Tierra del Olvido, 'The Forgotten Land', is a Dutch foundation that helps native communities in Peru. The foundation is run by Alida Villar from Peru, together with her husband Ralph Mens from the Netherlands.
After working for five years for several social organizations in Europe, Alida wanted to return to her homeland, to do something for the most needy people in her native Peru.
"It feels like a necessity to help my people, to let them know they won't be forgotten, to tell them: here we are, and together with you we will move forward, to do better tomorrow."
Our aim is to set up projects that support the native communities on their own soil, in their own villages, through the preservation of the environment and through ecological ways of growing crops, raising animals and managing waste.
Peru is one of the richest countries on Earth in terms of natural resources and biodiversity. It contains more than 85 percent of the total biodiversity of our planet, and is one of the few countries on Earth that can boast to have both desserts, highlands and rainforests within its territory.
Yet, Peru continues to be an underdeveloped country and the Peruvians can be compared to a beggar sitting on a lump of gold. A big problem is the migration from the villages to the cities, leaving the fields abandoned, denying the young generation a future on their native land.
The main reason for this migration is that the state has abandoned these small communities in the highlands and the jungle. Their inhabitants are the 'children of the forgotten land' that we want to rescue from oblivion.
Como la luna que alumbra
por la noche los caminos
como las hojas al viento
como el sol espanta al frío
Como la tierra a la lluvia
como el mar espera al rio
así espero tu regreso
a la tierra del olvido.
(Carlos Vives, La Tierra del Olvido)
The Forgotten Land
Like the moon that lights
the roads in the night
like the leaves in the wind
like the sun chases the cold
Like the land awaits the rain
like the sea awaits the river
So I will be waiting your return
to the forgotten land