La Primavera

La Primavera is the squatter settlement that we will be spending much of our time at on this trip. A squatter settlement is a section of land that is undeveloped by the city or any private companies, and so poor people from the country come and "squat" on the land. This means they set up tin or laminate houses, sometimes supported by wooden beams, and eventually they build concrete block houses. There is no running water, no waste disposal, no paved streets, and very little access to electricity.

The squatter settlement has grown exponentially over the years. Now, there are over 100,000 people living in this dense area. We will be visiting La Primavera Sunday night, Monday and Tuesday. We will meet families, play with the kids, eat lunch at the feeding center, and have the opportunity to visit some homes.

I wanted to give you an idea of how vast the settlement is, and so I found this panoramic picture I took in 2008. You can see in the far left corner and red circle around a building, which is the Hearts for Heaven feeding center. We spend most of our time just a few blocks from the feeding center, but you can see just how big the settlement is.

Click here to see the picture full-size in your web browser.