Clean Water in the Jungles of Pucallpa, and Pedro de Osma mansion

8 April 2018

This week's journey took me into the jungle city of Pucallpa to assist with a water project to provide wells for the poor. Sandy stayed in Lima to finish work on a host of new projects (and she doesn't especially like tromping through the mud in the jungle - neither do I but I am a guy, so that is expected).

Sweat, mud, and bugs - it was a typical jungle trip. When you are sitting in your comfy home in the USA, just thinking about the jungle sounds like a romantic adventure. But when you are suffering with the discomfort of the real jungle itself, the romance quickly disappears.

Clean Water for Pucallpa

Jay Henrie is my 3rd cousin and has been assigned, along with his wife Ada, as the new Water Specialist for Peru. Jay is a service missionary who oversees clean water projects in a host of countries and was just assigned to Peru. I joined him and his wife on this journey to Pucallpa.

Our visit to Pucallpa was to accomplish two things:

• Review the donation of 50 wells that we made last year
• Investigate a request from Pucallpa to donate an additional 53 wells.

One of the 50 wells donated last year in Pucallpa The tank on top of this tower supplies enough pressure through gravity to supply water to a few hundred families.

Pucallpa is located in the Amazon Basin on the Ucayali River. There is plenty of water, but getting a family's water from the river is not a good idea, especially for a region with a population of 600,000. The regional government has asked us for help with wells several times over the past few years as their population has swelled beyond their ability to take care of their own people. Our total donation of wells over the past few years is over 165 wells.

Pucallpa requires a flight over the Andes Mountains and then across a wide expanse of wild jungle.

Visits to Existing Wells

We visited more than a dozen wells that were part of last year's project. We were greeted at every village by grateful recipients of their wells who were eager to show us how well they are working.

Marshall and Jay Henrie at one of last year's wells. Lots of water came shooting out of the open valve to demonstrate how well they are working. This particular well now serves over a thousand people.

Each well is dug 100 yards deep. After the well is completed, it is completely managed by a community water committee who collects $5/month from each user. With these funds, they are in charge of maintaining their well and buying repair parts.

We provide one 2,500-liter tank with each well. Most of the wells we visited had added additional tanks which had been purchased by the user fees.

Showing up at the wells turned into a celebration as the residents turned out to show thanks for their well that has had such an impact on their lives.

Jay Henrie is shown checking out the water to verify it is clear. Most of the wells produced clear water, but some had iron, sulfur, or a little sand. There's not much you can do in these cases when Mother Nature gives you water like that.

These wells are not a give away. Each party has their role, and our end goal is always sustainability. Therefore, the church makes the donation of the pump, tank, tower, and other materials. The regional government digs the wells and builds everything from the materials we donate. And finally, the users have their own water committees that collect user fees and maintain the wells. They know that if they don't maintain the well, it will stop working, which would be disastrous.

Project for More Wells

The regional government has asked for our help in building an additional 53 wells next year. The population has grown to the point that they can't keep up with the demand. So, we spent time visiting with villages and listening to their pleas for help.

Jay and Ada Henrie (church water specialist) at a village meeting discussing their request for a well.

Visits to each village involved going to each well site. Before building a well, the land has to be deeded to the government so no one can claim the well as being private - they are always maintained as public wells, managed by a local water committee.

The proposed wells are always in poor communities where the people have to buy their water in bottles or pay owners of private wells high prices for the water they use. Here is a local group hoping to receive one of the new wells this coming year.

Most of the wells for this new project are tubular wells drilled 100 yards deep. Alternatively, some of the wells out in the jungle are what they call 'artesian' wells. They are about 3-feet in diameter and are dug by hand and then lined with bricks. This type of well can go down to a depth of 20 yards in order to find a source of water that is reliable year round.

About 70 miles from Pucallpa, deep in the jungle, neighbors showed us this private artesian well that was filled with water. The well we are considering donating would be about 25 yards away.

Seeing the water in this private artesian well, not far from where we would donate the additional well, confirms this would be a good spot.

We were really deep in the jungle for the communities needing some of the wells. Some of these communities we visited were more than 70 miles from Pucallpa, and half of that distance was on dirt roads. Going into the jungle to see the well sites involved tromping through jungle mud and sliding down steep hills. Each day after returning to our hotel, we had to wash all the mud off our shoes.

