Everyone's guilty until proven otherwise

More than one month after...

I'm sorry for the delay, my computer hasn't been cooperating in the past weeks so I finally decided to stay at work a little bit longer and write something that has kept my mind busy in the past weeks. This has been a really interesting month and over, with ups and downs as usual. But, because I'm familiar with the city and the atmosphere from before, the every day life started quickly and I have been incapable of answering to the questions about my life and well being here. The "I'm OK, nothing special" -stage started immediately.

Two years ago I took a course at the University named "working in development countries" in the department of development studies. It was quite silly the course actually, but I remember the professor talking about her experiences in Africa and saying that "they have their own corrupted system, which works when you get used to it…" yep, in a country where over the half of the population is living in poverty and working in the informal sector, the corruption is also a big part of the reality. Corruption and informality are both things that seem absurd when living in Europe. At the same time it's reality for the majority of the world's population.

In Peru it's impossible to escape from the informality. Most of the public transport and taxis are unofficial as far as the little markets and street vendors. For an average citizen this doesn't make a big difference, on the contrary I enjoy being able to buy pens in a combi and ice cream on the street. But for the workers and for the society it makes a huge difference. Working in informal sector means working for long hours with a small salary, and without social security, continuity and pension. And of course the government gets less tax funds to develop the country…… It's a really complex thing, and the informal economy has been part of the society for so long that in some way the authorities have become ignorant for it.

One thing in common to the developing countries is the complex, costly and heavy bureaucracy. There are wheels within wheels in this society… and to start a small scale business one needs quite much capital and the process to get the licenses might take months and months. But when starting an informal business, one gets to know the corrupted side of the society. There is a reason why the authorities don't always seem that interested.

And well. On February I personally get through how this country works and I have now for the first time contributed money for the corrupted government. One dear friend of mine was celebrating the New Years Eve in a big party in Lima, when someone doped his drink with something. At the end of the night the place was robbed and my friend was found there unconscious. Because he was the only one found there, he has been in jail since then. He was forced to confess his guilty for the robbery, although the drugs in his blood proved his innocence. Because of the heavy bureaucracy the legal process of proving his innocence and the paper work would take at least 20 months (= that's the time one should spend in the jail innocent). BUT, money buys freedom. And with a little help of Benjamin Franklin the judge is willing to skip the paper work.

My friend's family is quite poor, so we were collecting money to get together enough for his bail. Thank you all so much who have been participating in our little project!!! Without you, he wouldn't have any hope to get out. Now he should be out really soon if the things work out as planned. I have spoken with him and I know he's all right (considering the circumstances).

All the injustice around us always hits harder when it's about someone close to you. I have pinched myself many times just to make sure this isn't just a nightmare. Sadly it's not. As one Peruvian friend explained to me: "In Peru everyone's guilty until proven otherwise. I guess it's the other way around in Finland…"