Plea for help from an old friend - Cost of Living in Lima?

5POSTS

16 years ago

Hi,
I'm new in this forum and have quite a pressing question I hope you experts can help me with. The last time I was in Peru was, I think, in 1996, so quite a long time ago, with a charity. Now I was contacted via Facebook by a girl/woman I knew back then (and was sort of friends with) with a plea for financial help. I would like to help, but am not exactly rich myself. I could probably afford a once-off of about 200 (856 Soles)(max!!!) My problem is, that I have no idea how much that would be worth. She is a household help (trabajadora del hogar). Can anyone give me a rough idea what the average wage is for a household help? How much would you pay for essential food stuffs?
I do want to help her, as I think she is genuine, but am torn between not wanting to appear stingy and not wanting to give the impression I am the rich European swimming in cash. I want to give an amount that would really help, but I am not able to make any long-term commitments as the economical situation in Ireland is quite unpromising and I have a young family. (I know of people connected to the same charity who sponsor the education of a boy - the son of a former colleague of my friend, which is probably why the whole issue arose in the first place...)
Greatly appreciate your help and advice!

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uwwgal Active member

32POSTS

16 years ago

a housekeeper makes like 30 soles-ish a day. thats like 180 soles a week... 720 soles a month...but they usually live in the house, so they dont have outside living expensives...

im gonna be getting a cleaning lady, and im gonna be paying her 34 soles a day... thats what the other family she cleans for pays here, so i am going to pay her the same.

if she is poor, she probably lives in a poor area where things are extremely cheap. almost 900 soles is going to be like a month´s wages for her...

also... i would be cautious about giving ppl here money...

BlackForestJules New member

5POSTS

16 years ago

Thank you so much, uwwgal! I am perfectly aware that this whole giving money to one person is extremely difficult.

As a little background information: The thing is that the charity I went over with was not so much founded as charity but as a cultural exchange programme between the Girl Guides in my dioceses in Germany and an organisation for housekeepers in Lima (IPROFOTH in Barranco). We do fund the exchange and collect for the organisation, but it was never meant to be about money. But expectations are very different from the two sides and it very hard to make our Peruvian partners see our side, especially when they see our comparative wealth. It is a real balancing act. I talked to this German friend whose parents sponsor that boy and it turns out she, too, was approached by one of the girls with a son about to enter higher education. Who can blame them for tying? But it is clear this sponsoring business could trigger envy in the others. And as I said, money is tight for us as a family as well, so long-term sponsoring is not an option at all. I just fear that a once-off donation will trigger continuous pleas for help. On the other hand, we were friends of sorts, she did say sometimes she hasn't got the money for food and it is Christmas!
It's a hard call ad I really appreciate your (and everybody elses) advice, uwwgal!