(PS: If you are reading the travelogue for the first time, please read it in reverse order, starting from: Peru2005: And thus the Journey begins...)
Day 1: Meeting and Rendezvous “So how was the day?” I asked myself as I was about to lie down after an easy day and get ready for the next day. “Uneventful!” another voice completed the dialogue and my reflective mood took over going through the high times of the day.
Well the day was probably a unique day for me as I met a fairly cool group of people there to travel with a purpose in mind. Last morning when I was sitting in the plane reading my book, I heard a voice calling my name. I turned around and met that amazing person I was waiting to meet, Kristi! She was the team leader of the GCN project at Tarapoto and has led quite a few of such before to different parts of the world. As I learnt later, this cheerful Norwegian Minnesotan (if there is such word) aspired to be an astrophysicist, but became a Spanish teacher instead and now loves to hike, bike and be outdoors in addition to leading projects for GCN. On way out from the airport, we came to know a young blonde lady called Ana from Holland who was going to stay at the same hostal as ours Hostal de la Casa. She wasn’t the part of GCN team to Tarapoto. She was working as a teacher in a primary school for one year when she quitted her job and as a break decided to work in an orphanage in Peru for four months. Later in the morning, I met Eden, who I had interacted with while formalizing my trip to Peru. She worked for GCN itself and after organizing a lot many trips and projects decided that it was time for her to go there for real. This was followed by Terri, her 16 year old teenage daughter, and it was her first trip abroad. We went for breakfast together, before we were joined by Charles, who was the other member of the team other than Kristi, who could speak Spanish fluently. Well this well traveled gentleman from California had been part of various development projects before to Africa and other parts of the world. His specific interest was in seeing how a small organization such as GCN finds and works for the small projects. Last person of the team was certainly me, originally from India, working as an engineer in California, who has had no prior experience in any voluntary project, has done little reading but already had lot of strong opinions! J
Most of the day was spent getting to know each other. In the late afternoon, we decided to see a circus kind of show by a Peruvian guy who has become very famous in Miami. A mistake! (atleast for me it was a mistake). There is rarely anything of real value from third world that gets mass attention in US. Some childish pranks were the highlights of the show. For a normal day I would not have mind seeing that play, but not in Peru, when Lima had so much more to offer and I was hardly spending time there.
In the night time after dinner, we had decided to see some sort of local musicians show. But it turned out to be fiasco as well, some snobbish event with tickets sold out while I had expected it to be a street scene.
So here I was on bed in the “City of Kings”, having hardly an experience of awe that I was expecting to have just like what we had in Mexico City. However, the solace lied in the fact, that it already felt like being at home with the people I met and they have so much to offer in interactions and conversations.
Day 2: From the City of Kings to the City of People
- Team journal was written by Eden today
“I had forgotten what a vile city Lima was” – Nicholas Shakespeare
“Lima, La Horrible” – Essay by Sebastian Salazar Bondy
But as the “book” said, love it or hate it, Lima was the most important city in Peru and I really wanted to feel it.
However day and a half doesn’t do justice to such a big sprawl and we were in Peru on purpose. After long rendezvous on Monday getting to know each other, I was already feeling at home, comfortable in the presence of others in the team. And if you are in the company of cheerful and energetic Kristi, team keeps on expanding with new recruits, even if they are there for few hours, enriching group’s knowledge with their experience.
So this morning, we decided to experience Lima (do some tourism as well) by taking a walk around Plaza Del Mayo watching the Sunday parade “Virgin Saints” (?) and visiting the monastery of San Francisco. The memorable moments, atleast for me, was the library. The original records written by Spanish Conquistadors and early historical records of Latin America kept in a long narrow dingy room – It was a scene from Indiana Jones movie! Unfortunately as it should be, unless we could get some fake ID of importance, we were not allowed to touch the pages made of ‘lamb leather’. Just for record, the monastery had ‘catacombs’ (a collection of bones and skulls) as well.
