Nueva Union doesn't have running water, a connection to the electrical grid or paved roads.
But the neighbourhood has something that makes life in a Peruvian shantytown more bearable: a soccer field.
4 May 2018 . Lima, PERU. Reuters/Mariana Bazo
Edgar Champi works at his carpentry.
Nueva Union residents, mostly migrants from poor Peruvian provinces, carved a flat clearing for playing soccer into the dusty hillside when they settled in Lima some 15 years ago.
"This was a hill. It wasn't like it was now. But with nothing but our determination, we started to dig. Why? To have something to distract us every Sunday," says 40-year-old Nueva Union resident Edgar Champi.
8 Apr 2018 . Lima, PERU. Reuters/Mariana Bazo
Players rest after playing soccer.
The grassless soccer field - like scores of similar makeshift pitches across the country - is a testament to Peru's love for the game as its team prepares to play in the World Cup for the first time since 1982.
"It's pure happiness!" 54-year-old grandmother Luisa Alcantara says about the national team. "When they score a goal, even the tables shake."
3 Jun 2018 . Lima, PERU. Reuters/Mariana Bazo
Men play soccer.
World Cup fever has injected fresh enthusiasm into the games played on the pitch in Nueva Union, which overlooks the capital of some 10 million people.
Kicking up clouds of dust and shouting nicknames at one another - "Noodle!" "Babyface!" "Shorty!" - Champi and other men hustle to make goals while women sell chicha, a traditional drink made from purple corn, to the crowds that have gathered to watch.
7 May 2018 . Lima, PERU. Reuters/Mariana Bazo
A resident of Nueva Union shantytown buys water from a tanker truck.
Like the Peruvian team, Nueva Union is an underdog - home to hard-working families struggling to build a better future for themselves with scant help from authorities.
Lacking access to basic public services, Nueva Union residents must pay a premium for water sold from privately-owned trucks, which often suspend deliveries when roads become too slippery to climb in the winter. Electricity comes courtesy of hook-ups to a nearby neighborhood, which also charges higher rates.
29 Apr 2018 . Lima, PERU. Reuters/Mariana Bazo
Children fix a soccer ball.
Victor Antonio Cordoba, 32, the chief sports organiser in the neighbourhood, says Nueva Union's soccer field keeps residents healthy and happy. The star players on Peru's team all come from low-income neighbourhoods, he points out.
"Who knows, maybe future talent will come from here," Cordoba says. "Without a field, we won't know."
25 Apr 2018 . Lima, PERU. Reuters/Mariana Bazo
Martha Injusta (left) and Leydi Condor, residents of Nueva Union shantytown, play volleyball.
From Monday to Saturday, when most of the neighbourhood's men are working, women play soccer or volleyball on the field. "We let the men play on Sundays," Alcantara says with a laugh.
Martha Injusta, 49, a mother of two who cleans houses for a living, credits the space for helping her get in shape. "I used to be really plump," she says.
25 May 2018 . Lima, PERU. Reuters/Mariana Bazo
Leydi Condor washes her clothes outside her home.
The field is the closest thing to a town square in Nueva Union. It is where the community celebrates Carnival the traditional Andean way, by dancing around a gift-laden tree. It is a place to trade gossip with neighbors, and the designated safe spot to gather when an earthquake strikes.
25 May 2018 . Lima, PERU. Reuters/Mariana Bazo
Stairs, used by Nueva Union shantytown residents to reach their homes
As darkness gathers and a game wraps up, a voice on a loudspeaker set up next to the field reminds residents to help build a new staircase to make the steep climb to their homes easier.
Story
There are other projects on the horizon: a retaining wall to protect against landslides, a community center for meetings, and cement and new nets for the soccer field.
"Of course we're going to improve it," 32-year-old mechanical technician Roger Loayza says about the soccer field. "This used to be a hill, but now we have something."
27 May 2018 . Lima, PERU. Reuters/Mariana Bazo
Men play soccer at a makeshift soccer field.