ninos del rio – Raw Travel TV Blog

“RAW TRAVEL – LOVABLE LIMA” PREMIERES IN THE U.S.

– Nation’s Most Watched Authentic Travel Show Shines a Spotlight on Peru’s Surprising Capital City –

NEW YORK, NY: May 17th, 2017 – AIM Tell-A-Vision® Group (AIM TV) announced today that its syndicated television series Raw Travel® will premiere “Lovable Lima” this weekend, May 20-21, 2017.

To produce “Lovable Lima”, the producers worked with a mix of locals, travel experts and expats to shine a spotlight on the hidden and not-so-hidden charms of Peru’s largest city.

In addition to discovering the appeal and diversity of the different neighborhoods of Central Lima, Barranco, Miraflores and Callao, “Lovable Lima” explores the unique Asian influence on the South American country’s culture with a visit to historic Chinatown.

With a host of gastronomical influences and a plethora of homegrown, organic produce, Lima is also arguably the foodie capital of Latin America. Raw Travel explores this aspect of Limeño culture, with a visit to local markets and hidden gem restaurants to get a taste of the city’s heralded gastronomical delights.

“Lovable Lima” then gets a shot of adrenaline as Lima’s scenic cliffs, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, provide the perfect backdrop to paraglide over the city in one of the most unique adventure travel experiences available to urban explorers. Raw Travel also visits the Cemetery of Nueva Esperanza, the picturesque and surreal indigenous cemetery on the outskirts of Lima, that some claim is the second largest in the world.

Keeping with Raw Travel’s mission of showcasing ways in which travelers can give back through voluntourism, Raw Travel visits the French based organization “Niños Del Rio” (Children of the River), which works to get abandoned and runaway children off the streets of Lima and into a loving home.

“Travelers too often ignore Lima and the rest of Peru in a rush to more publicized areas such as Cusco or Machu Picchu. We want to show visitors what they’ve been missing, beginning with Lima, one of the most unique cities in all of South America” states Robert G. Rose, Executive Producer and Host of Raw Travel.

“Peru is a large, diverse and magnificent country. Stampeding to the same sites in a quest to check things off a bucket list is neither authentic nor responsible. We want to encourage visitors to diversify and explore Peru in a more sustainable and potentially more fulfilling manner” Rose continues.

The “Lovable Lima” Episode will be followed by a road trip down Peru’s southern coast which will kick off Season 5 of Raw Travel in late September and early October.

Visit www.RawTravel.tv for more info, www.RawTravel.tv/wheretowatch for local listings in 160 cities and http://rawtravel.tv/video/raw-travel-416-lovable-lima-trailer/ to for the “Lovable Lima” video trailer.

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ABOUT RAW TRAVEL

Raw Travel is an authentic, adventure travel and lifestyle television series currently in its 4th season and airs in over 160 U.S. Cities (93% of the U.S.). It is broadcast in syndication on local affiliates (Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC, CW, My, etc.) as well as on a variety of international outlets such as National Geographic, Amazon, Fox, etc. in Asia, Europe, Africa and more as well as featured video entertainment on several airlines. Raw Travel showcases the rapidly growing wave of socially and environmentally aware independent travel. The series weaves together themes of ecotourism, voluntourism (giving back) with underground music and authentic culture in a way unique to U.S. television. More information can be found at www.RawTravel.tv and viewers can visit www.RawTravel.tv/wheretowatch for a complete listing of cities, affiliates and time slots in the U.S.

ABOUT AIM TELL-A-VISION GROUP

AIM Tell-A-Vision Group (AIM TV) is an independent content, production and distribution company founded in 2000 by media executive and entrepreneur Robert G. Rose. AIM TV aspires to produce and distribute positive, compelling content that reflects its mission of presenting Media That Matters. Visit www.AIMTVGroup.com for more information.

SPECIAL THANKS

The producers want to thank the local travel partners featured in “Lovable Lima” including “Vamos Expeditions”, “Eureka Travel”, “‘Viento-Sure Parapente” and “Aracari Travel” for their help.

Lima Peru is one of my favorite international cities. Yes, it’s large and congested, but the atmosphere is relaxed, people are friendly, the food is amazing and there is loads of culture around every corner.

But of course, like most of Latin America, there is also crippling poverty. To me at least, poverty is especially heartbreaking when it impacts children.

However, in all my travels, even in brutally poor areas, I’ve found that the youngest children do seem outwardly happy, even in what we in the developed world consider mind-numbing poverty.

They are born incredibly resilient and their needs are pretty simple. Something as simple as a bag on a string or a discarded roller blade, can serve as a distraction.

Rimac River Where Many Street Children Live

But as they get older, the temptations in poor areas are intense as the reality of their situation begins to dawn.

There are estimated 120 million children living on the streets around the world with almost half estimated to be living in South America.

Young boys (typically ages 5-17) in particular are drawn to gangs, violence and drugs. Many, for whatever reason, either run away or are abandoned by their parents and become street children, forced to try to get along with their peers on the harsh streets of Lima Peru. They are young, vulnerable to abuse and scared.

Many of Lima’s street children live along the Rimac River. In 1999 a young French student traveler got to know some of these children and decided to do something about their situation. He created the Ninos Del Rio (Children of the River) organization in 2000.

Today, years later this Paris & Lima based non-profit association continues to works with street children, establishing trust, providing food, shelter and mental counseling and when the time is right, promoting their return to their own home or reintegration into another home.

They also work with the children currently on the streets in the district of San Juan de Miraflores, and help provide these kids an afternoon or so of diversion, where the kids can be kids.

We were able to stop by and meet some of the kids at the shelter, local staff and (mostly) French volunteers during our final day filming in Lima. I’m used to seeing young children in various situations in my travels, but I was surprised at moved I was by meeting these adolescent, teen boys.

Despite their harsh situation and past, I could literally feel their need for love. It was a similar feeling I’d had when visiting the really young Restavek (Child Slaves) at Freedom House in Haiti.

Kids need food, shelter, medical care, structure, discipline…. yes, but mostly they need love. Without it, their future is bleak. With it, their lives can completely change to a future capable of anything.

Ninos del Rio is a non-profit so they rely on donations and volunteers.

If you’d like to volunteer or donate please visit HERE. (Their web site is in Spanish but Google Translate can translate to English for you).

I’ve seen first hand the good work the folks at Ninos Del Rio are doing. I can tell you that I don’t think you’ll regret helping.

I know I don’t regret visiting, and I hope I can come back soon and spend more time with these brave kids and the big hearted staff and volunteers.

Look for our “Give Back” segment on Ninos Del Rio coming up in our Lovable Lima episode set to premiere in the USA in May 2017.