We stepped out, and I tasted the Lima of Nicholas Shakespeare and Sebastian Salazar Bondy. I took a picture with my camera and was folding the tripod. A guy engaged me in a conversation on the right and the other flicked the camera kept on the open bag in matter of seconds. He was slick, I have to confess. I had no clue before he came back and returned the camera. What really conspired, as I was told, was that Kristi and Eden and others observed the scene and they rushed towards the guy who flicked the camera. Realizing that he is busted, he just returned the camera and disappeared. Thanks to the gang, I have my camera and we had an experience without paying a heavy price! This was all from Lima for now and I will be back to Lima during the trip in hope for better.
Before I forget, another highlight of the morning was the breakfast when Kristi briefed us about the project. It is always nice to get the expectations right. I had to agree with Charles that it is exploratory nature of the trip that brought him along. Even though I have no prior experience to appreciate the problems of communities we visit and to understand how the NGOs address such problems. For GCN as an organization, it was important to evaluate the project and relationship with the grass-root organization, while for me an opportunity to better understand how the dynamics work. Taking a shovel and doing the real work is important but two weeks of voluntary work can hardly offset the doings of the corporate world I am a part and parcel of. Well I keep my disillusionment aside. Also, it was great to know that the cross-cultural interaction was a top-most priority of the organization. Developing a respect and understanding for cultures across the world does a better job in creating a tolerable world to live in. It was the unique philosophy that really got me along, though an engineer’s mind never stops to wonder how such a philosophy is practically realizable. In the end, when she asked what our expectations were, I said “none”. An afterthought immediately made it obvious what they were. Nothing in concrete, but an experience that really overwhelms me. Now, for someone who has seen the third world from close, it was certainly a lot to ask for.
The highlight at Lima Airport waiting for the ever-late flight to arrive was meeting a 19 year old college kid from Philadelphia who has spent 5 weeks in an orphanage near Cusco. She shared her first experience abroad. It ranged from her saving money to finance such a trip when the family doesn’t understand or appreciate such experiences; falling sick due to hygiene conditions; her awe at the conditions of the third world and what she learnt about the people and work at orphanage.
An evening flight brought us to Tarapoto, I will coin as the “City of People”. The city and the area around it is the remotest hop I would have in this trip. Here in this region, I would be seeing no flamboyant churches built by arrogant conquistadors. On contrary, here in this region, I would see the life as it really is without any make up put for the tourists. Tarapoto is a small city but biggest city in the Department of San Martin. It is at the eastern foothills of Andes where the mountains give way to the Amazon; City of People at the gate of Amazon; a hop for only few tourists who are on their way to Iquitos via boat.
We were received at the airport by Henri and Piedad from JIREH, the grass root organization we were suppose to work with. Even though, the feeling was that of warmth, it was my first taste of frustration that I was going to face for days to come: inability to communicate effectively due to lack of a common language. My knowledge of Spanish was sufficient to get my way across, but it failed me miserably to hold any meaningful conversation.
Day 3 (Monday 8th): Reality Check!
- Team journal was written by Charles
Our first full day in Tarapoto and it was time for some reality check. The idle walk around the city was over and it was time to wake up early and be prepared to see a village community called “Polaponta” where JIREH had working relations. I didn’t know what to expect. I could make out from the conversations that they were building a school there and Piedad was a teacher there, but what do I know of building schools?! Also, I was romanticizing about how a village community in Peru would look like.
Seven of us (5 of the team with Henri and Piedad) packed up in a small Suzuki kind of car headed towards Polaponta. The scene reminded me of India where I would have packed more number of people in a small Maruti. I don’t know what were considered the bad omens in Peru, but we were ticketed just after we touched the highway. The car took the dirt road from the highway, and after few miles of driving, we were stopped by a few armed people who looked way too serious. They were carrying simple shot guns, so I wasn’t really worried and guessed immediately that they couldn’t be bandits. However, it probably scared others in the team who probably haven’t been to Texas to see the locals carrying better guns for no good reason. Though like others, I was wondering what they were doing there openly in broad day light, but for impressing the people with the power they had by holding a gun? Henri and Piedad explained they were civilian patrol and ministry of defense support local regions to patrol for their own security. Now, the threats of “Sendroso Luminoso” (“Shining Path”) were almost practically over after Guzman was captured some 10 years back followed by further arrests by Peruvian army. There were recently reported terrorist attacks by MRTA and I thought it might be for that reason. It was just the start of our interaction with Henri. So I kept my mouth shut and kept the job of enjoying the view of the countryside.
