Giving a Living to a Life in the Rainforests of Peru

Well it’s now been a week and a half since we’ve left the communities of Chipaota & Chazuta. In our last days there, we attempted to say our goodbyes to all the wonderful people that we had formed relationships with over the past 2.5 months. Needless to say, it was saddening to bid our new friends farewell, not knowing when we might see them again. Such was especially the case for me on the last day as I comforted three young sobbing boys that I had grown quite fond during my stay.

One the many things that this trip has taught me is that the formation and development of relationships with the community with which you are working with is not only personally rewarding, but it is also critical to the success & sustainability of almost any project. I’ve come to realize that when some nonprofit organizations provide support for community development, that they will sometimes operate at such a macro level that they never really have the opportunity to develop intimate relationships with the communities to which they are offering the support. Such was the case with a couple organizations that I encountered this summer, and to me, it is saddening that they are missing out on the richness that such relationships have to offer. This is one of the qualities that I truly appreciate about Nourish International, that it sends not only funding to impoverished communities, but just as importantly, it sends volunteers, volunteers that will forge friendships with people they would have otherwise never have known. My new friends back in Peru, from the lil 10 years old kids to the elderly, hold a very special place in my heart. I will truly miss them while I am away and can’t wait to get back to see them again.

After almost a month of working in the community (two months for the other volunteers) it is time to wrap up what we’ve accomplished and our thoughts about them.   We had our last day in the community on Thursday the 5^th.  Once again, I will focus on the Piassaba group as the other volunteers touch other topics.

One of our biggest goals was creation of a broom factory to house machinery and supplies for the company.  While the factory was not quite set up at time of our departure, we were able to see the first machines set in place and, excitingly, the partial manufacture of the first brooms!  We held a small ceremony in which a substantial portion of the company associates were present, and Lucia, John, and the head of the company talked a bit about the future of the company.  The brooms were made, the ribbon was cut, and drinks were handed around in celebration.  We look forward to pictures as they finish the machinery setup and the construction of a pavilion to complete the factory.

We were also able to create for them a simple logo and present it to them for their approval.  Upon approval, we set about trying to find an iron hot-stamp to incinerate the logo into the wooden “taco” (attachment point for the bristles) of the broom.  Tarapoto did not have the amenities for such a stamp so we left the logo with Lucia to create from iron workshops in Lima.  Meanwhile, we took the initiative to paint a colorful version of the logo onto the front of the first building on their plot of land, and I must say I was quite pleased with its quality!  We hope it will serve as a new face for the company and potential visitors to the community.

Looking back, its heartwarming to think how all the work from the past month came together to help this community get their first communal business started.  From attending meetings and planning, to painting and gathering wood from the forest, and everything in between, I can say for certain that helping this community has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  Most especially, I will never forget the relationships forged with community members.  I await my departure, but I also leave a piece behind to always remember the impact I made and, more impressionably, the impact made on me.

Writing this last post, bundled up in our hostal in Lima, there are so many things that I would like to reflect upon about this experience and the things I have learned.  It was a really incredible and life-altering summer, as cliché as that may sound.  I feel changed as an individual and am coming away with a very different perspective about what it means to work with people to reduce poverty and what my personal role in this endeavor.  I have learned to see myself as a partner of the people I seek to help and to understand that I am benefiting just as much, if not more, than those I hope to aid.

All things considered, I think that the most important lesson I have taken from this trip has to do with the importance of building relationships with people we worked with.  I would venture to say that the friendships that we cultivated were the most valuable contribution that we made to the communities we were working in as well as the most memorable thing we are taking away from it all.  We had the special opportunity to not just donate money from afar or visit for only a few days but instead to live in solidarity with the people for a few months.  We were there for the sunny and rainy days, for when the electricity went out, for the political parades and festivals.  We got to cook with families, to take care of their babies, to help build roads and buildings.  We spent weeks sitting and talking with people of all ages and social backgrounds, learning about their lives and sharing our experiences from living and studying in the US.  During all of this we were working on the projects with Rainforest Partnership and Nourish as well, building and painting and planning, but the majority of our time was spent just getting to know the people and culture. As the weeks passed we became good friends with many people and found ourselves adopted lovingly into the communities.   When we finally left it was after days of tearful goodbyes and with little kids running behind our van into the dark.  Leaving the community was extremely sad and we left behind many good friends.

I think we went into this experience thinking of the people we were going to help as an amorphous mass of poor Peruvians, faceless examples of poverty waiting to be saved.  However we are leaving with the knowledge that within this tiny niche of the world exist many dynamic and special individuals who have distinct dreams, ideas, and traditions.  Yes, they are poor by some standards, but they are so, so much more than that.  They have a richness of life that we fall far short of in the US, in the care they have for each other, in their connections with the environment, in their traditions. I feel so lucky to be able to call these people my friends and I hope to be able to go back and share more with them in the near future.

This, however, brings me to a second point and something that has been pressing on my mind as I get ready to leave the country.  The issue is when, if ever, will I be able to come back here?  How can it be possible to grow so close to a community and then never in your life go back?  It seems crazy but it is surprisingly easy, as I have learned from some of my past travels.  I always leave with the intention or vague ‘maybe someday’ dream of going back again, however, so far I have yet to re-visit any of the places I’ve gone.  This is something that I really want to change starting this trip.  I am going to really try to go back this time.  The good thing is that I have an extra incentive because I completed my thesis research here and would like to share it with the people I worked with and to use it together to work towards bettering the community.  There is also the possibility of returning to follow-up my research as a part of my graduate studies or working with a non-profit.  I am starting to explore these possibilities now while everything is still fresh in my mind and I am still close with the people in Chazuta and Chipaota.  I know that as soon as my feet hit the ground in the US I will be off and running in a hundred directions and getting back into the chaotic flow of student life.  However I am going to make a conscious effort to continue the work from this summer and to not get too caught up in other things to go back.  This is really important to me.

Thinking back on our time this summer I remember one moment in particular when, as we boated home from Chipaota, I lay back and stared at the huge stars-strewn sky and the mountains and forest reaching towards the waxing moon.  It is easy to feel like I am infinitely small and unimportant compared to how large the world is, to how many people are out there.  But as I think back on my days in the community, of watching the people work together to solve problems and the small successes that we had, I feel like maybe I can be something more.  I see the grinning faces of muddy barefoot children, their malnourished bellies and tiny bodies running towards me offering bananas and flowers, and I feel hope for the future.  Even if I am just one small individual, I know that that hope and those friendships can take me anywhere I want to go.

Until the next adventure!

Adios y gracias por leer.

-Margo