By Paula Bayarte |
Lima, (EFE).- Colored boards form a suspension bridge at the top of a hill from which you can see thousands of houses that make up the immense Lima district of San Juan de Lurigancho. Daring tourists parade through it to get their viral photo and, without knowing it, contribute to improving the quality of life of their neighbors.
“We saw that with tourism we could take advantage to preserve this ecosystem in the best way, without destroying it, without impacting and generating benefits for the population,” says Jorman Cabello, co-founder of the organization “Make your world green” from the top of the hill. ”.
The young man grew up in San Juan de Lurigancho, a district in which more than 1.2 million people live and explained that, together with his best friend, he created this initiative for two purposes: firstly, to protect the hill from waste contamination and The second is to generate income to benefit the community through a tourism activity that is respectful of the environment.
“We have grown without having parks, sports areas (or) quality public spaces. One of the only alternatives we had for play, for fun, was to climb the hill and in winter it was filled with plants, which motivated us even more. Unfortunately, both this hill and all of San Juan de Lurigancho and other districts are being invaded, destroyed,” Cabello said.
reinvention of reality
To access the bridge, located in the sector known as Lomas del Mirador, you have to enter steep stairs that cross one of the invasions of San Juan de Lurigancho and that end in a steep ascent, already on the hill itself. When you arrive hot, the sky opens up and you can see one of the largest neighborhoods in South America.
But the adventure has only just begun, because now it is time to put in place the security measures to cross the bridge that has brought more than 2,000 people in the first month of operation and that leaves the visitor in the void between the tables.
Two women take photos taking advantage of the views, just before putting on her helmet and acknowledging that she is “very scared”, one of them admits with a nervous laugh that she had found out about this place on TikTok.
And it is that this social network is what has made this bridge a viral attraction to which tourists arrive every day and long lines form on weekends.
“We have not had greater spending on dissemination, the networks have done everything. TikTok has been our main means of dissemination, ‘influencers’, travelers, media, channels have arrived and that has helped us to grow this and that the population understands and knows that San Juan de Lurigancho is not only something negative, dangerous or with crime,” Cabello said.
citizen initiative
“Make your world green” was born in 2015 with the idea of improving the 250 hectares of ecosystem that crown the hills and which, according to Cabello, is one of the only lungs of both the district and the city.
Thus, the young people began to organize small visits to the hills that gradually attracted more people, but they were aware that in order to achieve changes that would impact the residents they had to “go up a level” and create a tourist attraction.
With this truly photogenic suspension bridge they have succeeded.
“Thanks to those resources generated by tourism, we can satisfy the basic needs of the population that used to live around a pig farm (informal pig farm), which had no electricity, water, stairs or drainage. I had nothing,” Cabello said.
He pointed out that now they can enjoy new basic services that “have not been given by a municipality or any other institution. They have been given their commitment to preserve the hills and take advantage of tourism and this strategy that has served the community a lot, ”he concludes proudly.
In addition, the arrival of tourists has made the population understand the value of the area in which they reside, along with them women and girls quickly walk the hill with large garbage bags to collect the waste left by neighbors and tourists.
“I want it to look beautiful now that people are arriving,” says an owner of a food store through which the stairs that go up to the famous bridge pass and which, thanks to the magic of the networks, could be the next sensation in the shadow of the sun. bridge.