Peru School Builders Tour

A Long Introduction to a Different Kind of Tour

by Lon Haldeman

Before I went to Peru in 1999 I could barely find Peru on a map and could have cared less about anyone who lived there. During the past four years and nine trips to Peru my knowledge of geography and ideas about the people have changed. The land and the people have become the motivation for the following tour.

Elegance in the Jungle: Excerpts from the book "Amazon Past, Present and Future"

The Peruvian City of Iquitos is in the middle of the Amazon Rain forest. It sits 1,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean on the eastern side of the towering Andes Mountains. From the Atlantic Ocean it is over 2,000 miles inland to Iquitos. This is the furthest city up the Amazon River navigable by ocean going ships. In the United States that would be similar to sailing north up the Mississippi River to a riverport well into Canada. The Amazon River is still one kilometer wide and fifty feet deep at Iquitos.

Iquitos became a popular river town during the rubber boom in the late 1880s. The American and European influence made Iquitos a civilized city for rubber baron businessmen. The local Indians were less enthusiastic since they were recruited as slaves to collect the rubber. Five hundred Indians died in Peru and Brazil for every ton of rubber collected. The population of Iquitos continued to grow to 50,000 people. Then came the collapse of the rubber business in 1912 when rubber was collected more efficiently from trees grown in Malaysia on farms.

Boom to Bust

For many years Iquitos was a self supporting city as a port for shipping fish, fruit, and jungle products. In the 1980s civil unrest in Peru sent many rural people to seek jobs and safety in the cities. Iquitos grew from 100,000 people to 300,000 in a few years. Most of these people were living as refugees in tent cities at the edge of town. It was common for the city to expand several acres per day as new people arrived to make a humble home from blue plastic tarps and scraps of wood. The government said private land that wasnąt being used for farming or buildings was really owned by the people of Peru. In 1985 when refugees settled on the grassy lawn of the new Holiday Inn Hotel, the government sided with the refugees and let them build their huts.

These refugee towns became known as “shanty towns”. As the years went by people improved their rows of shelters with brick walls and tin roofs. Local governments were formed among the shantytown squatters to organize the neighborhoods. Sometimes an electric line for lights was supplied. Sometimes a school was built. There was still no fresh water or sewer system. The afternoon rains were needed to supply water as run off from the roofs. The rains also flushed the open sewer ditches that were dug for miles across town. Today Iquitos is still growing. The population is over 400,000 people. Thirty percent of them still live in shanty town conditions.

I know many families in Iquitos from various economic classes. I know successful businessmen who lost private land to shantytown squatters. I know shantytown families who cherished a clean piece of cardboard to use as a bed. When I first went into the shantytowns I was critical of the way the people ruined the landscape and water system. I could afford to be cynical. I had a plane ticket home to a nice house waiting for me.

During the past four years I began to spend more time working in the shantytowns. I would bring my carpentry hand tools and help build simple home improvements like stairs, beds and water collection bins. I made many friends there and I began to understand the dilemma of the people. Most of them wanted to work hard. Many would try anything to generate some income. Selling homemade orange juice, repairing shoes and making crafts were some of the hundreds of self developed jobs people invented to generate money. The problem is very few people brought new money into the economy.

The development of oil exploration could bring new jobs, but at what cost to the Rain Forest environment? The Rain Forest is full of benefits to the rest of the world but how will the Rain Forest bring new money to the shantytowns? The expansion of tourism could bring awareness to the Rain Forest and new money to the region. The business of ecotourism needs to be carefully planned. Proper management requires better education. Better education would increase the chances for opportunity. How do your increase your chance for opportunity when you are a kid from a shantytown?

The Idea For a School

Our small local Christ Lutheran Church in Sharon, Wisconsin wanted to do a “hands-on” project with church volunteers. The church asked me if I had any ideas for projects in Peru. I wasn’t sure what was possible, so I contacted several people I knew in various regions of the country. Fredy Rodriguez is a school administrator in Iquitos. He knew of a shantytown settlement outside Iquitos that did not have school. There are 350 grade school age children who live here who can’t commute into Iquitos. I asked Fredy to come up with a plan to build a school. He met with the local leaders of the shantytown. They would supply the land and the local volunteer labor to build the school. If the school was build, the government would supply the teachers and books.

The problem was getting the building supplies, tables, chairs and fresh water for the school. Fredy sent me a detailed list of materials and plans for the school. The building would have seven class rooms. It would have brick walls and a tin roof. Each classroom would have 25 students. The youngest children would go to school in the morning and the middle aged children would go in the afternoon. The school could handle 350 children per day.

Fredy said the cost to build and outfit the school would be $11,500. That didnąt seem like a lot of money for a school for 350 children...but it was still $11,500. I told Fredy Iąd try to think of a way to try to help them out. I asked my church about the options and they liked the idea of helping with the school. The church volunteers said they would help with the labor to work on the school when they came to Peru. Fredy and his helpers would complete the school with their labor.

The Fund Raising Begins

During February of 2004 the idea for a Amazon School Builders Club began to grow. During March and April many PAC Tour alumni learned about the project and contributed to the fund. Over $10,000 was raised in eight weeks. We are well on our way to the $11,500 goal. We are hoping the remaining money can be raised before August. Any extra money will go toward a water well and generator pump which will cost an extra $2,800.

Join the Amazon School Builder’s Club

If anyone would like contribute to the school building fund, we have established an “Amazon School Builder’s Club”. With a tax deductible contribution of $100 you will receive a newsletter with correspondence from Fredy about the progress of the school project. You will receive photos of the school construction and the children attending the school. Your name will be listed on the permanent plaque displayed on the door of the school as one of the people who made this school possible.

How to Make a School Donation

To receive tax deductible status, donations by check should be made to:
 
"Christ Lutheran Church Peru Fund"
 
Send your check to
   PAC Tour
   P.O. Box 303
   Sharon, WI 53585
 
A tax deductible receipt will be sent to you from the Peru School Building Project Fund.

School Construction

Plans are to break ground for the school October 15th. Local workers will begin clearing the land and pouring a concrete foundation. All construction funding will be controlled by my friend Fredy. He will take care of purchasing all the materials to minimize waste. The school should be finished in January in time for the new school session which begins February 4th.

School Building Tour

November 9-17, 2004

The School Builder's Tour is open to anyone who wants to visit the Rain Forest and work at the school job site. They will work for one week in Iquitos, Peru. The work crew will stay in air conditioned hotels. Their schedule will be divided between working at the school and visiting ecotourism sites in the Rain Forest. Their work/tour price includes hotels, picnic lunches, flights into the jungle and daily ecotourism adventures. This work/tour is open to nonchurch people also. Anyone who wants to stay in Peru after the bike tour or arrive only for the work/tour are welcome to attend. Flight from the United States to Peru are not included. Meals are on your own at many nice restaurants in Iquitos.

For the School Builders Tour everyone will receive:

• Travel Shirt
• 3 work T-shirts
• Tour Gearbag Tag

For the School Builders Tour we will have a spring, summer and fall newsletter.

Final Thoughts

I scouted this area of Iquitos during my trip to Peru in 2000, 2002, 2003. I compiled I notebook full of details thinking someday this would be a good tour. In 2004 the school building project was conceived. Every once in a while a project comes along which is hard to ignore. Forgive the fund raising theme of this project but I think we could help a lot of children who deserve a small opportunity to improve their future.

You may wish to combine this tour with the Assault on the Highest Paved Road in the World and the Machu Picchu Tour.