- Curt Nelson

Peruvian Alpaca being auctioned off at market.

Exit, stage left

Most of you are aware that the purpose of our trip to Peru was to do an assessment of potential EWB development projects. Myself, and an engineering student Bryce Hill, have spent the last four days visiting six communities talking to villagers, a couple of mayors, school teachers and administrators, and workers for ADRA Peru.

After five rewarding years in Honduras, we are wrapping up our work there this coming September. The security situation has become more tenuous causing extra justification for continued work, and requiring increased security precautions.

We heard of these potential projects in Peru through Jennifer Carter, a native Peruvian, and wife of Glenn Carter, associate VP for Finance at Walla Walla University. She put is in touch with Wilfredo Escobar, an employee of ADRA Peru. Willy, as we call him, arranged for the logistics of our stay. After a few days of acclimatization in Cusco, we traveled to the ADRA Training Center in Checacupe, a 90 minute drive south and east of Cusco toward the town of Puno and Lake Titticaca. We stayed at the training center during our assessment of needs in villages in the surrounding area.

Unlike Honduras, Checacupe is located at an altitude of 11,200ft. The elevation only affects us when we move and breathe. There are no mosquitoes, I haven’t sweated a drop, and the air is clean and crisp with birds trilling like a church pipe organ. The beds have a sheet, down comforter, and two heavy wool blankets. That is almost enough to keep warm. I just have to wear a wool shirt and pajamas and I am comfortable for the night.

The food here is fantastic. They grow most of it in nearby fields and two large greenhouses. There are new facilities that have been built with money donated from groups in Canada and Norway. The training center is bordered on one side by a river from which they pump water to irrigate their crops. We have collected enough data to make a good senior project that would replace their 15hp pump with a solar powered pump.

As Bryce mentioned yesterday, there are two projects that really stand out among the many needs here in this area. We have been blessed to experience this part of the world and hopefully in the future make a difference to a rural community.

Thank you to all who help us help others. Your gifts, thoughts, and prayers are appreciated as we move forward.

-Bryce Hill

Wednesday, March 27

Today we wrapped up our time in this magnificent country. We have identified two excellent candidates for our next project.

Option #1 – Llutuyo

The very remote mountain top village that Dr. Nelson described in the last post. To recap: 300 people, no electricity, no bathrooms, no clean water. A river runs right down the middle of the town and there is a stream fed by many small springs as well as runoff flowing into town as well. However, the principle means of livelihood is livestock. So, even their pristine mountain spring is contaminated and the villagers complain of many diseases brought on by this unclean water. The project: identify and preserve a source of water and distribute it throughout the town. There are also opportunities for smaller side educational activities such as teaching the villagers how to implement a proper latrine.

Option #2 – Acopia

A much less remote community of approximately 2000. The identified problem: malnutrition, especially in the youth population. As this community is quite a bit larger it requires either a large amount of money to directly impact everyone in the community, or a strategy that targets the most influential members of society who can then distribute the knowledge throughout the rest of the community. So, we went straight to the local high school. The proposed plan is this: implement a greenhouse on grounds the school already has set aside and halfway cultivated where the kids will each have a small plot in which to grow vegetables. The school already has a class dedicated to this in theory, but they have no access to practical application. The vice principal suggested that the fruits of their labor (vegetables) be divided as 50% to market, 25% to the kids and 25% to reseed costs. That fifty percent would go to support, say, internet in the computer lab that they already have (internet being a recurring request from schools here). This plan would enable the school to support internet itself rather than relying on handouts and educate the children of the communities who would then spread said knowledge into their homes.

Wrap-up

Well… I think that about covers it. From what I hear, Alex had a successful trip to Guatemala as well so there will be no shortage of tough decisions ahead. So many projects, so little time. Thanks to all of you who have supported us and those of you following this blog. Your generosity is making an impact on many people.

Tuesday, March 26

Adventure

Today we had an adventure. I’m convinced you can’t plan them. They happen in unexpected ways at unexpected times. We set out to visit a remote mountain community by the name of Llutuyo. This 300 person community is very remote and very mountain. I suspect we topped out over 13,000 ft. The particular need in this community is for a source of uncontaminated drinking water. The people have complained to the local government for years of head aches and intestinal problems that has been traced to their water source.

I’m going to use the rest of the computer time here to post some pictures. I suspect Bryce may wish to tell you more when he blogs. These photos today will be a mix of people and scenery, to give you an idea of what I believe is one of the most beautiful (and needy) places I have ever seen.

Mother and child, Anta Peru

Market produce, Cusco Peru. I couldn’t bargain her down.

City Center, Cusco, Peru

Plaza de Armas, Cusco Peru

Llamas, ADRA training center, Checacupe Peru

Local people, Llutuyo Peru

Lady, Acopia Peru

Elderly lady, Acopia Peru

Garden of Eden, Peru

Near Santa Barbara, Peru

Lady in Checacupe, Peru

Llutuyo, Peru (13,700ft)

Bryce and Pulciano, High mountain pass, Peru

Curt and Pulciano, High mountain pass, Peru

Monday, March 25

Checacupe, Perú

(A shout out to our President Alex Clouzet who is going it alone in Guatemala and who hasn’t been able to be fairly represented by a blog!)