The local press ran an article in the paper about our visit and the wells we are hoping to donate. The photo is interesting. It shows Jay and me being a full head taller than any of the locals.

"Water for Life" article in the local paper. We feel like giants around the locals.

LDS Charities has provided many thousands of wells around the world as part of our commitment to help the poor live a better life. We are just pleased we get to help.

Jungle Cuisine - Wild Meat from Giant Rodents

CAUTION: SKIP THIS PART IF YOU ARE VEGETARIAN. 

On the way back to town after one of the jungle visits, the group stopped at an eatery for some lunch. (I wouldn't call the eatery a restaurant - it had dirt floors and starving dogs roamed freely from table to table looking for scraps.)

One item on the daily menu that our Peruvian government partners were happy to order was called 'majas' or 'paca'.  I had to look it up on my cell phone, and I showed them the picture, which they all confirmed to be the right animal - a giant jungle rodent the size of a small dog. I thought why not, so I ordered it along with the rest of them. This is the critter:

Giant jungle rodent called 'majas' or 'paca'. This is a popular critter to eat that is only available when they can hunt it out of the jungle.

I had wanted to try this sometime on our mission, but they never serve it at regular restaurants because they have to hunt it in the jungle. Its availability is not always reliable.

My plate of rodent arrived, and I tasted it - it was incredibly delicious. They served it up with a special sauce and fried bananas - a real jungle delicacy.

Yummy majas (or paca), right out of the jungle along with fried bananas. Note the bones on the rib cage. 

What an unusual jungle dish! Who would have thought that rodent could be so tasty!

On the Ucayali River

One afternoon after visiting wells, we had some spare time, so I took Jay and Ada Henrie into the jungle on a boat on the Ucayali River.

Sidewalks in the river communities on the Ucayali. Everything is elevated, including the houses and sidewalks, to keep dry during the high-water season.

Boats replace cars for people living on the river.

Jay and Ada Henrie, along with me and our river guide, as we head out into the jungle.

No need for swimming pools when you live on the river. These jungle kids just hopped in for some fun on their way home from school.

All the houses near the river are built on stilts. During the dry season when the river level drops, you can walk up to these houses on dry ground. During the wet season, you take your boat to get home and park the boat under your house.

Living close to Pucalllpa, you paddle down the river into town to get some of your goods, but most things you need come right out of the jungle - fish, fruit, fire wood, building wood, and thatch for your roof.

Living in the jungle puts you close to nature. Thousands of snowy egrets were nesting just a short distance from the village we visited.

Aside from how hot, sticky, bug-infested, and inconvenient it might be to live in the jungle, the low cost of living is a real draw for those that choose live here.

Back to Lima - Pedro de Osma Museum

Returning to the city from the jungle is such a huge contrast - going from the heat, mud, and general discomfort of the jungle to the modern world of the city is a real jolt. It's like this whenever we return to the city. (We are grateful we live in Lima for this mission - it's much better than the jungle).

Our Peruvian friends, Michael and Nadia Trejo, invited us on our day off to visit the former home of a very wealthy Peruvian businessman, Pedro de Osma. His family still owns the mansion, which they have turned into an incredible art museum. We roamed through the place, amazed at what a beautiful home exists here in Lima in the suburb of Barranco.

Pedro de Osma home, now an art museum in Barranco.

Pedro collected art during his life that now fills the former home.

Lavish surroundings in an elegant house that looks like it came out of Europe.

Living in the lap of luxury.

Sandy on the balcony of the 'mother-in-law' quarters.

Artwork inside the museum includes some famous paintings like this piece showing the wedding of a Spanish nobleman with an Inca princess. The Spanish believed this wedding legitimized their conquest of the Incas.

The grounds of the museum are as interesting as the interior. This is our friend Michael and his wife Nadia. He worked with us at the Area Office for about 6 months and was a lot of fun. We wish he could return.

So as we go about our duties with the many projects we have, we are grateful for the chance to extend the hand of service to those in need. (And we are also grateful that autumn has finally come to the Southern Hemisphere, along with the cool breezes that remind us that summer has now passed).