We reached Polaponta to see the school structure almost completed and being built in full swing. The men in the community would take turn to work for school construction, while the others would work in the fields. Even the school was off due to a teacher’s workshop. There were few pre-primary kids and we just played with them, talked to few locals and were back on our way after looking at the old school building almost in ruins. We were going to return to Polaponta next day to meet with the village head and council and understand their problems. From what I saw, there wasn’t anything particularly traditional about the village and my heart sunk a little. However I solaced myself with the fact that may be tomorrow I would be better able to appreciate their problems.
From there, we took a small hop at a secondary school in a nearby village. It was a novelty for Terri who was still in high school and would have seen a school and gets to talk to local kids her age. It was interesting watching Kristi with her theatrical skills addressing the class and Terri being intrigued at what she learnt about the school in some remote part of the world. While extremely welcoming to any outside interest in them, the teacher got defensive when looked at awe by the more privileged spectators from American suburbs.
In the afternoon, we were taken to another school this time in Tarapoto. However, the purpose here was very different and very interesting. JIREH was trying to assist the school program trying to fight child abuse problem. It was basically a two person show: Elena, the program coordinator, and Davis, the child psychologist. They would periodically take help from lady in the administration, who primarily worked for woman-abuse case, in cases that required legal intervention. As it turns out and what we would see later, the two problems, woman abuse and child abuse, in many cases turn out to have the same root. The three of them explained how they identify, interview and diagnose a child going through abuse, and how they go about handling it. In many cases, they just go to child’s home and talk to the parents casually. We were invited to accompany them for home visits on Thursday afternoon.
All of us were extremely tired after our day’s visits. Kristi was probably exhausted translating and summarizing (and she did a really great job of it!) while many of us were exhausted trying to decipher Spanish whenever we can to better understand the problem. The plan was to take it easy, cook in the kitchen of our hosts, so Kristi, Eden and I went to buy some grocery. The market just amazed me. The similarities to markets in a small town in India were striking. The variety of lentils, vegetables and fruits, the way they were arranged by street-side vegetable sellers, the shops similar to (so-called) provision stores in India, appeared strikingly same. Small shacks selling hand-made shoes reminded me of Aminabad in Lucknow. The big shops selling motorcycles, refrigerators or televisions were no different either. I have been to markets in Asia and Mexico. But this one was somehow distinctly similar, infact it smelled the same and person behind the counter looked so similar.
In the evening, I walked back to Plaza to spend some time there, the concept that I really loved. It is like a community park where people gather and gossip till late night. Since I looked so Peruvian, I didn’t catch the attention of street-side vendors. While reading and writing, my mind was going through the events of the day. The day had so much to offer, but my romantic view of the village communities was shaken. Polaponta was a lovely countryside with simple and warm people, but there wasn’t anything distinctly Peruvian. I was wondering what the next day had in store for us.
Day 4 (Tuesday 9th ): Gringos on Parade!
- Team journal was written by Kristi
This was a big day to see a village in its glory, which I have seen only in TV or movies, even in India. We were to meet the village council, but in villages all decisions are taken in front of all the people. Kristi who has had prior experiences warned us that whole of the village would turn up for the meeting and it was going to be like “gringos on parade” (gringo is a south american slang for white man). Awkwardly for me, with no gringo ancestor in the recorded history, I was going to be part of the parade!
In contrast from yesterday, there were a lot of young and old women and children cutting grass while men were working at the school structure. It was a little overwhelming meeting a lot of people almost all at the same time. Inability to hold a conversation due to lack of a common language was frustrating me as well, while watching everybody like a spectator. Kristi had her bubbly self on while meeting and greeting people, trying to break the shell that people wear while meeting strangers. Many eyes were probably staring green-eyed Terri. I wished I could hide myself in the background as I looked so Peruvian in my permanent camouflage, while letting “gringos on parade”.
