us consider that climate change is a problem that should take center stage in our daily lives.
Report 1: June 2022
We aim to empower people affected by the oil spill that happened at the beginning of the year on the central coast of Peru. Through talks, we aim to give an alternative for economic income for these families who cannot fish anymore (principal economic activity) due to contamination.
As a team, we've already contacted the community leaders of the places where talks are supposed to take place, who are interested and excited about this project. Although some initially seemed suspicious about the project, we achieved a general favorable perception by remarking that these talks might give new opportunities for economic incomes besides fishing, which has been indefinitely affected (for now).
Also, we have been working on convincing them that by giving them these tools, they are free to look for a different personal/family/community goal, achieving the empowerment that we are looking for as a team.
Additionally, through agreements with the institutions that support us, and as this project is supposed to help the community affected by the oil spill, many professionals and specialists are willing to help in different ways. Therefore, we ask them to support us by giving us some hours of their time, where the talks will take place.
Report 2: July 2022
We aim to empower people affected by the oil spill on the central coast of Peru at the beginning of the year. Through talks, we aim to give an alternative for economic income for these families who can no longer fish (principal economic activity) due to contamination.
Sadly, we haven't achieved the first group talks by this date. We are still looking, through our university, for financial support, from some private or public institution. Some doors were asked, but we haven't received an answer. As a team, we want to share that our country is not having the best situation. We are immersed in consecutive economic and political crises that do not make the best country conditions for institutions to support projects like ours.
Despite that, also through our institution, we have already contacted people (university professors) willing to help by giving the talks we are planning to give to the people affected by the oil spill. Those people are also willing to attend these events, as these talks are looking to provide some alternatives for economic income. These talks will be related to:
Starting a company
Making of bio-gardens
Entrepreneurship
By giving them these tools, they are free to look for a different personal/family/community goal, achieving the empowerment we are looking for as a team.
We still hope to find the financial support needed for this project.
Report 3: August 2022
The team during this month coordinated with the Scientific University of the South to obtain financing. This is how, successfully, we got support, main milestones:
University Social Responsibility contacted us with the different career directors and financed transportation to the affected areas: Santa Rosa.
The Director of Psychology and International business studies formulated a survey to determine the current emotional stability and primary needs of people affected by the oil spill.
The trip to the affected area will take place on September 25, 2022, in the town of Ancón, where 40 affected people (fishermen, their wives, and their children) will meet at Casa Golf Santa Rosa, where we will receive the support of psychology students from of the Scientific University of the South.
The affected area of Ventanilla will be surveyed through telephone calls on September 25, 2022.
The results will be analyzed for two weeks by mental health professionals to give talks on psychology and sustainable entrepreneurship, scheduled for October 2.
Report 4: September 2022
On Sunday, September 25, 20 surveys were carried out in person with fishermen and their families affected by the oil spill, leaving for Santa Rosa at 9 am, and the activity concluded at noon. Carlos Villegas led the presentation of this first activity with the support of the entire team: Adriana Ballena, Carlos Silva, Nicole Reyes, and Ariana Cerna. Likewise, support was received from the NGO SOA and Expedición Climática, who also sent representatives to carry out activities. The surveys were formulated and presented by psychology students from the Universidad Científica del Sur under the advice of their career directors. The fishermen showed commitment and great enthusiasm in participating in this project. On the other hand, the town of Ventanilla was surveyed by telephone in parallel with the activities in Santa Rosa.
We will analyze the surveys, and on October 2, the talks will be held, considering the results of the responses obtained.
We attach photos of the execution of the surveys: