Santa Cruz Jungle School Project, the Ballet and Malls, and Llama in the Minibus

17 December 2017

Our journey this week took us out to a remote jungle region with our donations to an impoverished school on the fringe of civilization. Our goal in working with poor schools is to improve the educational environment in extremely poor regions. Located on the banks of the Marañón River in northern Peru, this school had been around for more than 30 years with no running water and very few supplies.

We had been asked to help by the Peruvian president's wife, Nancy Lange. This project was approved by the Area Welfare Committee for donations of humanitarian aid to include a water tank and pump, desks, tables, cooking equipment, and clothing for the children. By last week, most everything had been delivered, so our trip to the jungle included carrying in the last items and overseeing the delivery ceremony with the Peruvian president's wife.

No roads into the jungle, only the Marañón River. The Marañón is one of the two rivers (along with the Ucayali) that form the Amazon. Both rivers are each a half mile wide and they join together near Nauta to form the Amazon, which is then about a mile wide starting at that point. You feel small in this enormous Peruvian jungle.

Into the Jungle - Village and School of Santa Cruz

We flew into Iquitos in the northern jungle and then drove 2 hours the next day to reach the tiny city of Nauta. Once we got to Nauta, we had to take a small motorized riverboat to an even smaller jungle village on the Marañón River called Santa Cruz.

No easy way in - we flew to Iquitos in the jungle region and then drove 2 hours to get to Nauta, 

Everyone gets around in the jungle on these small riverboats. Once you leave Nauta, there are no more roads. There was no way into Santa Cruz from Nauta except on the riverboat.

We boarded the riverboat for the 10-minute fast shuttle to Santa Cruz, along with Guillermo Estrugo (left, Church Area Public Affairs director), Elder Cesar Villar (Church Area Seventy), and Walter Bobadilla (Church Public Affairs leader for Peru). They were coming with us for the delivery ceremony in Santa Cruz.

Our project was at the school in Santa Cruz that had been in existence for over 30 years. The desks, tables and chairs and kitchen equipment had never been replaced and were in bad shape. In Peru, all the children wear school uniforms to school, but the families of the children in this community were too poor to afford those, and most could only afford plastic sandals for their children. Also, the only water they had for the school was from a hole in the ground covered by a piece of rusty metal.

The only water supply for the school - a well half a block from the school covered with corrugated metal. Prior to our project, the school children or teachers would fetch buckets of water out of the well, carry it up a hill, and flush the toilets with water from the buckets.

The church humanitarian fund provided a pump and large water tank, which was plumbed into the bathroom. The children can now flush the toilets and wash with running water.

New water tank with pump that now connects to the well. We supplied the tank and pump, the school and parents built the pedestal to lift the tank to provide gravity flow. As a secondary source of water, the school also diverts rainwater from the roof of the school into the tank in case the pump ever fails. (Left to right - Wilfredo Lopez, School Director; Cesar Villar, church Area Seventy; and Marshall). 

We also provided new desks and chairs, tables and benches for the cafeteria, a cocina (a 3-burner stove hooked up to a propane tank to replace the open fire for the lunch ladies to cook on), acrylic whiteboards, bookcases, kitchen pots and pans, dishes, cutlery, school uniforms and new gym shoes that they can wear to play soccer with the new soccer balls we donated.

New student and teacher desks and chairs we donated. We contracted with a firm in Nauta to make these, then they delivered them earlier in the week by boat on the Marañón River (in the background).

School uniforms and shoes. We had all the clothes custom made and found really good deals - the shoes were only $8 a pair made by a man in Lima who makes them with his family in his home factory.

This was a challenging project since it was located in the middle of the jungle and not connected to any roads. Everything had to be boated in. We had a hard time 2 weeks ago getting our uniforms delivered from Lima (it took over a week), so we decided to fill up two of our largest suitcases with the 64 pairs of shoes that we were donating for the children and flew them out with us as checked baggage. That way we knew they would get delivered on time.

We brought all the shoes packed in the luggage shown here because we couldn't trust that it would make it to the school in time if we had shipped them. Here are two guys from the school who served as our 'sherpas' carrying the shoes from the dock up to the school.

Brand new cooking supplies and propane stoves for the cafeteria (they previously prepared lunches for the children on open campfires). 

The village was excited to have the Peruvian president's wife - First Lady of Peru Nancy Lange (an American from Wisconsin) - coming for the delivery ceremony. She had first been shown the need of the school 18 months ago and promised the people of Santa Cruz that she would find a way to improve the conditions of the school. She then contacted our office and we made it happen.

School kids waited patiently for hours for the arrival of the First Lady. (Everyone wore their best clothes and got new hats to wear for the arrival).

It was an incredibly hot and humid day. You cannot imagine how much I sweat. Within minutes my shirt was soaked through and within an hour, my pants were drenched with sweat all the way down to my toes. It looked like I had just swum out of the river, I was so soaked. I told Sandy to keep away from me as I was just too disgusting to touch. She had to agree with me, but it was such a day of celebration that even the weather and the sweating couldn't diminish the joy of the leaders of the school and the community and the children and their families as we made this delivery. 

There was a live band of traditional jungle instruments and women and girls dressed up in traditional jungle clothing dancing and singing to welcome the First Lady and provide entertainment for all of us.

The local band from the village played traditional music for about 2 hours while we waited in the heat for the First Lady to arrive. (Note that the flute, a traditional Peruvian Kena flute, was handmade out of PVC plastic tubing. They are typically made out of wood or bamboo, but those decay quickly in the jungle, so they prefer plastic.)

Sandy seemed to maintain her cool amidst the steamy hot conditions. She did much better than me.

The First Lady finally arrived. Her boat came from Iquitos and took 3 hours to arrive. (I'm glad we drove to Nauta and then took the 10-minute fast boat to arrive in Santa Cruz).

The First Lady finally arrived in Santa Cruz amid the army, police, and press. 

First Lady Nancy Lange and kids from the school performing at the ceremony.

Following the actual ceremony, Nancy Lange toured the school to see the new desks and other equipment from the donation.

This place looks more like a school now that they have nice desks.

After the ceremony and tour, everyone gathered in the pre-school next door for what they call a 'chocolatada' - hot chocolate and panetone. All the kids were excited about that - in scorching temperatures with high humidity, hot chocolate was the last thing any of the adults wanted.

'Chocolatada' celebration with the First Lady - hot chocolate and panetone in the jungle.

In all, the celebration was lots of fun, except for all the sweating. (I just stood outside the cabin of the boat on the ride back to Nauta to dry off in the breeze. I was less disgusting by the time we reached Nauta).

Around the Jungle

Living in the jungle around Nauta, Iquitos, and Santa Cruz is a miserably hot experience, although locals have learned to cope in various ways.

Most Peruvian jungle communities pop up when they slash and burn the jungle to make way for houses. The roof is critical since it rains almost every day. Most use corrugated metal.

Most of the jungle homes are built on stilts to keep the houses dry from the rains that come almost every day. Stilts also keep critters from making permanent homes under your floor boards.

Stilt house in the jungle, complete with satellite dish. Being on stilts gives you a place to hang out in the shade, and you can still dry clothes on a rainy day beneath the house.

Windows let in bugs. Poor people in the jungle prefer no windows just to cut down on the insects. The downside is lack of ventilation.

Some windows may exist, but you cover them up with wood in the evening when the bugs get bad. Sometimes there is ventilation at the roof line. 

Although corrugated metal roofs are the most durable, jungle thatched roofs are a cheaper homemade alternative.

The local store - the 'Circle-K' of the jungle. We bought cold water and soda at this store. You either order at the window, or just walk in like we did to get out of the sun. The owner lives inside but brings in ice each day from nearby Nauta. His store is in one room, he sleeps in another, and people hang out in the shade of his entry room while they eat what they bought.

On really hot days, you can go out on the wide Marañón River. Even when it is sweltering hot on land in the jungle, the river provides relief, especially if you can go fast enough to dry off.

Traveling on the Marañón River is a good chance to dry off. 

Jungle towns themselves are not the prettiest places, especially the docks. Because the river height fluctuates so much between wet and dry season, most of the dock areas are just dirt that allows you to pull a boat up to the shore.