Finally it was time for the formal meeting. We had small introductions and I was quick to let the curious ears know that from “la India”, though I knew most of them would be wondering where the heck it was. After that Kristi explained them about GCN a little and why we were there. From the community side, their mayor was unimpressive. But the people who spoke were passionate and driven. Atleast the community appeared united in their cause. It was clear from what they expressed, that health was their top concern and they wanted a health clinic. The school was already being built with Dutch aid and there were two teachers there, Piedad included. We had seen a health clinic in the nearby village (approximately a mile away) and I was wondering if it makes any economic sense to have a clinic there for a community as small as Polaponta. The thoughts were confirmed by Henri who said they have tried explaining them that it was unlikely to get an approval for another health clinic in close proximity. But the village was ambitious it its quest for the betterment of its community.
Kristi had requested if there was any music and dance. For privileged visitors, it is amazing to see how fast the request was met. It is pretty much a universal trait for small and remote parts of the world. Small village communities, which get little attention from outside world, are eager to show and share even on slightest interest from outside. Anyway, it was a really smart move as dancing helps break the ice. I guess one learns from experience. As Henri explained later, village communities are not really used to too formal an atmosphere. Dancing eases people and helps initiate a relaxed atmosphere for people to share with each other when the language barrier doesn’t permit the communication. We just danced simple local Peruvian dance to local music, with kids and old women and everyone who joined.
The atmosphere after that was relaxed. There were quite a few people who were curious to know what kind of engineer I was. I was quick to let them know that I was pretty much a useless engineer. These village communities have real problems. An engineer who works in water-distribution or irrigation, or an electrical engineer, who works for power distribution, if interested in some volunteer work, could be a real asset to these people.
While the women got busy with the lunch preparation, it was time for conversation with people. Almost all men gathered around Charles and wanted to know everything about him including the sex life. I tried to communicate with them via Charles (who could speak fluent Spanish) in things that interested me. I had seen Fujimori’s posters as a presidential candidate for the next elections. Fujimori who had ruled the country from 1990 to 2000 in almost a dictatorship was ousted from office and seeked political asylum in Japan with which Peru didn’t have an extradition treaty. It was surprising when villagers said that if he contests the elections (even from Japan!), he will win the election. He had done a lot for the countryside and it was obvious that they would vote for him. Later when I took a round of the area outside, I saw a plaque with his name on it when he inaugurated latrine project there. It was an immediate evidence of his ability in reaching far-off communities. There was a woman candidate as well and according to them she didn’t stand a chance, atleast in Peru! Given that I have seen so many women at work and outside, I really didn’t understand. But I didn’t dig in further, and it has left me guessing.
After lunch we were out from there and it turned out to be a relaxed day for us, while getting to see a village in all the festivity.
Day 5 (Wednesday 10th ): Where are the indigenous people?!
- Team journal was written by me (same)!
Ever since we landed in Tarapoto, I had this one question to anybody I met: “Can you speak Quechua?” The answer was met with a consistent ‘no’, so I was looking forward towards visiting Lamas. Lamas has a big community of Quechua Indians who have kept their old ways of living against all odds. It was the place where we were originally supposed to work, but there was an end minute shuffle of plans and we ended up being at Polaponta instead on Monday and Tuesday.
Our reception at Polaponta was just ‘awesome’! The whole community got together and it was a blast. The warmth of the people was touching. However, my ‘reincarnated’ soul was searching for an experience with a native Indian community. Though I knew there would hardly be an interaction with them as JIREH’s talk with the community wasn’t working out. But still I was going to see something!
