Glenn as we stopped at a small Matsigenka village going up river.
Glenn is a Princeton valedictorian, who earned his PhD at UC Berkley. The Tayakome project was seeded in 2005 while Glenn was participating in PBS’s filming of our pilot project in Huacaria. He asked me if I would one day bring clean water to the people of Tayakome and Yomybato whom he had a close relationship with for over 12 years. . (His reasoning at the time was that a virulent, highly contagious gastrointestinal illness of unknown origin had entered the communities, and left large portions of the adult and infant population ill, and caused as many as 13 infant deaths.)
As I visited both communities, it was not hard to see that the health of the children and people was in a vulnerable state. There was a distant stare in the eyes of the kids that I believe came from various degrees of malnutrition and a weakened immune system. However, it was their kindness and simplicity that affected me most that trip. They shared what ever they had with us.
The kids and people were always gifting us with watermelon this trip.
We lived with the people, bartered with them trading chickens from them for bags of salt, rice, soap and cooking oil, and held community meetings (translated from Spanish to Matsigenka by Glenn) to share our message of how clean H2O and sanitation would better their lives. At one point during a meeting as I explained how labor intensive the project would be, a man named Hiliaro stood up to the crowd raising his voice saying in Matsigenka, "We want a better life for our children – we are not lazy people, we know hard work, we will work." Hiliaro's enthusiasm and the willingness of the people throughout that visit guided me to expand our health programming to them.
Now 1 1/2 year after our first trip to Tayakome, we will break ground in the 20th of August. Our recent trip to Tayakome in July formalized our agreement with the community. The people are so excited the time has come for the project to begin!
Me talking with the people at a community meeting. The pan in the center of the floor was filled with popcorn!
It’s the first time ever an NGO, or a white girl from Connecticut with Sicilian ancestry, will bring sustainable health programming (clean water, sanitation infrastructure and health education) to a remote native village inside the protected zone of the Manu Park.
For some perspective on the logistics of my work: It takes 1 day by off road travel from our office in Cusco, and 2 1/2 days by small river boat through virgin rain forest to reach Tayakome. I often drive that 1 lane dirt road 8 hours from Cusco into the rain forest. The worry about oncoming traffic hitting us head on is something I have come to live with. The route is magical, and ever changing, as we drive up 13,000 ft from Cusco, then drop down into the lowland tropical rain forest of Manu. Our boat travel lies in the hands of two brothers named Cecilo and Jesus. Cecilo has worked with Glenn and Tayakome for years.
One picks their boat men very carefully for river travel is extremely dangerous. I am still getting over my fear of the alligators that are present throughout our travel. I love looking at them, but they frighten me a bit! However, when all is said and done, being on the river for days on end surrounded by pristine nature outweighs the physical discomforts (cutting wind that goes right through my body, and not showering for days) of the long trip.
The days ahead will involve long hours of the logistical planning. Deciding upon cost effective ways to purchase boats and motors, construction materials, and then transport 200,000 kg/400 lbs of rock, sand, cement, pipes, and slow sand filter tanks to Tayakome, is my work at hand. In addition to the above there will be endless meetings with the Director of the Manu National Park, a partnership to establish with the health ministry, and the hiring of construction staff. In between this all, fund raising! Glenn will be arriving on the 20th of August from Brazil, which is the best news of all. He will translate the subtlety of my thoughts and the project to the people in Matsigenka over 10 days of his field study of the project.
There is a flow to this project that is very exciting to me. Although the days are long for all of us, my crew members continue to share with me that even though the logistics and living in the field for months will be challenging they have a Really Good Feeling about Tayakome. Me too! :-) Join me as we Raise Up a village through simple acts of kindness.
www.houseofthechildren.org
