Desperate hunt for food by Peru's poor amid coranavirus quarantine

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Cesar Alegre, far left, and fellow residents who share a sprawling rundown house, receive free protective gear to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus, outside a popular food market in Lima, Peru. Alegre and his children, accompanied by a handful of residents, start out by walking about 2 miles to the market where merchants give them potatoes, meat bones and overripe fruit that nobody wants to buy. Image Credit: AP

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Cesar Alegre, accompanied by his 4-year-old daughter Lia, places a damaged apple in his shopping cart filled with discarded produce given to him by vendors at a popular market in Lima. It is a task that was hard at the best of times, but with a month-long quarantine to curb the spread of the new coronavirus that has forced millions of Peruvians to stay home and closed restaurants and food kitchens, it has become much harder to feed his children. “The virus has highlighted the selfishness that man carries inside,” said Alegre. Image Credit: AP

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Cesar Alegre is reflected in a mirror as he prepares for his day in the communal bathroom. Sometimes Alegre begs in markets; sometimes he sells candies. To try to address the coming humanitarian disaster, Peru has begun distributing about $400 million to feed 12 million poor people for one month. But the money doesn't seem to be reaching most of the families in the sprawling shared house. Image Credit: AP

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Cesar Alegre carries his daughter Valerie while holding her store bought cake, as he and fellow residents prepare to mark her first birthday. So far, Peru has 2,561 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 92 deaths, The government has steadily tightened bans and lock-downs to slow the spread of the virus. Image Credit: AP

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Luis Mendoza jokingly dons a hair net over his face given to bu a group handing out protective gear outside a popular market where he has come to beg for food with his 2-year-old daughter Alejandra, in Lima, Peru. The global COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted the wide gap between the rich and poor in Latin America and economists say a looming economic recession worse than any since World War II could push the continent's long-suffering poor into even more dire circumstances. Image Credit: AP

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Maria Isabel Aguinaga washes her clothes in a communal laundry area of a deteriorating building nicknamed “Luriganchito” after the country’s most populous prison, in Lima, Peru. Aguinaga who could no longer afford to pay her rent now lives with her niece Zulema in the sprawling shared home that houses 44 families. Image Credit: AP

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Ex-convict Julio Ramos stands next to his 3-month-old son Jose, a deteriorating building nicknamed “Luriganchito” after the country’s most populous prison, in Lima, Peru. “I do not want my children to suffer as I did, I want to give them the love I never had”, said the 26-year-old father of 3 boys. Image Credit: AP

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Maria Isabel Aguinaga sits inside her room deteriorating mansion nicknamed “Luriganchito” in Lima, Peru. This past week Peru had ordered that only men can leave the house on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while only women can go out on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The trips can only be to the market, pharmacy or bank. Image Credit: AP

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Children, one wearing a Jason Halloween mask, play inside a deteriorated house nicknamed “Luriganchito,” after the country’s most populous prison, in Lima, Peru. The reference is not only because the residents are mostly ex-convicts, but also because the interior of the house is like a Latin American prison, with narrow passageways, without light and little air. Image Credit: AP

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Ivonne Garcia changes her daughter's diaper in her small room while her homeless cousin naps nearby, in the deteriorating building nicknamed "Luriganchito" in Lima. Because of the strict measures that include restricted public circulation taken by the government amid the new coronavirus pandemic, Garcia is allowing her homeless cousin to sleep in a corner of her room. Image Credit: AP

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Nelida Rojas, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a message that reads in Spanish: "Dress yourself with a smile", laughs as she jokes with fellow residents as she waits her turn to use the communal laundry area, inside a rundown building nicknamed "Luriganchito" in Lima. Rojas, 59, had a stroke two years ago that partially paralyzed her body. She now uses crutches to get around and spends her days begging for alms. Image Credit: AP

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Pedestrians walk past the large, yellow deteriorating house nicknamed “Luriganchito” after the country’s most populous prison, in Lima, peru, which sits just a few blocks from the presidential palace. The building is a relic from the area's historic era. But inside its now-cracked walls is a warren of narrow, dark passageways that smell of damp clothing and marijuana. Image Credit: AP

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Carmen Rosa de la Cruz covers her mouth with her shirt as she sneezes while sitting with fellow residents as they gather for a prayer meeting in a communal area of a deteriorating building nicknamed "Luriganchito" after the country's most populous prison, in Lima, Peru. 45 families rent the small rooms in "Luriganchito", just a few blocks from the presidential palace, for 100 soles or 87 US dollars per month. Image Credit: AP

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Zulema Aguinaga smiles at her pet cat as she starts the day inside her small room she shares with her son and elderly aunt, in a deteriorated house, in Lima. The government began enforcing strict new measures to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, restricting public movement by gender. Women are allowed to go out on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Image Credit: AP

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Raul Coyantes eats his breakfast on the rooftop of the deteriorating building nicknamed “Luriganchito” after the country’s most populous prison, where he rents a room, in Lima, Peru. Located just a few blocks from the presidential palace, the old house sits opposite San Lazaro church, founded in 1650 as a hospital for refugees from a leprosy plague. Image Credit: AP

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72-year-old Maria Isabel Aguinaga, wearing a protective face mask, descends the stairs of her crumbling residential building nicknamed “Luriganchito” after the country’s most populous prison, in Lima, Peru. Image Credit: AP

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Nilu Asca, a 24-year-old single mother, struggles to pull a stroller holding her 2-year-old daughter Darleth up a flight of stairs, inside a building nicknamed “Luriganchito” after the country’s most populous prison, in Lima, Peru. Darleth has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia and must wear a spica cast. She and her mother are one of 44 families who reside in one of the small rooms of the deteriorating building, just a few blocks from the presidential palace. Image Credit: AP

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Residents join in a prayer meeting led in one of the few communal spaces of the deteriorating building in Lima. Image Credit: AP

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Grace Lopez does her homework sitting next to her friend Iunzu Asca, sitting on a stoop inside the deteriorating building where they live, nicknamed “Luriganchito” after the country’s most populous prison, in Lima, Peru. Image Credit: AP

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Flor Vaso pushes her 84-year-old mother Carmen Reyes in a wheelchair to their home, in Lima, Peru. Vaso and her mother reside with 44 other families in a large, deteriorated house near the presidential palace that has earned it the nickname “Luriganchito,” or “Little Lurigancho,” after San Pedro de Lurigancho, the country’s most populous prison. Image Credit: AP

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Carmen Rosa de la Cruz, whose arm is scarred from self-harm, peels potatoes as she prepares a soup inside the deteriorating building nicknamed “Luriganchito” after the country’s most populous prison, in Lima, Peru. Image Credit: AP

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Nilu Asca and her 2-year-old daughter Darleth, who wears a spica cast to treat hip dysplasia, sleep inside their small room inside a building nicknamed “Luriganchito,” after the country’s most populous prison, in Lima, Peru. The 24-year-old single mother spends her days begging to provide for her two children and raise the 10 soles, about three US dollars, for her daily lodging expense. Image Credit: AP

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The small room of Santos Escobar and his few belongings in a crumbling building nicknamed “Luriganchito” after the country’s most populous prison, where its residents have stories of hard luck and tough living, in Lima, Peru. Escobar, a 68-year-old former mug seller, ended up living in the shared house after his home burned down twice. In the first fire, two of his six daughters died; in the second, both his legs were burned. Image Credit: AP

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Protective face coverings belonging to Raul Coyantes hang from a nail inside the small room he rents in a deteriorating building nicknamed “Luriganchito” after the country’s most populous prison, in Lima, Peru. Image Credit: AP

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