Today we had more sleep and Henri came in to pick us up at 9:00 am. The plan was to visit a small village community called ‘Flores’ on our way to Lamas. Flores was off the main highway, so the drive from Tarapoto was without any bumps. But somehow the community looked more neglected or isolated. The school building had collapsed because of rain, and there was a pond of standing water, breeding ground for disease gifting bacteria. The sanitary conditions here appeared worse than Polaponta though it was pleasing to see a proper health clinic for a small community. The community was fighting the case of a new school building and a small suspension bridge over the ‘Rio Mayo’. The suspension bridge was needed to ease the transportation of the field produce from other side of the river, and the work on it was going on. The scenic part of the visit was a boat ride ot the other side of the River Mayo and it was interesting to see how they used the current in the water in their favor to row the boat to the other side. The disappointing part was that we had no idea of the community as everyone was working in the field. We were received by the school teacher who was transferred from Tarapoto only a year back. Though a simple man, his dedication for the school program was impressive.
From Flores, we were on our way back to Lamas. The proper road that rises up the hills made us wonder if it was tourism that helped maintain the road. There were lot of Italian, German and other European investment in the land there and on our way, I could see one or two resorts as well. Soon we were in the beautiful town of Lamas with proper houses and lovely colors. This wasn’t my image of Lamas. We drove past the charming Plaza de Armas (“reminded me of ‘Oaxaca’ somehow) to reach the top of a hill from where we could see the indigenous communities. On one side was the community (we could only see houses) which still spoke Quechua and maintained their old ways. On the other side was the community which spoke Spanish and there were racial tensions between them. I had read on the segregation in Peruvian society and it was my first bird’s view of the geographical separation. Thanks to Henry who explained to us the historical significance of the community we were looking at. The Quechua speaking people were driven by Incas from the mountains to the foothills. Opposed to Incas, they played a crucial role in helping Spanish armies in suppressing Inca inspired rebellion.
To our side was a restaurant that overlooked down the hills. We were going to have lunch at the restaurant with a ‘view’. If I was to place myself in the shoes of the people living down there, it was being like in a zoo, thanks to the consumerism that has brought ‘development’ to the town, the development that always fails to reach the real people.
‘Soy vegetariano’, my plea for vegetarian food at the restaurant was met with arroz (rice) and Papas de Frita (French Fries). Kristi ditched the vegetarian camp and ordered some fish. Stranded my eyes fell on an interesting dish made of bananas called ‘Tacacho’ (or ‘Planchado Chancado’) that saved my day. Another highlight of lunch was the toast with a local alcoholic drink called ‘Indano Chado’ (with a tiny local fruit called ‘Indano’ inside).
Charles aka Carlos was interested in pottery and Henri probably sensed that all of us were interested in Quechua speaking part of the town. So we stopped at a local artisans shop henceforth called ‘Casa de Amistad’ (‘House of Friendship’) which could turn out to be Casa de Amor (House of Love) if you happen to stay for long! The charming lady of the house was a Quechua speaking woman who could speak Spanish as well. She learnt Spanish in school when other kids would laugh at her for not being able to speak Spanish well. The pottery she made was simple but she was really skilled in her art while using unpurified clay that comes directly from the ground. The little demonstration started with Charles and she showing their skills. Her little kid couldn’t stand the rough edges and came to Charles with banana leaves to help smoothen the edges. The lady (I have forgotten her name) entertained us with wonderful stories. There were people from different parts of the world who came there, stayed with her to learn pottery, met somebody, fell in love, traveled with them and what not…all under the roof of the house of love!
All was fun and laughter and it was time to move on. By that time, even Kristi, Eden and I had tried our hands on clay and left a creation each. Terri found the belt eventually; we all bought our souvenirs and were back on our way. It was time for some work so we asked Henri to show us the project. We were shown a hospital by a lady (who was some sort of a program coordinator). The hospital was really well equipped for small town of Lamas and somehow it was surprising to see it was completely empty. I haven’t ever seen a hospital that empty even in US even at 2 in the morning! Though my mind was tired, I was wondering that it must be well funded by richer (yet occasional) residents of the town or their clout. But does it serve the needy communities around wasn’t clear since in theory it was a Government hospital required to serve one and all. My head was hurting if I tried to understand any more Spanish so I dragged along. Later when we sat down for a conversation, ever energetic Kristi translated everything for us with all the expressions. The big problem they were facing was malnutrition during pregnancy which led to all sorts of problems with child birth. The hospital lady kind of answered the question on my mind when she explained that poorer communities around didn’t use the facilities either due to illiteracy, distance, ignorance, helplessness or simply the beliefs. So the project they were exploring was on-site community education of the women. It was an ambitious project given the resources (they were hardly four doctors at any time and none was a specialist). The drive of the lady who was explaining was commendable. We left with questions in our mind on where GCN could fit in such a project. The project probably required specialized volunteers (trained in medicine) and it wasn’t clear how much cross-cultural interaction does the project offer.
