John S. Wolfe

Whereas Santiago, Chile resembles a European city – with interesting architecture, tree-lined streets and various forms of mass transit – Lima, Peru is more what one might expect in South America: Crowded, urban, noisy and dusty.

Instead of buses and subways, Peruvians travel across the city in taxis or, more likely, stuffed private minivans painted with individual designs or logos. It was not unusual to see three or four such vans backed up in the street waiting for the light to change. They would then pull over at an intersection and men and women would jump out and jump in.

The overall impression was that folks are busy, enterprising and trying to make their lives better.

This was no more evident than during a visit to the industrial park in Villa El Salvador in the southeast portion of Lima. The city’s poor live along hills on the outskirts, in areas called shanties. Streets are dirty, the structures nailed together, and garbage blows wherever it wants. There seems to be little desire to improve a building’s appearance; that would most likely send a message of success, and make one susceptible to crime.

In this setting 25 years ago a group of men, encouraged by the government, which was fighting unemployment, created an industrial park in the shanty town. They were asked to expand trades in the area and provide jobs to the residents. The government promised to extend railroad tracks to the area to make moving materials and products easier. (Ironically, the tracks are there but a train has never arrived.)

The men divided the park into four areas: Carpentry (for furniture-building); metal works; shoe-making; and garment-making. They set up small businesses and employed people from the area.

The park now employs 30,000 people, including 1,300 carpenters. The average monthly salary in Peru is $550; in the park pay of $1,000 to $1,600 per month is not uncommon.

The furniture dimension is considered a huge success. The manufacturing shops produce high-quality items like office furniture, sofas and shelves. Some of the items are sent to Lima stores and some pieces are exported. Here’s one participant’s website: http://www.muebles-orihuela.com

Wood is imported from Ecuador and Chile, and craftsmen use Computer-Assisted Design programs to size shapes. Custom orders can be filled within 48 hours.

But, interestingly, in this area are a large number of furniture showrooms that, from the inside, could compare favorably with American stores. In fact, more affluent residents of Lima are known to travel to the park to buy their furniture, because of the quality and selection.

The leaders of the park spoke to our college group in an open-air, cement-floored meeting room with plastic lawn chairs. A Peruvian flag and a Rotary-like flag showing the teamwork of the various industries were on poles behind the panelists.

They were quite modest about what they’ve achieved since 1985. Through a translator, the man in charge of the metal segment attributed the growth to “little steps.” A lesson to remember.