Frisbees, Niños, and Notepads (-Jess)

This past trip to the villages was one of our most enjoyable yet, and we were actually sorry to have it unexpectedly cut short (from 9 to 5 days), which is usually not the case on Day 5 out in the field. We went out with the entire team of 9 people this time, so even though we never knew in advance when or what we would eat or where we would sleep or bathe or use the restroom, chances were good that someone else would figure these things out. This freed up our mental energy to be more engaged with the people in the communities, and in conjunction with improving Spanish and more of a rapport with the team members, this trip tended more toward the fun and interesting rather than the vulnerable and lonely.

My aunt sent down 4 boxes full of toys and school and art supplies for the children of the villages, and though there wasn’t space to take all of it out with us this time, one of the highlights of the trip for me was starting to distribute just a few of these goodies. In the first village we visited (a new one for Andrew and I), the nine of us got off the boat with our packs and bags and while the seven other Peruvians on the team managed to walk peacefully up to the school where we’d be sleeping, Andrew and I got *swarmed* immediately by a small horde of kids who wouldn’t answer any of our questions but also wouldn’t stop staring and touching us. I am usually annoyed by this after a long boat ride, and have been known to go to extremes to get some sliver of personal space. Luckily, this time we had a floppy pink Frisbee (thanks Mom and Dad!). The beauty of Frisbee is that, to play, you have to be far apart from each other, which discourages swarming. So we left our stuff in a pile and went out to the main field (all villages have a big field in their center where afternoon sporting events are held) to throw around the Frisbee. The kids had never seen a Frisbee before, and their obvious delight in a new game and being played with by new people quickly overwhelmed all my feelings of annoyance. We changed the rules so that you had to call out names as you threw to other people, and so we were introduced to Edmid, Saiya, Tomas, Rider, Los Chicos en el Pasto (the boys sitting in the grass), and 10 or 15 others. Kids are more fun when you are all on a first name basis. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the field, and it felt good to look over and see the adults of the village watching us and smiling. Unfortunately, when the men wanted to use the field for playing soccer, we had to move over into the tall grass to continue our game. The next day and for the rest of the week, I had 247 chigger bites. We left the pink Frisbee with the kids in Villa Flor when we left.

In the next two communities that we visited, we gave out little cardboard/magnetic doodle pads that would hold a child’s interest for about 5 minutes in the U.S. but were fascinating to the village kids. I think their favorite part was picking out which bug sticker to put on the back to mark it as theirs. These were not just popular among kids; many grown men and women wanted one too. The kids liked to draw animals for me to guess- village animals like ducks and dogs, and also jungle animals like tapirs, armadillos, rays, fish, river dolphins, and boars. Watching them tote around their little cardboard squares for the afternoon caused a sort of a mixed sensation of pleasure that I could so easily be helpful in producing a few hours of happiness and entertainment for 20 or 30 children, and a fuzzy kind of guilt. These feelings were further complicated when, the next day, they had all lost their little pads. I liked the feeling of making an immediate and noticeable impact on their happiness. I didn’t like the fact that this happiness was tied to giving out material things. I didn’t like the feeling that you could give stickers and be a hero for an afternoon but then the next day they were nowhere to be found and the situation in the village was not really altered. I think that a lot of external aid and development projects may run into the same problems on a larger scale. It is really easy to make a short-term impact and if you stop paying attention at that point then you can walk away quite pleased with yourself, but if you stick around a little longer you find that any lasting impact will require a *whole* lot more thought and effort and investment, which is why I imagine there is a lot of frustration with making lasting positive impact for community development and conservation in this region. On the other hand, if you are not prepared to come in and start a whole long-term education program, a few hours of stickers and drawing together might still count for something. You get to spend some time playing together and paying attention to each other and you both come away feeling good and appreciating the other more. The stickers and things facilitate this, but really it’s the time spent and openness of interchange that ends up making a difference. The danger is probably to focus too much on the material aid and the temptation to stop there and call it “successful”.

Speaking of material things, once again I was reminded on this trip that I have an uncomfortable amount of stuff. Sometimes when we go visit the communities Andrew and I feel like we’re roughing it, but if you ever want a real kick in the butt to simplify your life, unpack your backpack in front of a barefoot 7-year old from an Amazon village. You will take out your bug repellent, your hand sanitizer, your sunscreen, your zippered bag of toiletries, your 3 pairs of different kinds of shoes, your hammock, your cameras, your bag of clothes, your sleeping sheet and therma-rest, your mosquito net, your books and pencils, etc. etc. and the child will marvel at each thing and it will start to dawn on you that this kid has basically none of that stuff and he lives here, while you are planning to stay for nine days and somehow need it all. And this is just a small fraction of the things that you have in Iquitos. And those are also hardly anything compared to the things that you left behind at home in the states. Since, when I spend time with them in their homes and on their boats and in their meeting halls, I don’t really perceive these people as “poor” though I know they do not have a lot, the unavoidable conclusion is that I have WAY TOO MUCH. Since it is now so clear, one of our new favorite things to do is look for ways to give stuff away. I know that I’ve always heard that giving is better than receiving, and I’ve always felt ambiguous about that because I really like receiving, but I have been pretty surprised at how good it feels to go around lightening our load. It’s more than just a pat on the back for being a good citizen. When we can get in this frame of mind, we feel more incorporated, more confident and proud of ourselves, and less clingy and dependent on things that distract from what’s important. So, an extra big thanks goes out to you guys who sent down so much stuff for us to give to people- we are really looking forward to it!