Читать книгу 20 Peruvian Heroines - Eliana Carlin - Страница 7

Philanthropist (born in 1842)

Juana Alarco was born in Lima. She married a German merchant named Juan Luis Dammert, and traveled to Europe. There she could see all the ways European communities protected mothers and children in need.

When she came home to Peru, Juana was inspired by her experiences. She founded the “Auxiliary Society”, where hundreds of wounded people were taken care of and treated during the Civil War of 1895.

At the end of the war, Juana was disheartened, but inspired, by the large number of abandoned and orphaned children in her community. Therefore, with the help of many volunteer women, she also created the “Childhood Assistance Society and Maternal School.”

Since they had to meet the different needs of the children, the volunteer women were trained as teachers. Juana did more than take care of orphaned children. She also set up cribs to take care of the children of mothers while they were at work, and distributed milk in schools. Today, two schools in Lima are named after Juana. One is in central Lima and the other in Miraflores. There is also a monument in her memory in the Neptune Park, and she is remembered with love in the hearts of all as the “grandmother of children.”

“Don’t use me for your own ends.My only politics, from my position as a woman, is to always serve the most unprotected and not use them for political purposes.”

JUANA ALARCO