I spent a week volunteering in the rural Amazonian village of Yantaló, Perú, and it changed my life. 

I know some people would argue our lives are changing all the time, so deeming something as such isn’t so special. Others would say  a lot of things I’ve done while living abroad could be considered “life changing.” I suppose the whole fact that I live in a country other than my own is “life changing” in itself. But honestly, I don’t really think living in Chile or learning Spanish or backpacking for two months is that big of a deal. Staying in Yantaló, however, was.  

The people of Yantaló are a harsh reminder of what’s important in life. They don’t ask you about how big your house is in the grand ol’ U-S-of-A. They don’t worry about slow internet or celebrity gossip. They don’t spend their time on home improvement projects or behind a screen. They ask you about health care and education and culture. They worry about feeding their families. They spend their time with each other or at a hard day’s work.

It was here that I truly saw the importance of access to quality education. Of course, being raised by a single mom who is a teacher I have always valued education. I have always loved to learn and have taken advantage of every opportunity to do so. The problem is I took those opportunities for granted.

Experiencing a Yantaló life — going outside to use the bathroom, walking to work down dirt roads in the pouring rain, being welcomed into strangers’ homes with open arms and teaching a classroom of 50 kids anxious to learn whatever you have to offer — was “life changing” not only because it changed me, but because it inspired me to be one who creates change.

 

A snapshot of Yantaló, Perú: Everyone is related but if they aren’t, they’ve known each other so long they might as well be. Restaurants are extra tables in someone’s living room and eating whatever the cook decides to make. Chickens cluck through houses when they please, but cats can only roam the garden as they’re tasked with catching mice. Kittens aren’t the only ones working overtime. Roosters start their song long before dawn. Men build the clinic, women cook their meals and children pick rice in the fields. The working days are long, but the years even longer — evidenced by hunched backs and dirt-caked feet that have walked for miles down unpaved roads. But no matter the distance, the path to a friend’s house is never too long, and doors are left open so neighbors can take a short cut to their own lot. Torrential jungle downpours are common, but the rain creates a beautiful green landscape and the sun always shines again. Maybe that’s what keeps the people smiling: afterall, the darkest storms always have the brightest tomorrows.

Nora and I had the unforgettable opportunity to stay with a host family while we volunteered in the village. We spent the week with an amazing couple, Florita and Lucho, who are in their seventies. They were so kind and welcoming and took the time to get to know us, although we were only staying for six nights. Lucho even chopped down a cacao pod straight from their tree and Flora prepared the cacao into the best hot chocolate I’ve ever sipped.

They have eight children, two of whom have already died. Their children have all grown up and moved away to various parts of Perú, and one even as far as Iceland. Because they don’t have their family near, they love hosting volunteers from around the world in the same three bedroom house where they raised their own children. I even felt like one of their own as they referred to me as “mi hijita” or “amorcita” (my little daughter or little love).

Like most homes in Yantaló, their home features a living room and the bedrooms in the main building of concrete floors and walls. In the backyard, a separate room is designated for the kitchen, which includes a traditional open flame fire for cooking. They also have a more modern stove thanks to their children’s hospitality, but prefer to cook the traditional way to show volunteers their history and way of life. Also in the backyard is a building for the toilets and showers (which recently received doors thanks to The Yantaló Foundation).

During our stay, we also had the pleasure of hanging out with four other volunteers who are living in Yantaló long term to complete a variety of projects from sexual health awareness to nutrition education.

Since Nora and I only had a week and school was out of session for the summer, we spent most of our time helping build the clinic and diagnostic center. The clinic will be the first of its kind outside of Lima, which is 24 hours away by bus. It will surely provide much needed medical care to the rural areas of northern Perú and is expected to become a regional research center where doctors from around the globe can work and serve the community.

Because our construction skills are limited, the guys put us to work, “lijando” or sanding. I wish I could say the village construction workers used a machine to do this, but that would be high-life dreaming I’m afraid. Instead, we used good ol’ fashion sand paper to clean and smooth out a dozen thick columns that support the main entrance of the clinic.

The clinic is coming along and should be open in July.

We also had the opportunity to meet with the three local Peruvian English teachers in the area because they wanted to practice their conversational skills with native speakers and brainstorm ideas to use in their classrooms. Meeting with them was quite an eye-opener, considering the teachers themselves had very poor levels of English. One teacher, with a university class in the next town over, invited us to teach his summer school class. Nora and I couldn’t have been more thrilled for the chance.

In Perú, high school is only until about age 16, so while the class was at a university, the ages ranged from 16 to mid 20s. The class was a beginning English level course of about 20 students. By the end of our course, however, 50 students crowded in the aisles between the desks and peeked in from the hallway, trying to absorb whatever they could learn from our hour-long lesson. Apparently, word had spread around town that native speakers were coming to teach, and during our class other students in nearby classrooms overheard the racket, so we attracted a crowd. It was incredible to see how badly they wanted to learn and talk with native English speakers.

It was obvious that a vast majority of the class had never interacted with someone from another country or heard people speaking in English, despite the fact that they were in an English class. The Peruvian teachers conduct the entire class in Spanish, only using English to teach certain concepts. Much of the class is book work and pen to paper.

Nora and I had all 50 students up out of their seats — conducting interviews with each other in English, participating in contests and games — just generally speaking, laughing and all having a good time. Their teacher commented that he was shocked because he had never had so many of his students actually participate in English during class.

The experience really showed me how important it is for rural areas to gain access to quality English instruction. Native speakers are dime a dozen in Santiago. But in the Yantalós of the world, the resources just aren’t there. The kids in these small towns rarely have a chance to learn English, which in turn limits their opportunities to move out of these small villages and to a better quality of life.

English aside, the access to education in itself is entirely too limited. There, most students are lucky to finish secondary school, let alone attend college. Their teachers said most students miss the first two months of every school year because it is the harvest season and they have to work.

Often, as a business English teacher in Santiago, I have felt like my work doesn’t make a difference. Although I’m sure it does in some small way, I know I can be doing more. Teaching in Perú made me realize how. So, I’m making a change. I plan to work toward getting a job teaching children, preferably in underprivileged schools in Santiago. And eventually, I want to move to a more rural area to help improve education access and quality there.

Talking with the Peruvian English teachers also really helped me realize just how beneficial The Yantaló Foundation has been in their community.

For example, since the Foundation started in  2005, the road connecting Yantaló to the nearest city of Moyobamba has been paved. Although it may seem small, this has made a world of difference for people in the rural Amazonian town. The road has given them easier  access to better stocked grocery stores, school supply centers and libraries. It has given them more options for employment and education. Since the road has been paved, the number of mototaxis has increased tenfold, providing jobs and income that never existed before. Overall, it has given the small town the opportunity to see another way of life and the chance for better opportunities.

The Foundation has also installed dozens of trash cans in Yantaló, which has remarkably improved the town. Not only is it noticeably cleaner, the teachers said they hear parents who once threw trash on the ground themselves, now teaching their children not to. This is a big step, considering even most bus companies in Perú regularly just dump waste on the side of the road while driving. Eventually, this small step of having trash cans and environmental education could lead to more and more generations of people who will care for the planet we all share.

With volunteers teaching English, nutrition and sexual health courses, things can only look up for this special community. The people are so welcoming and willing to learn from the people they host from all over the world. Eventually, the clinic will open and they will finally have access to health care they deserve.

Seeing these tangible improvements for this community made me so grateful to be part of these projects! It is such a blessing to be able to travel and witness how so many people in our world live. It has truly inspired me to be a more positive person and give back to this beautiful world.

—JDF