Peru's Andes Mountains

250 Children Dead of Cold in Andes: Death Toll Keeps Climbing

2009/07/16 /
Agustin Mayta Condori shows a sick alpaca, which he predicted would die the next day because of subfreezing temperatures in the southern Andes in Peru. Thousands of alpacas have died in the region. Rodrigo Abd/AP

I was on Twitter tonight when I learned from actress Qorianka that the death toll in the Andes due to extreme cold is up to 250 children, reports the BBC’s Dan Collyns:

Almost 250 children under the age of five have died in a wave of intensely cold weather in Peru.

Children die from pneumonia and other respiratory infections every year during the winter months particularly in Peru’s southern Andes.

But this year freezing temperatures arrived almost three months earlier than usual.

Experts blame climate change for the early arrival of intense cold which began in March.

Winter in the region does not usually begin until June.

The extreme cold, which has brought snow, hail, freezing temperatures and strong winds, has killed more children than recorded annually for the past four years.

A total of 246 under the age of five have died so far, only half way through the winter months.

Continue reading Collyns’ story here.

This news sickens me because, as Collyns and others point out, the deaths are preventable. Cold spells of varying intensity are to be expected in the Andes; the country should have health procedures in place before winter gets underway.

In any other country, the Red Cross would be on the scene tending to victims and providing emergency services, but guess what? Peru’s Red Cross is a private, family-owned business that operates according to its own idiosyncratic methods, not those of the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Society. The Peru Red Cross does virtually nothing during disasters and even less to prevent them.

Why can’t the International Red Cross intervene and help establish a true Red Cross in Peru?

Because the family that “owns” the Red Cross in Peru has registered the name with SUNAT and technically “owns” the Red Cross brand in the country.

If you think this is an outrage, join the club. The Peruvian government should intervene, rescind the name from private ownership and help get a real Red Cross established in Peru ASAP.

Meanwhile (back to the kids dying in the puna), Qorianka is helping to coordinate some sort of relief efforts from the United States. Click here for info on contacting her directly.

Also note that llamas and alpacas are dying in record numbers. [Update 2020: This continues to happen. See photo above from 2016: Agustin Mayta Condori shows a sick alpaca, which he predicted would die the next day because of subfreezing temperatures in the southern Andes in Peru. Thousands of alpacas have died in the region. Rodrigo Abd/AP

I am an American writer who lived in Lima for seven years (2007-2014), where I covered Andean traditions, melting glaciers and daily life in the capital for Miami Herald, MSNBC and Huffington Post. I now live and work in northern Florida where I champion climate change advocacy and compassionate, affordable eldercare.

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18 Comments

  • Peruanista

    2009/07/16 at 10:49 pm

    Barbara, I grew up seeing how my people were abused and killed by powerful interests who run Peru’s politics and economy. I am aware of the suffering the Andean people have to endure. One of my last posts before my Youtube channel was censured -all my videos deleted- talked about how in the last 30 years the government of Peru is promoting an Indigenous genocide because of racism:

    http://peruanista.blogspot.com/2009/07/after-188-years-of-independence-peru.html

    “How would you feel if one American woman dies in every 416 child deliveries? What would you do if the entire population of women in Washington, DC, gets sterilized for life by the U.S. government? If you thought the 2,500 victims of Katrina was a sign of racism, imagine 3,500 people being killed every year due to government neglect.

    Is not happening in the United States -good for those of us who live here- but this is the tragic reality affecting the Indigenous people of Peru, where more Native children have died in 2009 of pneumonia and cold weather related diseases, than all of the victims of the swine H1N1 flu in the world combined.”

  • Barb

    2009/07/16 at 11:40 pm

    I agree, Carlos, that the deaths in the Andes are part of a centuries-old pattern of neglect, one that has become business as usual in Peru. I am very concerned that Peru does not have a functioning emergency management corps, like a Red Cross. Climate-induced disasters are going to continue to rise throughout this century, and a mitigation plan will be needed in order to avert widening catastrophe.

    That might sound overblown to someone who hasn’t visited Peru, but when you live here (as you did) and you see the extreme geography and the poverty, it makes sense.

    I believe the Peruvian gov’t is starting to wake up to the fact that they must change their ways (the international community is shaming them). They just don’t know what the blank to do! So many incompetant people filling posts — some are uncaring, some are dumb and some want to help but have little training.

  • Alpaca Farmgirl

    2009/07/17 at 7:14 am

    Oh, that is so sad. We worry so much about the people and animals in the Andes. They have shepherded our wonderful alpacas for thousands of years. Would love to help them out, it’s heartbreaking.

  • Barb

    2009/07/18 at 8:47 pm

    Thanks for stopping by, Seldom Scene, and for giving info about the NGO. It is hard to read about this stuff and not be able to help in some way, so I am glad to feature links to organizations that are making a difference.

    I tried to leave a message on your blog but it only accepts comments from certain kinds of accounts, so I couldn’t. Oh well. The felting work your are doing is very lovely. (Readers, check it out.)

  • Deborah

    2009/07/19 at 8:24 am

    A medical outreach sponsored by the http://www.quechabenefit.org is leaving for the high country of Peru(alpaca/llama country) in early Nov. A team of 5 physicians ,2 dentist ,1 nurse practitioner,3 nurses and a 4th year medical student , board member Lindy Huber and her daughter will be going. Any one interested in making donations for medications and supplies should contact the link above. Although we are receiving some medications from the U.S. to take with us many items will need to be purchased in Peru for the outreach. While we all have experienced the economic recession these herdsman of our livestock live in challenging conditions beyond anything we can imagine. Any assistance that can be offered by the alpaca community will bless the villages we will serve. Please contact http://www.quechabenefit.org today with your tax deductible contribution.

  • Barb

    2009/07/19 at 11:28 am

    Deborah,
    I tried to click on the link this morning and it wouldn’t take me to the page. I don’t know if it’s down or what.

    But I did find this info about Quechua Benefit, which is a 501C3 based in the U.S. and which has raised about $58,000 for Andean people so far. Alpaca breeders in the US formed the group as a way to give back to the indigenous people who have nurtured alpacas for thousands of years.

    It appears that the group partners with different outreach efforts, including one by a nun in Peru, but it isn’t religious. The money goes to help the people. Here’s more: http://www.alpacas.com/AlpacaLibrary/ExpandingQuechuaBenefit.aspx

    Deborah: could you check that link you provided and make sure it’s working?

  • Barb

    2009/07/22 at 10:37 am

    Thanks, Mike, for providing the working link and for correcting the $ amount raised.

    Can you comment on the Nov. trip that Deborah mentions? Will the team only be going to the town near Arequipa? People who are reading this want to help the areas affected by extreme cold now, I believe, although helping with longer range goals is certainly an interest also.

  • Andy

    2009/11/16 at 10:12 pm

    Thank you so much for posting this for it is 100% true. What’s worse than there being no red cross is that no one living in Lima seems to mind it at all. I’ve been living here for 2 and a half years and people in the city see this on the news and act as if its a another country and not their own. We should have been worrying about THIS but unfortunately the minister of health was too focused on the “swine flu”