
Yaneli Santos at the “olla común” Manos Solidarias in Lima, Peru. These community soup kitchens are a crisis response and they’re organized mostly by women.

The places. The hillsides of Lima became the settlement of precarious housing, where many people lost their jobs due to COVID-19.


Nourishment. Only 25% of the donations for the meals have been proteins, fruits and vegetables. The "ollas comunes" have fed between 100 and 200 people a day since the beginning of the crisis in Peru.

The effort. The money they collect from neighbors for cooking is not enough to feed everyone. Every day, Silvia Ramos goes to the markets of San Juan de Lurigancho to ask for food donations for the "olla común".These protests were largely driven by young people typically apathetic to the country's traditional political discourse.

Roseana Cáceres is on charge of an olla común in San Juan de Lurigancho. She must work all day to be able to study at night.

Roseana's notebook with the names of neighbors who come to the olla común.


Lucía Farfán at the “olla común” in Manchay. She lost her job as a domestic worker during the pandemic, and now she spends her days cooking and taking care of her family.

The wait. Children and women collect food distributed by the "olla común" from monday to saturday.

Diana Mellado at her house after the work in the "olla común". Women are more concerned about not having a way to feed their children than getting sick from COVID-19. They may feel listless when there is no food, but they still continue.