Episode 5 – The Silent Journey: young African Refugees walking for the search of something better?

Welcome to the new wave of change: https://linktr.ee/t4action - subscribe- share - donateToday I am broadcasting this episode from Lima, Peru. In this episode I have the privilege to talk with “The Doer” Pablo Bustamante. The man who innovated finance and helped move Peru’s informal sector into the middle class. In this video podcast, recorded in the spirit of untold stories that drive change, Pablo shares how Peru emerged from a collapsed state and 25 years of economic turmoil to build one of the most dynamic middle classes in Latin America. He recounts how a generation of doers, working both inside and outside institutions, sparked a quiet revolution. From designing the return of consumer credit to helping unlock property rights for hundreds of thousands of informal families, Pablo helped reshape how finance worked for the people. We talk about informality not as a problem, but as a parallel economy with massive potential. He describes the passion, the vision, and persistence it took to innovate – in order to bring into the formal fold this enormous informal potential. This is the story of how the market didn't just take care of it: people became the market.

Time Stamps:

00:00 – Life in Fear and Constant Movement

00:35 – Introduction to the Episode & Refugee Context

00:59 – Seeking Asylum: Refugees Relocated to a Park

02:31 – Experiences of Racism and Social Exclusion

03:05 – A 22-Year-Old’s Story: From Ethiopia Through Libya & Morocco

05:06 – Surviving the Day: Markets, Money, and Missing Documents

06:39 – “No Future Here”: Hunger, Danger & Hopelessness

08:30 – Cross-Continent Journeys: Sudan, Chad, Libya & the Sahara

10:18 – Overwhelmed Systems: Why Host Countries Struggle

11:24 – War, Poverty & The Roots of Forced Migration

12:05 – Violence on the Road: Mafia, Arrest & Prison

13:37 – Identity Lost: Stolen Documents and No Legal Status

15:26 – Children Displaced Since 2015: Years Without Home or School

17:03 – Lost Trust, Lost Dreams & Living Day-to-Day

18:01 – Closing Message & Call to Support

Produced by Thought4Action.

Edited by Sara Correa.