The day ended with Charles, the Chef, preparing ‘Sopa, La Deliciosa’!
Day 6 (Thursday 11th) : Social Realities...
- Team journal was written by Terri
We had morning to do some tourism. So we took the route that leads to Yaminguas (tourists to Iquitos take boat from there) and stopped at a famous waterfall called “Cataratas de Ahuashiyako”. The drive through the road cutting into the approaching jungle was fascinating.
Afternoon, we were supposed to go back to the school at Tarapoto. The plan was to visit the homes of children who are having problems at home. We were a little uncomfortable at the idea of being unwelcome guests, so we decided to divide into two small groups. Kristi, for some vague reasons I don’t know of, suggested women in the team go with Elena and men to go with Davis. I never felt any social inhibition in interaction between men and women in this part of the world. So Kristi, Eden and Terri went with Elena while Charles and I went with Davis for our field trip.
Davis explained how grave the situation was. There are approximately 30% of the kids who suffer from child abuse and 10% of those are sexual abuse cases. They were still on the experimental stage on few classes in a school. By teacher’s observation, and by direct interview and questionnaire, they identify the kids who seem to be distracted or having problems. This is followed by informal visit to the children’s homes. So as to avoid any repercussions on children, the visit involves a questionnaire for parents as a part of regular routine. The idea is to let the world know that the child is not really alone. In few of the extreme cases, they have to take help of the lady with the administration who mostly deals with the issues concerning women.
The homes Charles and I visited were the places where Davis was going for the first time as well. Our first visit was the home of a six year old girl who was living with her father and her step mom. The child was abandoned by her teenage mom when she was born and taken care of by her grandparents before the father took her. She was fairly regularly beaten and looked scared.
On our way out, lady at the administration joined us. It is always good to have atleast one woman in the company of men that gets too uneasy after a while. Further, her drive, her blunt questions and explanations were really amazing. She was from the coast (Lima/Arequipa) and moved here four years back. She explained the problem a little more. The people in the foothills and jungle are less educated while having all freedoms. An average age of a girl during her first pregnancy in San Martin area is 15-16 as compared to 25 on coast. Pregnancies at the age as early as 12-13 years of age are common. At that age, neither the mother nor the father of the child can take care of the child. In almost all cases, they fall out of love and in many cases end up marrying someone else. Further the education of the mother becomes a lost cause in an attempt to support the new born baby. The vulnerable mother and child create all sort of social problems.
The second and third cases were pretty much the sample set of the problem described above. In fact, the situations were much more grave and serious than the first case. We also realized that in a scenario described above, the case of child abuse in many cases is accompanied by abuse on women who are left uneducated and unprotected. There were many questions on my mind, though lack of proper language to communicate left me unsure and kind of wondering. The root of the problem lies in early pregnancy that leaves both the child and the mother vulnerable. First and foremost question was where did the church disappear which seem to have a strong hold in most of the Latin America. I can think of three solutions to the problem on a long run. First is the role of religion, the very fabric of its creation is the maintenance of the social order. Throughout history, church in specific and religion in general, has preached against sex before marriage. Children before marriage are an absolute no. The religion throughout history, has achieved the social end by creating social taboos. Now, taboos have their own problems. They, with time, become obsolete and unnecessary, but it is difficult to make the society get rid of their clutches. Further they cause irreparable harm to those who fall out of the social rules. Inspite of this, they have served a purpose for society in general and keeping a social order. It is clear, sexual openness at an early age is not curbed by the social values that church preaches to a society that long existed before Spaniards first came, bringing the social values of the old world. So, the second solution is relatively modern, which is sex education on safe sex. If it fails, abortion is a third possible option which should be available to the mother on her discretion.
