The Cardboard House

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is an\ninternational humanitarian organization,\ncommitted to providing medical assistance to\npopulations in danger and to raising awareness\nof the plight of the people they help. Today MSF\nis active in more than 60 countries in the More…\nworld.\nMSF has been working in Peru since 1985.\nIn Peru, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is low, but\nhighest amongst the most neglected members\nof society there, mainly homosexual men and\ncommercial sex workers. Since 2004, MSF has\noffered HIV/AIDS care in the slum of Villa El\nSalvador, Lima.\nIn Lima, MSF has been working in\nLurigancho, one of the most populated prisons\nof Latin America. In this prison the risk of\ncontracting HIV/AIDS is 5 to 7 times higher than\nin the rest of the country.\nAt the end of 2007 MSF hand over all Peruvian\nprojects to local authorities, leaving the country\nafter almost 25 years.\nLarry Towell (Magnum Photos) was\ncommissioned by MSF to travel to the prison\nand the slums in Lima to photograph the result\nof MSF s 25-year presence, and show that the\narea is now ready to continue its fight against\nHIV and AIDS on its own.\nTowell brings us black and white images\nof people shunned by society and desperate\nthrough poverty, their situation exacerbated\nthrough the endemic HIV and AIDS in their\nalready marginalised population. MSF has\ntargeted their cause for the past 25 years.\nThis book is a celebration of their work and\nthe people whose existence they have salvaged.