Photography: PERU
Shipitiari, a Machiguenga Indian Village
Toward the end of our trip we visited Shipitiari, a Machiguenga Village. The difference between this and the Yine of Diamante is striking. They seem to have some health and nutrition problems - the are all very skinny and the one boy has the classic potbelly caused by malnutrition. There are possibly some genetic issues going on also (notice the first family the faces look like Down syndrome). Despite having new water pipes installed they don't appear to be using them. Their behavior and look seems far away, detached, apathetic.
When I shot the photo, she reached out and took Daline's hand.
The home the family lives in.
A closer view.
The baby appears to have something wrong with his nose. I thought maybe Leishmaniasis which eats away at the body's cartilage if it goes untreated, but Marianne didn't think so.
The matriarch seems very frail.
The second family we visited seems a little healthier but still dirty, thin and possibly malnourished.
The boy is adorable but he seems to have the classic rotund belly of malnutrition, worms, or something....
Daline teaching a girl to play hand games.
Mother and daughter.
Notice the older boy has a Che Guevera t-shirt, a Latin American revoutionary/guerilla who believed revolution without compromise was the only way to reverse social inequalities. He was murdered in 1967, and has become an icon of social revolution. I honestly didn't notice his shirt at the time, as the boy mostly remained hidden, and did not want his photo taken until later he decided he did and peaked out of the home for a brief moment. I did catch photos of the sister giving him several interesting glances.
Chiky, the boatman for Pantiacolla, is part Machiguenga and translated for us. Most of the individuals also speak Spanish.
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