It would take me few days before I could find out why the solutions that I was thinking of weren’t working. On my journey, I met quite a few people who were working with some social organizations on the child-abuse problem in different part of Andes. This forcefully brought home the fact that the problem is really widespread in this part of the world. On my way to Chavin near Huaraz, I met a British gentleman, who was working for a human rights organization in Moyabambo, the city next to Tarapoto. They were working on child abuse on a case-by-case basis and I asked him the question that was bugging me. I was a little guarded in my question as he said he was a practicing evangelist and I didn’t want to put the question in an offending fashion. His reply was candid and really logical. The preaching (by church) and the teaching (sex education) don’t go hand in hand. Church preaches abstinence which is easier preached than followed. Sex education, on the other hand, talks about safe sex, that doesn’t follow into the realm of practicing Christians. So, while you are supposed to follow abstinence, you don’t pay attention to the education on safe sex, and when you fail on what you are supposed to follow, you land up with an early pregnancy! Now, if you have lived in United States during the times of Bush administration, you know that abortion is like a nuclear issue for practicing Christians. So, there is no abortion, atleast that is openly accepted. And so, here we are!
Day 7 (Friday 12th): Life along the River...
- Team journal was written by Charles
The plan this morning was to go back to Lamas and walk through the communities. But Henri and Piedad suggested something better and more interesting. There were some Quechua communities in south of Tarapoto in the river valley. There lifestyle is very different from what we had seen till date and JIREH had working relations with them. We were 7 people and we already had one experience of being ticketed. Further, car wasn’t fit to be driven on the unpaved road for 2 hours, so we decided to rent a truck instead. Eden, Kristi, Piedad and I jumped to the back of the truck. The ride was pretty amazing. We drove down the foothills while overlooking the river valley surrounded by jungle trees. The first half of the trip was along Rio (River) Mayo and then before I could figure out when it all changed, we were driving along Rio Huallaga. Sore butt and bruised back were other highlights of the trip before we reached a small town of Chazuta. The town served the needs of the Quechua villages around. We were heading to a Quechua village called Chipaota. There were no roads that led to the village, so a motor driven canoe took us to the village. It was approximately 20 minutes downstream and little more than half an hour upstream, giving us some time to absorb the vastness of the imagery around. But for the unpleasant sound of the motor, it was serenity of the nature at its best with life by the sides of the river that is cutting through last traces of civilization as it makes its way to the jungle. There were women and children washing and playing, distant views of horse being used to grind grain in a circular mill, farm lands surrounded by dense trees along with barren lands that reminded me of the deforestation problem Henri had pointed out before.
In the village ‘Chipaota’, we were received by nurse of the clinic and field produce co-ordinator. Though better facilities were available across the shore on other side of the Rio Huallaga, the accessibility was the biggest battle for the community. The conversation with field produce coordinator changed to an interesting direction when we were told that coca production was being replaced by chocolate production. The US agencies were paying for the loss in income which appeared huge given that coca sells for $2000 per kg compared to chocolate that sells for $5 per kg. Now, a huge quantity of coca leaves are used to produce a little of cocaine, so I wasn’t sure if it was a fair comparison. However, it was an interesting way to fight drug trafficking into US though we wondered how long they could sustain it.
Day 8 and 9: Small events and time to reflect!
