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Show Doctor, son help build a school in Peruvian village - '-X t ' ir-iiii,.. h, - 1 ? - . . - - j I - Dr. Dennis Peterson and his son Kirt took time during their recent adventure in Peru to visit several historical sites. Among the places visited was this ancient torture chamber. The Petersons went to Peru to help build a school in the tiny village of Morrope. By SUSIE DAVIS Clipper Correspondent BOUNTIFUL When Dr. Dennis Peterson and his son, Kirt, boarded a plane to Peru they didn't know they would soon be eating succulent guinea pigs, or traveling the Amazon on a moonless night. They did expect to live in primitive huts with dirt floors, to eat unusual food, and to do lots of hard work. Their "choice" has had a profound impact on their lives. , CHOICE (Center for Humanitarian Outreach and Intercultural Exchange) provides humanitarian activities ac-tivities shared by natives of Bolivia and Peru. The organization was founded by Dr. Tim Evans, a dentist from Salt Lake City. Kirt, 15, and his dad left Salt Lake International Airport Air-port on the day after Christmas and traveled over 6,000 miles to the tiny Peruvian village of Morrope, (pop. 500). The natives in Morrope are members of the Machica tribe. The CHOICE project was to assist in the building of an adobe school Adobe is used because its properties proper-ties are ideal for the climate. Its thick walls keep the temperature at 75 degrees when it is 100 degrees outside out-side while absorbing the heat and keeping it warm at night. Dr. Evans has attempted to respond to the needs and requests of these people. Starting with the wells, CHOICE volunteers found that the natives recognized that progress could enhance their lives. The natives then asked if the organization would help them build schools. Arriving at their destination, Dennis and Kirt were in the company of ten others who wanted to assist in a humanitarian experience. They included Uthans Barbara Bar-bara Carr, a school teacher from Ogden; Vicki Pratt, a nurse from Cottonwood Hospital; Mai com Draper, a stockbroker from Murray; and, Jan Ann Fitts of the Murdock Travel Agency in Salt Lake City. The specific task at hand was to carry the 24-pound adobe bricks which had been made by the villagers, mix the mortar and to put them together. This was done by primitive means jointly by the Bolivians and the volunteers. Dr. Peterson mixed mortar with bis feet while carrying on conversations in his own language they called "Dennish" because it included Spanish, French, Japanese and English. Dr. Peterson learned some basic Spanish through tapes before he left and knew the other languages. With a spirit of camaraderie, communication was accomplished ac-complished and great feelings of good will. They sang "I've Been Working on the Railroad" and many work songs, as they hefted bricks, mixed and carried mortar and slowly put the school together in 100 degree weather. "We lived in the homes of the members of the community," com-munity," Dr. Peterson said, "sleeping in sleeping bags and the dirt floor next to piles of corn to feed the chickens. Chickens and ducks, cats and dogs were in and out of the house. A small pen for raising guinea pigs was in the corner. "They would control the cooking fire by inserting the sticks in the fire for more heat and withdrawing them for less heat. We stopped asking what we were eating after awhile," Dr. Peterson said. "Kirt wouldn't eat a meal one night, and he was told they would not feed him anymore if he wouldn't eat what was put before him. He then ate the food and was a good sport. Guinea pig was a tender red meat. Some of the mystery dishes resembled No. 8 at an Oriental restaurant." The cooking was done in clay pots over a metal grate. "We learned so much from their culture. They waste nothing. The peas we helped shuck were put in a container con-tainer to be cooked and the pods in another pile for the Pig" At sundown each day, it was the native custom to stand up and introduce themselves to each other. They would say, "We must set things straight." And then they would shake hands. There would be many generations genera-tions in each home. "It is amazing to see how different the world could be and that people could live that way," Kirt Peterson, a sophomore at Bountiful High, said. Asked what was the scariest experience, he said "going down the Amazon at night without a moon." He was also excited that he had found a hammerhead shark on the beach. Dr. Peterson not only assisted in the building of the school, but helped test a low tech water pump which pumped 55 gallons per minute as opposed to sole use of buckets to obtain water. It worked very well and is very inexpensive constructed from PVC pipe and rubber disks. Bringing medical supplies, he was able to treat many people and to educate them about hygiene and germs. Another project Dr. Peterson was excited about is a simple green house constructed with one sheet of plastic over an adobe frame which enables the native to generate two crops. They have been taught the nutritional nutri-tional value of many vegetables that make them healthier, such as radishes which pull iodine from the soil to combat endemic thyroid disease. Displaying the wand and rattle of a witch doctor, a curandero, Dr. Peterson joked that he should try it in his medical practice. An interesting discovery was how many medical cures the natives naturally knew and practiced through their folk medicine. If one gets a fever, fe-ver, they dig up an ant hill until they find fungus and make a tea. This is penicillin. About the people they served. Dr. Peterson said, "The remarkable thing was that there was an abundance abun-dance of love in these homes and they looked after each other. They were as happy as anyone I know. It was surprising to me that the things we spend so much time and money to obtain were glaringly absent from these homes. Happiness and contentment exists. " After the school was completed, Kirt and Dennis took off for more adventure on the Amazon, to Moche, where 1 ,000 years ago life-like pottery was made. |