“Odelia Escalante Zuniga carefully scoops water out of a large plastic barrel with a tiny bowl. She’s careful not to use too much, as she doesn’t know when the water truck will come next. Odelia moved to Lima four years ago, after changing weather patterns brought crop failures and food scarcity to her rural Peruvian village. While she hoped for a brick home with a real kitchen, her family, like many migrants, lives in slums on the margins of the city with no running water or electricity.
With four young children, Odelia cannot work outside the home, and her husband earns little as a day laborer. Odelia says her husband used to want more children, but after seeing the harsh reality the family faces, she now protects herself by getting contraceptive injections.
“If I had more children, what would I do?” she asks. “What would they eat?”
