Tarapoto and Lima

by Ken Walker and Peggy Benton

"We miss you too" was my thought as Peggy and I saw the subject line of the email from Peru. It was April 1, 2005. We had just returned from our first Friendship force Exchange. It had been a wonderful two weeks in Peru, led by Ray Enstam, beginning with a homestay in Trujillo.

Jorge and Bertha at Huanchaco Beach

(Jorge is pronounced 

Hor’ he)

Our homestay, with hosts Jorge and Bertha, had been a match made in heaven. In addition, Peggy had felt an instant bond with Berthita, their middle daughter. Berthita, and her three-yearold son César Antonio, had come down from their home north of Trujillo to meet us. On March 30, following our departure, Jorge and Bertha celebrated Antonio’s fourth birthday. He was their only grandchild, and they adored him.
“We are with pain and cry,” was the subject. Our eager anticipation of warm greetings turned to horror as we opened Jorge’s email. César Antonio had been killed in a tragic auto accident the day after we left. As they were driving home, Antonio’s parents were arguing over his father’s latest affair. His father lost control of the car, which went off the road and rolled several times. Antonio, in the back with no seat belt, was thrown out of the car. 

In May 2005 Berthita came to visit us in Denton. As it happens all too often, Berthita’s husband had left her after the accident. Anxious about Berthita’s emotional health, her mother Bertha came with her. It was Bertha’s first time to the US. We all enjoyed trips to Dallas and Fort Worth, with lots of good fun and good food. After four days, assured that her daughter was in good hands, Bertha returned to Trujillo. Unknown to her at the time, Berthita was a few weeks pregnant when the accident happened. After her mother left, there were pregnancy complications, and Berthita was put on total bed rest – on our couch. Jorge flew her older sister Sandra, who had just graduated from medical school, to Denton to help take care of Berthita. I emailed Jorge, an obstetrician, the first ultrasound pictures of his new granddaughter. About two weeks later, Berthita was given a medical OK to return to Peru. 

"Don’t look grandpa, he is making your picture”

  Berthita, Peggy and Bertha 

She gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Maria Antonia, on November 19, 2005. 

All this is to explain why we gave up our places on the Costa Rica Exchange to go with the Birmingham Club to Tarapoto Peru. We could not pass up the opportunity to be reunited with our “family” in Trujillo and to meet Maria Antonia for the first time. 

After Tarapoto the Birmingham group did the standard tour of Machu Picchu, Cusco, etc. We went to Trujillo for a week with Jorge and Bertha. It was a wonderful reunion! Maria Antonia is a very spoiled almost three year old. She and her mother have an apartment in Trujillo, where Berthita has another year to go in law school. She says she wants to practice family law. Antonia’s paternal grandfather is now the mayor of Trujillo, which is the second largest city in Peru. He was a candidate for president of Peru in the last national election. Berthita said he has forgotten that his granddaughter exists. Her grandmother does see her, but not very often. 

Jorge, introducing Maria Antonia 

Our homestay hosts in Tarapoto were Lionel and Marina Flores, who came with our Peruvian inbound in September 2007. Lionel started the Tarapoto club in 2004, and has been the president ever since. When I found out that Lionel had been going to his medical practice, Clinica San Martin, six days a week for fifty years he became Dr. Flores to me. 

Lionel, Peggy and Marina

When he asked me “What work do you do?” I wanted to crawl under the table. 

In addition, their 24-year-old son was killed by Peruvian terrorists 17 years ago at a local soccer match. He had just witnessed an assassination, then they also shot him. We found out that this group of terrorists had literally taken over Tarapoto for about four years from late 1980 to early 1990. Lionel and Marina also help care for a severely retarded 6 year old granddaughter. It was truly a week of learning about respect and gratitude. 

We all asked each other after the first night "Do you have hot water in your shower?". There were no yes answers. Ours had only one handle. Showers were short. We were the first American Friendship Force group to visit Tarapoto. They dang near killed us with a week full of activities. 

One morning’s sightseeing trip was scheduled to start at 5:45, another at 6:45. Thank goodness “Peruvian time” operates an hour or two behind schedule. Tarapoto is on the edge of the Amazon Jungle. We had more than our share of muddy roads and river crossings where van and all went on a small ferry.
 

Tarapoto:

-120,000 people

-15,000 3-wheel taxis

Only the main streets are paved. 

City water is turned off daily, in the afternoon and late at night. These times, water comes from your roof storage tank.

One of the most interesting things, to Peggy and I, was learning how chocolate is prepared from the seedpod of the cacao tree. No wonder the Aztec royalty kept the process a secret. 

Cacao tree seeds

Cocoa is the dried and fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made. Don’t confuse the cacao tree with the coca plant, from which cocaine is produced. 

We fell in love with Jhon, our 24 year old interpreter. He said that he had never had a grandma, so Peggy volunteered. Against seemingly impossible obstacles, he is getting an education to teach English. He has been helping support his mother, who sweeps at the elementary school for some income. He told us that his mother had been very sick but had not seen a doctor because of no money. We talked with Dr. Flores, who agreed to treat her free of charge. Other members of our group said if she needed serious treatment, they would help pay for it.

Jhon works at parties as a DJ and as a clown for extra money. Renting clown shoes took about half what he made, so he bought his own shoes with some of the tips from our group.

Dr Flores emailed us that Jhon’s mother has a staph infection, that it is not serious, and that he is treating her with antibiotics. Jhon reports that she is feeling much better.

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Our 18-minute slideshow of the Tarapoto exchange is at: http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalbum.html?bm=123422. You do have to register with Photodex and download a viewer program. Note: You may have trouble with your anti-virus program not allowing you to do this.

At the Golf Club
Back: Ken, Amelia (youngest daughter) Peggy, Bertha, Berthita
Front: Jorge, Maria Antonia

Peggy and I celebrated out 25th wedding anniversary while we were in Trujillo. Our Peruvian family surprised us with a beautiful bouquet of yellow roses. They also gave us a wonderful lunch party at the ‘Golf Club’ with about two dozen of our friends from the 2005 exchange. That was truly an anniversary celebration we will never forget. 

Paula Rose gave us the last two donated cartons of Braille computer paper to take to the school for the blind in Trujillo. We also delivered a cash donation from FFDallas members. Both were much appreciated. Sister Nelida Orbegoso took us on a tour of the facility. It appears that the BridgeBuilder computers are being well utilized.