Update

We are back online! There is no internet at the ADRA training center where we are staying so we just got a cell modem. I can’t get any pictures up tonight. Being a responsible guy I left my phone cord at home and Dr. Nelson is asleep so I can’t use his.

Leg Work

The last two day´s have been productive in the extreme. We have visited three different districts (what we would call counties) and several different communities within those districts. We have met with two mayors of two of said districts, teachers at two schools and multiple people from all of the different communities. Several of these people showed us into their homes to view their living conditions with specific interest to their stoves.

I practically had to drag Dr. Nelson from one community we were visiting and into the truck to take us back to ADRA’s center for lunch. He was in his element. While I recognize that this is not a vacation I am still thoroughly enjoying myself. Translating is great. Although, trying to translate for Dr. Nelson as the mayors charge through their eloquent, excessive, evasive and somewhat off topic speeches was trying. Politicians are politicians everywhere. After succeeding in obtaining their verbal support and agreement to work with us we got out as fast as possible to get back to talk to the real contacts, the people.

Results

The top recurring themes are education, water and sanitation. People do seem to be aware of certain health issues and actually seem interested in addressing them which can’t always be said for very rural communities.

Personal Note

No matter how practical and experienced you are, will the sheer scope of it all ever completely lose its potency. When you arrive somewhere excited to help and are greeted with the realization that in your chosen remote little section of somewhere far away there are literally thousands of people in more dire need than you will ever know, is it possible to remain unchanged?

-Bryce Hill

Saturday, March 23

Cuzco, Perú

Our original plan was to accompany Willy to his church today but he was called away on other business. So, Dr. Nelson and I decided that we would try and escape the touristy center of town and get out into the countryside. So, with a bit of trial and error, a lot of walking and several helpful people along the way we located an almost hidden bus station that would take us out of the city proper.

We hopped on a bus and it quickly filled up to the point where there wasn’t even standing room left. It was truly traveling as the locals do. As our bus meandered along the winding roads heading out of Cuzco we were treated to a beautiful vista that throws back to a lifestyle we can hardly imagine. We rode the bus to it’s end stop, a town called Anta. It is a nice town, although to big for our purposes. But, there are obviously many surrounding communities that are even more isolated and that are in need. The waitresses of a local restaurant got a kick out of us, just two very white foreigners popping in looking for food. It probably didn’t help that I had bought a somewhat goofy quintessential tourist hat to protect my already very burned face. Did I say white earlier? I meant red and white.

While the countryside was beautiful we also learned quite a bit today. We now understand the transportation system within and outside of the city which will be vital if we bring a larger team here in the future.

Tomorrow, we head out to Checacupe and the more rural communities.

Friday, March 22

Cusco, Peru

Adjustments

We slept well the first night here. At an altitude of 11,000 feet, some people have a rough time making the adjustment. Surprisingly, both Bryce and I are doing all right. We took a walk around town this afternoon and we could notice the difference between uphill and downhill for sure, but no where did we leave a lung behind. Just a minute, I have to rest after typing that last sentence.

We are watching each other closely, checking for signs of garbled speech, difficulty balancing, or general malaise. So far we both have all three so nothing has changed from College Place.

Activities

We are being hosted by Wilfredo Escobar, a local employee of ADRA Peru. He is a most gracious man, and has taken some of his valuable time to get us settled and shown us around town.

Willy Escobar and Bryce

This morning he arranged a visit to the Cusco Hospital, a facility that serves the rural poor. When they cannot afford to pay, or procedures are too complex to be done in their rural communities, the people travel to the city with hopes of being treated. There are minimal resources and much need. One complication is that families typically accompany the individual needing treatment and often have nowhere to stay, sometimes for as long as a month. Willy and the director have inquired to the possibility of EWB-WWU taking on a project of designing and building a structure to house these families. Shown below are a few pictures of these temporarily displaced people.

Moving forward

Tomorrow is Sabbath, so we will certainly have a day of rest. Sunday we are bound for the earthly promised land – rural villages in need of everything – schools, clean water, sanitation facilities, you name it. There is a high incidence of eye and pulmonary problems due to open indoor fireplaces with which to cook food. We will also assess the feasibility of a greenhouse to be used to prolong the growing season at these high altitudes.

-Bryce Hill

Cuzco, Perú

Arrival

I am severely sleep deprived. We arrived in Cuzco around three this afternoon ending a four flight sequence starting yesterday at 2:30 in the afternoon that included the red eye from Los Angeles to Lima. As we shambled out of the airport we were met with a humid breeze that instantly reminded me of home in NW Arkansas. Our contact here, Sr. Wilfredo Escobar, was waiting for us. It is really nice to have dependable people on the ground to help you out. Actually, it is quite essential when working on projects of the scale that we do. We met and introduced ourselves and then Willie (as he prefers to be called) packed us into his car and we left. It is great when things work out without a hitch. I won’t speak for Dr. Nelson but I myself tend to prefer the fly by the seat of my pants method which is wonderful when everything goes according to the almost plan that I might have.

