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Hydro Power Over Homes in Peru

The homes of the Ashaninka people are threatened by the construction of a hydroelectric dam in Peru.

April 25, 2015

Tomás Munita / The Other Hundred

Tomás Munita, born in Chile in 1975, is an independent documentary photographer primarily interested in social and environmental issues. He has worked in Latin America, Afghanistan, India and the Middle East. He has received numerous awards, among them three World Press Photo prizes.

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Since the early 2000s, most of those displaced have returned to inhabit their villages along the banks of the Ene River.

Now, however, they face a new peril: a 2,200-megawatt hydroelectric dam that would flood much of the river valley, and once again force thousands of people to move their homes.

Ashaninka leaders are fighting the dam, demanding through Peru’s courts that the government disclose all feasibility studies and other information about the proposed project.

Although officials say that local people would benefit from electricity generated by the dam, it is already clear that most of its power would be exported to Brazil.

Text and photographs by Tomas Munita


Victoria Kubirinketu, an Ashaninka woman who also lives in Tsiquireni, walks back to her village after collecting bananas.


Ashaninka children watch the Ene River in front of their village, Boca Sanibeni. This area would be flooded by the proposed dam.






Tomás Munita, born in Chile in 1975, is an independent documentary photographer primarily interested in social and environmental issues. He has worked in Latin America, Afghanistan, India and the Middle East. He has received numerous awards, among them three World Press Photo prizes.

The Other Hundred is a unique photo-book project (order here) aimed as a counterpoint to the Forbes 100 and other media rich lists by telling the stories of people around the world who are not rich but who deserve to be celebrated.

Its 100 photo-stories move beyond the stereotypes and cliches that fill so much of the world’s media to explore the lives of people whose aspirations and achievements are at least as noteworthy as any member of the world’s richest 1,000.

Selected from 11,000 images shot in 158 countries and submitted by nearly 1,500 photographers, The Other Hundred celebrates those who will never find themselves on the world’s rich lists or celebrity websites.

Takeaways

The homes of the Ashaninka people are threatened by the construction of a hydroelectric dam in Peru.

Six photos show the homes of native Peruvians which are under threat of destruction.

Leaders of the Ashaninka in Peru fight against plans to construct a dam that will flood their land.