Tener Una Voz

A Woman’s Value in a Man’s World:

‘You are lost in the world without education,’ Ruperta Salo Huaymanca tells me the second time I meet her. She is a plump but ebullient woman, and for being so small in stature, her personality and intelligence overwhelms everyone. And yet it is specifically her courage and determination in which she represents a new future for women in Peru. Currently residing in one of the poorest districts of Lima, San Juan de Lurigancho, Ruperta will hopefully be able to fulfill the dream of the projects of Progressio.
One of the many programs that Ruperta is involved with is the Comité Gestión; conducted by a Progressio cooperative. Diana Torres, its leader, has hopes to introduce women into the political world that is currently driven by a male force. They meet weekly to discuss issues facing women in the patriarchal society of Lima, Peru. The goals of the Comité Gestión include giving women the tools to break into politics and thrive in its male driven environment. Ruperta gave me the assurance that this hopeful goal of Porgressio’s will eventually be realized. However, it is Ruperta’s past that simultaneously shadows her future and encourages her success.


Ruperta was born in Cuzco. She is the eldest of her four siblings, consisting of three sisters and one brother. After the death of her father, at twelve years old, Ruperta migrated to San Juan de Lurigancho to live with her aunt and help raise her younger siblings. She began selling soup, which has been her main occupation throughout her long life; she is presently fifty-nine.
At a young age, Ruperta was plagued by the beatings of her aunt’s husband. Looking for solace, she took on another job; cleaning a modest house. The house lacked running water, so Ruperta would trudge every day to a well. After some time, she met a man at the well. She told him of her ill-treatment, including an incident where her uncle burned her cheek with a scalding spoon. He sympathetically, told Ruperta that he would never commit such atrocities because he loved her. With that, the couple escaped and moved in together.
Shortly after moving in with this man who became her husband, Ruperta discovered that this person she met at the well was a fraud. He was a heavy drinker and full of hate. Thus, he began to abuse Ruperta physically and emotionally. He would tell her that she was stupid and ignorant because she could not read or write. She was convinced that she lacked an identity because her signature was an X. The minute details of her life, such as going to the market to buy food, were everyday struggles.
The cruelty worsened a year later, when the couple discovered they were impotent. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ruperta’s husband blamed their childless union on her. She began to believe her partner’s hateful words; that she was useless. Many nights Ruperta would be thrown out of her own house and stood outside the door until her husband fell asleep and she could creep back into the house unnoticed. Her routine continued as she woke up and went to work every morning, being the bread winner of the family since her husband did not have a job. Ruperta was gradually sinking into an abysmal hole but somehow she was able to recover through her experiences with the church.
One afternoon, Ruperta was on the streets crying. A nun approached her and asked why she was crying. Ruperta answered, ‘Because my husband abuses and beats me.’ The nun suggested that Ruperta go with her to the church, asking, ‘Would you like to learn?’ And Ruperta eagerly followed into the church. Ruperta was introduced to teachers of EDUCA who told Ruperta to wipe her tears because they were going to help. Ruperta began the program of alphabetization, with the patience and understanding of the teachers. And gradually as time passed, Ruperta learned to read and write.
Ruperta can read but has problems retaining information most likely due to the traumas she suffered in her life. But her emotional disturbances do not hold her back. ‘Before, I couldn’t read or write, but at least now I can write my own name,’ Ruperta assured me. She has been studying for more than three years and has had much success with the programs from EDUCA and now Progressio.
Most importantly to Ruperta is her signature, which now allows her to have a documented identity. As a leader of Vaso de Leche and participant in Mujeres Líderes and the Comité Gestión, one of Ruperta’s favorite duties is to sign documents. Additionally, the groups help Ruperta forget her suffering.
As Ruperta had gotten heavily involved in community politicking, her home life worsened. In the afternoons, Ruperta would lie to her husband and tell him that she was going out for a walk and she would run to the community center or to the church to attend and/or lead meetings. But she always had to leave early, so her partner would not suspect anything. On one specific occasion, her husband was waiting for her. Immediately, he asked where she had been and without waiting for a response, Ruperta´s husband kicked her brutally in the leg. That night, Ruperta prayed to God, ‘Please God, I’m receiving this bruise for learning to read and write, so please help me, because it is worth it.’ The next morning she awoke and the pain in her leg was still there, but she found the strength to continue on. She went to work to sell her soup and later on to a meeting.
She came home afterwards, went to her husband and threatened him. She told him that if he continued to beat her, then she would go to her teacher who is a lawyer and they would put him in jail. Now without fear, Ruperta attends meetings. She spends most of her day outside of her home, working and then going to classes and programs. ‘In the groups, I am the most happy and I feel like I am capable of anything,’ she told me earnestly. Ruperta finds strength in her meetings and goes to church before each one to cry and ask God for help in finding this force.


Ruperta seems to walk the fine line between complete independence as a woman and the perfectly submissive wife. Somehow, it is this vacillation that makes her undying courage so apparent and helpful in a country lacking a woman’s voice. Because not only does she understand everything they have been through, but she too has experienced it firsthand.
She told me of a story where she was in the hospital and she saw a nurse mistreating an indigenous woman who only spoke Quechua. Ruperta, fluent in both Quechua and Spanish, interrupted the nurse and told her, ‘this woman has the right to be treated fairly at this hospital.’ Shocked, the nurse inquired about how Ruperta knew this and Ruperta responded, ‘Well, I am the leader of Mujeres Líderes.’ And the nurse turned around and began to treat the indigenous woman.
After this, it became evident to me, that Ruperta had found her role in life. She sees herself as a teacher and guide for those women who do not know they have equal human rights. She gave me hope that Progressio will succeed in their project of guiding women into the government, whatever scale that may be. Ruperta epitomizes the struggles that face every woman in Peru. She is an educated woman living in an incredibly poor district of Lima, and not for one moment has she become disillusioned. Ruperta’s husband may not appreciate her gifts, but she is the hope for every woman in her community.