Dock area in Nauta. The yellow building is a floating gas station.

Main dock in Nauta. You really feel like you are at the edge of civilization when you leave this town and head into the jungle.

We had to be immunized for yellow fever before this mission, primarily to protect us in jungle areas like these. Malaria, Dengue Fever and Zika are big concerns here, also, and we have met several people out here who have suffered with these diseases. And, although Sandy put on lots of bug repellent, she still ended up with three bites - but no symptoms yet!

Even as difficult as it is to be in the jungle, the food there is always good. We like everything we have eaten in the jungle on our various trips (except for the grubs I tried a few years back in the jungle in Ecuador - I won't be doing those again).

Sandwich of grilled marinated chicken breast with a tropical mango and rocoto salsa and cheese. We got this at a restaurant called "Dawn on the Amazon" in Iquitos. Jungle food is always good, for some reason.

By the time we returned to Iquitos for our flight home, we were surprised that, by comparison, Iquitos felt cooler. I will never complain about the heat in Iquitos again after all the sweating I did in the jungle of Santa Cruz.

Floating dock in Iquitos. The rainy season has started and the Itapa River shown here is on the rise. Crops were being grown beyond the building shown here just 2 months ago.

We are always glad when our little jungle adventures come to an end and we can return to Lima with its grey skies, fog, and cooler temperatures (at least for right now before summer cranks up).

Back into Lima - at the Ballet!

We bought tickets to see the ballet 'Romeo y Julieta' with other senior missionary couples, and we returned back to Lima in time for the performance on Friday night. I cannot describe how strange it is to be sweating in the jungle under primitive conditions one day and then return to Lima to see top-quality culture in the Gran Teatro Nacional a day or two later. The contrast is really bizarre!

The Ballet Nacional taking final bows at the production of 'Romeo y Julieta'.

Mall, Maul, Mal, or Mole?

The scramble is on in Peru to build malls. Most mid- to large-sized cities seem to gauge their progress by having at least one mall. There are several malls within a few miles of our house here in Lima.

Mall Aventura (Adventure Mall) is one of several malls around us here in Lima.

Notice that they write the word as "Mall". However, Peruvians pronounce it as "Mole" (like the animal that lives in the ground). They never pronounce it like "Maul" in the way we do. If they pronounced it as "Maul", they would write as "Mal", which means "bad". How crazy!

Malls in Peru look just like USA malls. They brightly light up the malls at Christmas, just like up north, and they wrap the lights around palm trees.

Malls in Peru carry high-priced clothing, home furnishings and other goods typical of malls across the USA. Prices in Peruvian malls are the same as in USA malls (since most of the goods are imported). But, it is cool to buy things at the mall here, so even though salaries are significantly less than in the USA, many people sacrifice for the prestige of buying at the mall.

And what mall would be complete at Christmas time without lights and lots of decorations? And of course, in Peru, you need the chance for a photo-op next to a Christmas tree and snowman in a country where 99% of the population has never experienced snow first hand!

Get your Christmas photo next to the tree and snowman. This is part of the Christmas tradition, even in countries with virtually no snow!

Only in Peru - Riding the Minibus with a Llama

We observe strange things in Peru from time to time. But this one got our attention - a llama riding in a minibus. I found this shot on the internet, taken recently by a guy here in Lima who was driving on the freeway while taking video with his cell phone. The minibus 'combi' passed by while he recorded the scene. Several local television stations picked it up and ran it on the news recently. Even by Peruvian standards, this was hilariously strange.

A llama on a minibus while driving down the freeway.

We often ride the minibuses here, but we were glad we weren't on that one. I don't know what would have been worse to be riding next to the llama - the spitting end or the other end!

Like a local told us: "Anything is possible in Peru!"

So, we return to the office for a week to catch up on all the projects we are managing. Unfortunately, all our many projects take a back seat while we are traveling. Our next trip will be back to the jungle of Pucallpa the week after Christmas to deliver the 1,000 glasses to children on the vision campaign. And so we plan to catch our breath while we can this week.