Peru Community Development – Photo Essay

Posted on by TDB_admin Posted in Community Development, Issue 3, Peru, Photo Essay

Zeinab Mahfoud


Together, visiting university students, local community members, and leaders contributed to the design and construction of ‘Pedregal de la Memoria’, a memorial space dedicated to the devastating El Nino floods that affected the community of Pedregal in 2017 while designing a recreational space for children and adults.

This collection of photos represents a community development program designed by the University of Catalonia (UIC) partnered with Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology  University (RMIT) and the University of Piura (UDEP).

Residents of Pedregal Grande awaiting the construction of the memorial and playground.

Residents of Pedregal Grande awaiting the construction of the memorial and playground.

Students from UIC, UDEP, and RMIT can be seen working on the initial stages of the ‘Pedregal de la Memoria’, after spending time with the community outlining the needs and goals of the design.

Students from UIC, UDEP, and RMIT can be seen working on the initial stages of the ‘Pedregal de la Memoria’, after spending time with the community outlining the needs and goals of the design.

Outlined in ‘Community participation in development: nine plagues and twelve commandments’, Botes & Rensbury consider the 4th commandment of promoting community participation to be ”Promote co-decision-making in defining needs, goal-setting, and formulating policies and plans.”1
Students filling stationary water tanks on-site to use for cement mixing.
Children from the community participating in a collaborative painting project.

 

As co-designers, the community encouraged us to utilise local bamboo to build the platform and structure that would serve as a playground, shading device, and an elevated flood evacuation meeting point.

As co-designers, the community encouraged us to utilise local bamboo to build the platform and structure that would serve as a playground, shading device, and an elevated flood evacuation meeting point.

“People experiencing poverty and marginalisation have agency and the capacity to identify solutions themselves”2
The dialogue between students and locals, working together.
Children enjoying the newly constructed bamboo and rope swing.

 

RMIT students, Jumana, and Micheal using power tools were used on-site to cut bamboo stalks quickly and efficiently.

RMIT students, Jumana, and Micheal using power tools were used on-site to cut bamboo stalks quickly and efficiently.

“Dialogue further requires an intense faith in humankind, faith in their power to make and remake, to create and re-create, faith in their vocation to be more fully human.”3
Children enjoying the newly constructed bamboo and rope swing.

Children enjoying the newly constructed bamboo and rope swing.

A pot of Chicha de Jora is smashed by the Mayor of Pedregal and Dr. Carmen Mendoza Arroyo, marking the official inauguration of the Park.

A pot of Chicha de Jora is smashed by the Mayor of Pedregal and Dr. Carmen Mendoza Arroyo, marking the official inauguration of the Park.

”Because love is an act of courage, not of fear, love is commitment to others. No matter where the oppressed are found, the act of love is commitment to their cause—the cause of liberation.”4
Copyright © All rights reserved, Untilsunrise Photography
  1. Botes, L. & Rensbury, D. (2000). Community Participation in Development: nine plagues and twelve commandments. Community Development Journal, Oxford University Press, VOL. 35 NO. 1 pp. 41–58
  2. Howard, J. & Wheeler, J. (2015). What Community Development and Citizen participation should contribute to the new global framework for sustainable development. Community Development Journal, Oxford University Press, VOL. 50 NO. 4 pp. 552-570
  3. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of The Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.
  4. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of The Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.
Zeinab Mahfoud The Design Between Peru

Zeinab Mahfoud


Zeinab Saleh Mahfoud is a Lebanese humanitarian photographer based in Sydney, studying a Master’s Degree in Disaster, Design, and Development at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) focusing on community participation and development. During 2019 she travelled to Nepal completing a Development Master Plan for the village of Junbesi which was affected by the 2015 Earthquake and Peru to develop, design, and construct a Memorial park and children’s playground in the town of Pedregal which was affected by the 2017 Floods. Zeinab’s focus on analog - photography is to capture the development process and explore this medium as a method of communication for disaster-affected and vulnerable communities.