Transcript of interview with Jaime.
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My name is Jaime Leonardo Escarcena.
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We are in the Leticia Electronics Centre, number 114.
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My stand is called "Electronica Leocar"
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What do you do for work?
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I rewind speaker coils, I repair it by rewinding it.
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Like this one, they bring me a speaker and I fix it.
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That's my domain, any kind of speaker.
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How long have you been working in this?
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It's been almost 20 years now.
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How did you begin?
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Little by little.
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I learned with a friend, then I went to an institute to learn more.
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I had studied electronics before, and I preferred the speaker system.
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Why?
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I like it, and it's more practical, and its a profitable business.
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How did you decide to study electronics? What called your attention?
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A family member motivated me, and I started working and liked it.
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Are you from Lima?
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I am from the province, from Arequipa.
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Have you been here for long?
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Yes, almost 20 years.
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So you came directly to Leticia upon arrival?
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No, I went straight to Paruro.
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I worked as a itinerant vendor. Back in the year 1995.
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Then I was able to formalize my work, and set up a stand.
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How long did it take to pass from an itinerant vendor to have you own stand?
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At least 3 years.
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That's not too much, no?
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What happened is the mayor came, Andrade, he's the one who evicted us from there in order to clean up the street.
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And that motivated us to set up a stand, so each one came here to look for a business.
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It was a good opportunity for me.
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Did you receive government support to set up a stand, or was it with your savings?
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Wow, government support would have been great.
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On the contrary, one had to sacrifice and find a way to make things happen.
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It seems this process is still ongoing. For example, yesterday we saw the Serenazgo evicting people.
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What do you think of that?
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This street is really full of itinerant vendors, and that did affect our business since people wouldn't come anymore.
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They are mistrustful.
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Luckily this mayor is getting rid of itinerant vendors.
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Do you believe your business will be better off with less itinerant vendors?
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I think it will be a bit better.
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Since the client comes and brings us work.
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Sometimes when there are too many vendors the client stays outside and doesn't make it in.
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Where do the speakers you work on come from?
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They are all from clients: technicians here from Lima who come to get the cones repaired.
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Sometimes clients come directly and I fix their speakers.
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So it's all domestic, local?
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Yes.
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Do people come from the province also?
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Yes. They come from Ayacucho, from Guancayo.
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They bring speakers in boxes.
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They come once a week.
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They bring speakers and take other back. Each week.
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It's mainly technicians? Or also individual owners of speakers?
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Some are technicians and some are companies which have their clubs with bands and all, they also bring their speakers.
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The technicians who come, do they bring many speakers every time?
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They leave their speakers with us, and the following day we send it back.
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We sometimes send it through packaging services.
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Which is the furthest people have come from?
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Mainly from Ayacucho.
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Why's that?
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I don't know.
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I have some friends there.
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Perhaps that's why, I have a friend who has stores over there. He receives speakers there and sends them to me.
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What is the difference between dismantling, repairing and recycling?
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I don't see any difference.
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A speaker sometimes stops working. You simply change the parts, and it works again. It's the same.
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I have all the materials here, I have original materials.
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You just replace one with the other.
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What do you think of the fact people throw things away as soon as they break?
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What do you think of people throwing things out instead of trying to repair them?
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Back in the day, people didn't do that.
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Nowadays they do.
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I beleive antique speakers were good. The Japanese models and all, they were good.
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Clients would have them repaired; because it was a good device.
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Nowadays, Chinese products arrive and once they malfunction, it's not worth trying to fix it.
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It's more expensive, and it won't last.
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The quality has really changed.
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Why do you think that happens?
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Clients are the ones who tell us that, they explain it.
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Now that speakers have changed, do you need to update your knowledge?
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It's almost the same. But there are some things that have changed, and your work gets be updated.
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Through practice, exactly.
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Practice is the best way to integrate novelties.
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What are we looking at?
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Those are sound-system speakers, for mini-components or for car radios also.
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You repaired those all?
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Yes.
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There are many.
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Those are car radio systems.
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Those are for sale.
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Anything else you would like to add?
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I wish I could import materials, bring them from other countries, but I don't have that opportunity.
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To be able to purchase directly from the large companies, but I have the means.
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You've tried to insert yourself in that?
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I have my doubts, because I've heard of people being tricked or scammed.
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I'd like to import those products directly, but there's no support for that.
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I've heard that people do import. But is it a difficult market to get into?
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I see it as rather difficult.
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The thing is we don't receive any support.
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A company which comes to insure we could purchase with certainty and guarantees.
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So that we could invest, but we don't know where.
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The people you know in that domain, do they import new materials or second-hand?
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It's mainly second-hand.
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They bring in devices to be repaired.
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It seems there's a large market in that domain.
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Yes, very much.
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Many people make a living out of that business.
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They bring dysfunctional devices, computers, TVs, and repair them here.
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There's a group of people who are seeking to limit the circulation of used electronic devices. What do you think of that?
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It would be good.
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Imports are good because it brings the most modern technology.
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Sometimes we don't know or discover these new things.
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So imports are good for us.
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Thank you.
