An American in Lima

A tower of Peruvian-made panettone entices shoppers at Wong supermarket, Miraflores (photo c. Barbara Drake 2008)

Peruvians and  Brazilians love their locally-made panettone, an Italian-style Christmas cake that’s grown into a multimillion-dollar business for bakers in South America.
Now the Italian Cake Industry group wants nonItalian manufacturers to conform to strict baking standards or stop calling their cakes [...]

[Read more →]

American Lara DeVries, executive director of the Light & Leadership Initiative, an NGO based in the Ate-Vitarte district of Lima, talks about the high cost of water for shantytown residents in this MSNBC video:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Lara helped me coordinate the NBC Nightly News team’s coverage of water [...]

[Read more →]

Jorge Recharte, Andes program director for the Mountain Institute, eloquently explains the special bond between Peru’s people and her mountains. This relationship has shaped 5,000 years of culture in both the coast and the sierra and will determine Peru’s future,  says Recharte in this video featured on msnbc.com:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the [...]

[Read more →]

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Here’s the video of the report that aired on NBC Nightly News on December 8.

[Read more →]

Happy Immaculate Conception Day! Did you think that this was the day that Mary did (not) get shtuped by Joseph and Jesus was immaculately conceived?

I did. I even tweeted about it, erroneously.
Thank god for Wikipedia and the efforts of reporters on the religion beat. Because it turns out that December 8 is the feast of [...]

[Read more →]

Tonight NBC Nightly News airs a special report on Peru’s melting glaciers and their downstream effects. (Click here for times and stations across the United States.)

NBC Nightly News Chief Environmental News Correspondent Anne Thompson interviews glaciologist Marco Zapata at Pastoruri Glacier, Oct. 2009 (photo c. Barbara Drake)

Tune in to see footage of dying Pastoruri Glacier and to [...]

[Read more →]

A heads-up to viewers in the United States: My sources at NBC Nightly News tell me that an investigative report on Peru’s pending water crisis will air on the show next Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 6:30 p.m. EST in many states. (Click here for state-by-state air times.) 

NBC Nightly News crew films Anne Thompson’s interview with community leaders [...]

[Read more →]