The days were pretty much uneventful. We had time to go around Tarapoto and feel the vibrance of a small city not shaped by the presence of tourists. There is nothing exotic about it to catch any attention. However, a small city is a perfect place to feel a more relaxed way of life inhabited by people with dreams and aspirations for the comforts of the modern world. I also used it as an opportunity to walk through the markets which had amazing similarities to what I have seen in India. Rounds through the city made me meet few students and it was a favorite question for me to ask them what they were doing or what they aspire to be depending on whether they were in college or not. I repeatedly heard the answer as Turismo or Administracion and the same answer I heard when I visited other parts of Andes. This was the reality of the dreams of the youth in Andes, where they saw money and a better way of living. Aspiring to be a writer or an artist are the dreams in the richer parts of the world. However, I was wishing that I would also hear engineer or doctor or scientist or MBA as aspiration if not the reality. Now Peru is a sizeable country rich in natural resources and a relatively small population of around 27 million. Development of the country via foreign investment and foreign enterprises as seeked by its planners or non-planners and advocated by world theorists has only seen the country depleted of its resources. Though I am not an advocate of uncontrolled exploitation of nature for its resources, even when it was done, hardly any of the money ever made to its inhabitants. The country has a history of exploitation for resources such as gold, silver followed by rubber, fertilizers, and now oil, often proving as a curse, having fostered first imperialism, then war and now corruption and socio-economic instability. Proponents of free trade blindly believe in the fact that opening the economy brings all the prosperity to that part of the world. Even though it increases the foreign cash flow, I fail to see how the prosperity can be achieved in a world of free trade with greed as the driving force, when inhabitants of the country are not educated and skilled in the modern ways of the world to further their cause.
Though this is the story about Peru and its reality, I always see it in light of another third-world country I know of, country of my birth, India. “Engineers are the architects of modern India” and “dams are the temples”, proclaimed India’s first prime minister. Even though his visions of the world have failed him as a visionary when the future unfolded, the nation building exercise started by him led to the development of infrastructure and a skilled work force in matter of a few decades. Though the country still struggles with its staggering population, when the economy was finally opened, there was a large educated and skilled population to face the challenges of a global economy and make it work towards their advantage. This goes without saying that this skilled work force is far out-numbered by those who don’t know how to survive in an open world, but the tax money generated by local entrepreneurs working in a global world bring some growth to the deprived parts of the country. India opened its doors to the world in early 1990s. Late 1980s saw an economic meltdown in the western world especially in USA. IMF pulled out US $135 billion from Latin American countries (including Peru), yet the principal was barely touched. IMF and World Bank blamed the socio-economic instability in Latin America on internal mismanagement and policy failure. These myopic views and world-system theories have caused considerable harm to the developing parts of the world. The point that I want to bring home is that the world theories rely on the assumption that everybody is equally skilled in taking advantage of a global economy and protecting their cause, a fact far away from the reality. This has resulted in “economic colonization” with the aid of a corrupt local Government, while the local people and the environment are the only lost cause. Only higher education, even if achieved by a small percentage, can bring the much needed balance in this world as we head towards this unavoidable global world.
On Saturday night, we also went to see the contest “Seniorita Tarapoto”, on an open ground where almost the entire city converged. MC was shrill and irritatingly repetitive and the contest progressed at too lumber a pace for us to keep our patience and sit through the entire contest. However, it was interesting for me to observe the openness of this society. There was a swim suit round on a stage in an open ground and MC would declare the figure of each of the contestant. Next day, when we met JIREH again, Piedad told us that they don’t go to the contest as it was objectification of women and I saw a different point of view. It still makes me wonder if the difference in views comes from the preached morality of the old world, which doesn’t seem to bother the society at large? However, I respect their opinion and their way of protest rather than those of feminists and self-proclaimed moralists in India, who find it a good excuse to rampage a stage. As of me, I am neither a supporter of beauty pageants which serve no purpose whatsoever, nor a detractor and think it should be left to the people to determine their interest in it.
On Saturday, we met everybody from JIREH and on Sunday morning, GCN and JIREH decided to sign an agreement to work together. Sunday evening we had our last dinner together as a group. Charles, Eden and Terri boarded the plane to Iquitos, ready to spend the rest of their time in and around the jungle lodge. Kristi and I had opted to spend our time in the mountains instead, so we flew back to Lima, from where we were going to take a bus to Cordillera Blanca. As I was on the plane to Lima, I was excited about the journey to come, in anticipation of seeing the more exotic places. However, my mind still flashed the faces of some of the people who passionately explained to us the work they were doing, their dedication casting an indelible impression on my mind.
