To establish a context for the humanitarian efforts of Los Andes Mission, one only has to visit a large garbage heap in El Milagro, outside Trujillo, where garbage provides the main income for the people of this extremely poor community! The garbage covers literally acres and acres, leaving even a casual observer with an indelible memory. Hundreds and hundreds of poor people-- men, women and children--scour the garbage for remnants to gather and sell in order to eke out a basic existence.

I, Maria, am a native of Trujillo, and along with my husband Rod, we founded Los Andes Mission in an attempt to better the life of these unfortunates that you read about above.

The city of Trujillo has a growing population of 800,000 people. The area of town where we have been working is called “El Milagro” (the miracle) with a resident population of 12,000+. The city's garbage facility is located in this area, which receives the garbage from the whole metropolitan area. Many of the people in El Milagro are involved directly or indirectly in making their living from extracting cardboard, plastics or anything of value from the garbage pits. Whole families, including small children, work in almost inhumane conditions to make a few dollars a day, and some even live on the dump itself. It is to these people that we have been reaching out and whose lives we strive to make better.