Miraflores City Hall

We visited the Miraflores city hall on May 18, 2009. The group was coming from a long but pleasant ride through Lima’s middle and upper-class neighborhoods, so it made perfect sense to stop at Miraflores, one of the oldest and most diverse neighborhoods of all. http://www.miraflores.gob.pe/miraflores.html

The municipal palace was built in the mid-1940s after an earthquake destroyed the original one. The new palace is a handsome and discreetly elegant building. We were received in the Council’s work/meetings room, and Dr. Jimena Sanchez gave a brief presentation about Miraflores participatory budget.

I knew that Peruvians doubt American’s deep knowledge of Peru’s reality so, right before she arrived I asked Evan to give me the definition of Participatory Budget. He did well and Justin added a bit more detail to it. When Dr. Sanchez arrived, she began by saying, “Perhaps you are not too familiar with the idea of Participatory Budget.” I quickly responded, “Well, I really don’t know, why don’t we ask the students? Ok, Evan what is Participatory Budget.” As expected he gave a brilliant, complete and concise answer, impressing Sanchez about the group’s academic level. Way to go Evan and Justin!

At the end of our conversation, Councilman Luis Molina came to greet us. He brought along a book on Miraflores that he gave to Dr. Sather and (and this is the point of this posting) gave us free tickets to a ride on the Mirabus. This open top bus gives a 40 minutes tour by Miraflores’ parks. Today we will take the bus and lots of pictures. Thanks God it is a bright day in Miraflores!

Dr. Olga Celle