 Objective

Those of you who came to our recent fundraising gala (thank you so much!) or are already familiar with our method will already have a good idea what our goal is on this trip. We are here to talk to people. There is no substitute for personal connections. Also, there really isn’t another way to have a successful project. We need the communities support and for that we need to know what it is that they need. Tomorrow we will be visiting a hospital that tends to the poor rural communities that surround Cuzco. Later on the agenda we will be going out to speak with some of these communities firsthand. We are looking to see if there are willing and reliable partners here with needs that we can help them fulfill.

Personal Note

Sitting here in our hostel room, looking out the window at the lights that are scattered about the surrounding hills, which are probably mountains, I am filled with optimistic hope. Of course there are needs everywhere but we are not necessarily prepared or able to help with all of them. However, I highly doubt that between Alex Clouzet in Guatemala and myself and Dr. Nelson here in Perú that we will not come up with multiple opportunities for service.

We could start with the facts:
* Five new classrooms – The structural elements have been completed, and the community is tackling the finish work such as paint and flooring.
* 4600 blocks – We had just 198 blocks left over when we finished. Kudos to Louie for his careful planning in drawing up the materials list.
* $10,000 under budget (!) – Thanks to our Honduran partner, Chris, and her deft negotiating skills, we have a down-payment on our next project.
* Five years completed – With a monitoring trip in December, we’ll have completed our five year commitment in Honduras. What comes next?

While those are exciting facts, our project meant much more to us. We met new friends and reconnected with old friends:
* Chris Padilla – Chris knows how to get things done! She can negotiate a killer deal and give a motivational speech that mobilizes an entire community.
* Armando – Curt has offered Armando a faculty position at WWU in the “school of hard work.” We admire Armando for his work ethic and his kindness.
* Froilan and Don Chema – Froilan was the 24/7 security guard at the project. Both gentlemen rounded up the labor necessary to complete the project.
* Wilfredo – “Gui,” as we called him, befriended us. He and his family amazed us with their dedication to the project and their warm hospitality.
* Sylvia, Eugenia, and Suyapa – These three ladies fed us wonderful food and washed our laundry. By the end of the trip, we considered them our friends.

We learned together with the community:
* Building design tips – Louie and Alex tactfully shared their technical knowledge through conversations, pictures, drawings, and technical literature.
* Construction skills – Armando patiently taught each team member how to lay block. Welding lessons didn’t go quite so well, but at least we tried.
* Cultural exchange – We challenged (and surprised) the community with how fast a school can be built when everyone works diligently. The community taught us how to have fun even while working long hours in the intense heat.

We continue to reflect on the project, celebrating success while pondering ways that we can improve our work in the future. Thank you to each one of you for your support. You were a valuable member of this project, and we’ve been delighted to share a glimpse of the action with you through this blog.

–Brian Roth

Thank you to all who follow our project and help make it possible. We value your support.

I am in San Pedro Sula, helping our supporter Chris Padilla with the logistics of managing the project. We just spent $2200 today, your money and mine, and now theirs. It will likely be the last materials we purchase. Tomorrow, the workers start on the roof and we expect to have all structural elements completed before we leave. The picture below shows the building as of 7am this morning. I am sure it has progressed during the day.

Nueva Suyapa, September 10, 2012

Our team took a well-deserved break over the weekend, the first time many of the troops have left the project site. It started at 7am Sabbath morning when a van from the local municipality picked us up and took us to a national park area. The first item of business was a hike to a waterfall followed by a hike in and through the waterfall. Well it wasn’t Niagara falls, it felt like it. Next, we all took several jumps off of high (by my estimates) rocks into pools of clear and cool water. The adrenaline junkies were stoked.

After lunch, we took an adventure inner tube ride down a fast moving stream. Three hours later and the adrenaline junkies were re-stoked. This was followed by a drive to San Pedro Sula, pizza, and a night out courtesy of Chris who let us all bunk at her yoga studio. In the morning, we enjoyed breakfast and shopping at a local market. At this point, I was forced by the students to declare a return to the project site so we could get the project finished. These kids appreciated the time away, but couldn’t wait to get their calloused hands back on the school.

Today is National Children’s day in Honduras. We were invited to participate in activities at the current school, the building that we are replacing. The structure looks even more unsafe now and just adds to our urgency to finish. The children warmed up to us as Honduran children do and attached themselves to our hearts and minds.

We smell the finish line. We have become a team marching toward a goal and the scent of victory is strong. It was barely two weeks ago that Bryce and I were buoyed by the main team from EWB-WWU. The community was still unbelieving, wondering how a team of energetic optimists could do a twelve week job in three weeks. They have become believers, and now they outnumber and outpace us as we race to the finish line two days from now. We have fully joined forces, learned how and when to work together, and nothing will stop us.