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The faces of Peruvians going through a hard year

Mesa Redonda is the main wholesale market in Peru’s capital and in 2020 it has been one of the main hotspots of the new coronavirus.  

At least 300,000 people come daily to buy food or basic goods, and they have kept coming despite the pandemic.  

Photographer Rodrigo Abd brought a wooden camera — a box with a lens and space for a developing lab inside — to take black and white portraits of people who were at the market because they needed to keep living, with or without COVID-19. 

Vendor Daniel Torres Bazan poses for a portrait under one of his mosquito nets for sale at the Mesa Redonda Market in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“Fighting, that’s how we live.”

— Daniel Torres Bazan

Elders have been some of the most vulnerable people during the pandemic. Like Arnulfo Ramírez, who makes a living these days by selling candies on the streets around the market.  

At 75 years old and single, with no kids, he says he is generally a grumpy man who doesn’t often have good things to say about people. But this year he got a lesson in humility when a stranger gave him a bag of food one day when he hadn't had anything to eat. 

“I’ve realized that there are still some good people,” Ramírez said.

Peru passed 1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus infections a few days ago. It was the fifth country in Latin America to surpass that number, and it has been one of the most affected in the region.  The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund forecast that Peru's economy will contract between 12% and 14% this year, one of the worst falls around the world.  

Members of the music group Rimac Show pose for a portrait at the Mesa Redonda Market amid the new coronavirus pandemic in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“Before the pandemic, we played in discos and events, now we live off tips, but we keep moving forward.”

— Lead Singer Jesus Sierra

“I’ve worked every single day without resting,” said Biviana Torres, a 37-year-old street cleaner who during the pandemic has been assigned to clean Mesa Redonda and two other markets as well as three hospitals and Lima's morgue. She said eight co-workers have died during the pandemic.

Peru, with a population of 32 million people, declared a total lockdown in March and ordered people to stay home trying to contain the virus, but as the pandemic kept going and people needed to find ways of living, many ignored the rules and went out.

Daniel Torres, 44, was one of those who was on the streets despite the lockdown. He is a street vendor and had nothing to eat, he said, so he was forced to go out. These days, he sells mosquito nets.

Even before the pandemic, many Venezuelans fleeing from the economic crisis in his country migrated to Peru, where it was difficult for some of them to find jobs. Then the coronavirus hit, and it became even harder to find work and put food on the table.

Maria Isabel Medina Flores poses for a portrait while shopping at the Mesa Redonda market where she used to work as a cook in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Dic. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“The pandemic has been catastrophic for us. We are just recovering little by little.”

— Maria Isabel Medina Flores

Venezuelan Diego Gómez arrived in Lima three years ago. He got a job sewing bags, but he lost it during the pandemic, and now he sells candy on the streets. 

“It’s very hard for many of us who were forced to live as migrants,” the 31-year-old said.

As in any country in the region, the Mesa Redonda market is a microcosm of the variety of people living in Peru — from the obvious buyers and vendors of all kinds to those who come because they are sure they can make some money, like musicians. 

Six Venezuelans, members of the “Rimac Show” musical group, go around Lima playing salsa and cumbia, and sometimes they perform at the market. 

“Before the pandemic, we played in discos and events,” said Jesús Ibarra, the singer of the group. “Now we live on tips, but we keep moving forward.”

City street sweepers Angelo Paz Soldan, right, Teodosia Tito, center, and Biviana Torres Aderiano pose for a portrait in their uniforms and masks, during the new coronavirus a the Mesa Redonda market in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“This pandemic was very hard for us.”

— Biviana Torres Aderiano

Eva Fernandez poses for a portrait wearing a protective suit and a mask to curb the spread of the new coronavirus at the Mesa Redonda market where she sells Christmas ornaments in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Arnulfo Ramirez poses for a portrait at the Mesa Redonda market in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Arnulfo, who lives off of selling candies on the street, said the COVID-19 pandemic has made him realize that there are still some good people after a stranger gave him food when he was hungry. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“When I go out I cover myself a lot with these clothes for fear of contagion. There is a lot of risk out there.”

— Eva Fernandez

“I’ve realized that there are still some good people.”

— Arnulfo Ramirez

Venezuelan migrant David Gomez poses for a portrait as he sells cigarettes and chocolates within his portable display case at the Mesa Redonda Market during the COVID-19 pandemic in Lima, Peru, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“The pandemic is stronger for migrants. You have to have a heart of stone to resist. Almighty God allowed us to survive and I hope this situation helps us to unite as human beings.”

David Gomez

Bernan Castro poses for a portrait with his 74-year-old mother Placida Yaconsa at the Mesa Redonda Market as they shop in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“I’m a carpenter and I don’t have a job because all the clients are broke.”

—Bernan Castro

Holding a microphone, journalist Gyofred Wilder Robinzon and 6-year-old Isaias pose for a portrait at the Mesa Redonda market in Lima, Peru, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. Isaias, whose family works at the market, jumped unexpectedly into the portrait with Robinzon, who was there working on a news story. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“In my work as a journalist I see the many needs and the suffering of people.”

— Gyofred Wilder Robinzon

Venezuelan migrants Nelson Partidas, right, and Santiago Contreras, pose for a portrait at the Mesa Redonda Market where they work as porters amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Lima, Peru, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“I have four cowerkers and acquiantences who have died from the pandemic, and not just her but also in Venezuela.”

— Nelson Partidas

Vendor Luis Alberto Solis Gil poses for a portrait holding plastic Christmas garlands for sale at the Mesa Redonda Market during the new coronavirus pandemic in Lima, Peru, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“I was hit by the pandemic, business in down these days.”

— Luis Alberto Solis Gil

Wearing a Santa hat, Venezuelan migrant Erika Viera poses for a portrait with the Christmas decorations she sells at the Mesa Redonda Market in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“It's not easy to work on the street for Venezuelan migrants like me.”

— Erika Viera

Porter Olinda Cerron Sotomayor poses for a portrait at the Mesa Redonda Market, where she's working after being without work for four months, in Lima, Peru, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

My son was infected and recovered. I did not work for 4 months and I took care of myself all of this time with natural medicines.

Olinda Cerron Sotomayor

Maria Asuncion poses for a portrait in her wheelchair at the Mesa Redonda Market as she shops wearing a mask and a face shield during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Lima, Peru, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“I wake up praying in my house. God has fed me.”

— Maria Asuncion

Schoolteacher Rosa Torres poses for a portrait at the Mesa Redonda market amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Lima, Peru, Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

“I am a teacher but now am on vacation.”

— Rosa Torres

Angela, left, kisses her girlfriend as they pose for a portrait at the Mesa Redonda market amid the new coronavirus pandemic in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

"I'm here in this market looking for a job.”

— Angela


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Text from AP News story, AP Photos: The Faces of Peruvians going through a hard year

Photos by Rodrigo Abd

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