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Goshen College

Dean and Derek: Serving in San Miguel

March 31, 2014

Goshen College students enrolled in the Peru SST program struggle to adjust to new (host) families, the Spanish language, a new country and a very different culture. Service can be an even bigger adjustment because students leave the comfort of modern Lima and head out to the country, often with just one or two other students and away from the security of a group of Goshen students who have become close and supportive friends. Dean and Derek faced those same adjustments, but moved even further out of their comfort zones by accepting a remote service assignment in a tiny settlement and with people for whom Spanish is a second language.

The community meeting was led by these elders.
The community meeting was led by these elders.

Dean and Derek are living and working in an indigenous community perched on a hillside far above the Perene River valley. San Miguel de Marankiari is home to several dozen indigenous Asháninka families, who live in the jungle at the edge of the Amazon. Tribal history tells of an elder and his three wives, displaced from their ancestral homeland in the valley below, who founded the community some 60 years ago.

More than 25,000 people still speak the language of the Asháninkas, one of dozens of native nations that originated in the Amazon basin of what is now known as Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia. Many still live far off the beaten path, but the Asháninka people are quickly becoming westernized due to forces beyond their control. Their native language, customs, traditional diet and ways of life are disappearing as members move to cities to pursue an education or make a living.

A typical modern juxtaposition: a satellite dish by a bamboo home.
A typical modern juxtaposition: a satellite dish by a bamboo home.

In San Miguel, electricity, water and sewer systems, and even satellite television have arrived in recent years, bringing comforts but also changing life. Community members are trying to preserve the best of their traditional lifestyle. The founders of Ecomundos, a non-profit organization based in San Miguel, are proud of their Asháninka heritage and are helping the people maintain their distinct identity and customs and stay free of destructive outside influences.

Community leaders hope that cultural tourism, in which a limited number of outsiders (no more than 100 per year) pay to visit and stay overnight in San Miguel in order to experience the unique aspects of Asháninka culture, can provide incomes to families who choose to remain in the village. Many of the residents of San Miguel still live in houses built of carrizo (bamboo), dress in their traditional cushmas, cultivate traditional foods such as yuca and platanos during the day and hunt for game at night, sometimes with a bow and arrow.

Derek and Dean teach in their cushmas.
Derek and Dean teach in their cushmas.

Dean and Derek are participating in the village’s mix of age-old practices like farming and hunting, with more modern activities like watching television. They use the village’s nice, new restrooms (built for visitors), but their host family members still prefer the traditional outhouses. The village has a new, modern school building, where Dean and Derek teach English wearing the traditional cushmas.

Dean in the classroom where he teaches English. This day class was not in session, but some of the children were there doing homework.
Dean in the classroom where he teaches English. This day class was not in session, but some of the children were there doing homework.

Dean and Derek give the village children an hour on English instruction every morning. In the evenings, Dean and Derek teach English and computer skills to young adults in the community. During the day, the two Goshen students help their host families with farm work. They say they are in great shape from hauling big bags of yucca up the hillside.

Derek with his host mother, Irma Caleb Samaniego. She is the oldest daughter of Dean's host mother.
Derek with his host mother, Irma Caleb Samaniego. She is the oldest daughter of Dean’s host mother.

Dean and Derek have some great stories to tell from their experience with the Asháninkas, including the time Dean had an armadillo for breakfast. They also killed a snake, hunted for a large rat-like creature with bow and arrow, survived lots of good-natured teasing and celebrated Derek’s birthday with a traditional feast and community gathering, at which he was obligated to make a speech. Their host families appreciate their hard work and willing spirits. The students’ only worry is that their fellow SSTers will be jealous because they are having such a great time.

 

The small town of Santa Ana celebrates the area’s indigenous people with a statue in the central plaza.
Transport for a bone-jarring ride to San Miguel, 5 km up the mountain on a rutted dirt road.
The small town of Santa Ana, seen from the road to San Miguel.
Entering the community of San Miguel.
Derek and Dean in San Miguel.
Derek shows off his many bug bites.
Derek, Dean and one of the children they teach.
Derek and Dean pose with the school children and one of their teachers.
Service Coordinator Wilfredo Villavicencio with one of the Ashaninka children. She is wearing the traditional Cushma tunic.
The village has a new two-story school building.
Dean in the classroom where he teaches English. This day class was not in session, but some of the children were there doing homework.
A student at work.
Although many careers would lead away from village life, the children are encouraged to dream about all the possibilities.
Dean’s students doing homework.
Derek teaches the first-graders English in this classroom. No students this day, because the entire village was involved in a community meeting.
The Magic Words: Please, Thank-you, Excuse me.
The village has a new library building, where Dean and Derek teach English and computer skills to young adults.
The library does not have very many books yet.
Dean and Derek outside the library.
Dean with his host mother, Amanda Samaniego de Caleb.
Derek with his host mother, Irma Caleb Samaniego. She is the oldest daughter of Dean’s host mother.
For our visit, Dean and Derek caught and slaughtered a chicken.
This building has the kitchen and dining table.
A hand-built brick oven.
The kitchen.
Derek and Dean enjoy a dinner of chicken, rice and yucca with SST Co-Director Judy Weaver and family members.
The “garage” on the left houses the village’s only vehicle. The house on stilts is where Dean and Derek sleep.
A local toddler.
The doors to Dean’s and Derek’s rooms.
Dean shows the industrial-strength mosquito netting over his bed.
Dean on his bed.
Dean’s cushma.
The roof over Dean and Derek’s sleeping quarters.
Derek lifts the mosquito netting to show his bed.
The floor in Derek’s room. He steps carefully over this spot.
Since Derek and Dean’s house is on stilts, the chickens gather underneath at night. They have learned to sleep though the noises that chickens make.
Derek’s cushma.
Derek and Dean teach in their cushmas.
Rubber boots are the best protection from snakes out in the fields.
These new bathrooms for visitors have electricity and running water.
The shower is in the open in the middle of the houses. It doubles as the laundry facility.
Derek and Dean with Dean’s host brother, Chipi. He is the youngest of Amanda’s 10 children.
Derek chases Chipi onto the roof of the bathroom.
Kings of the hill.
An Ashaninka woman and her baby.
A typical modern juxtaposition: a satellite dish by a bamboo home.
A jungle spider.
An all-day community meeting was taking place in this thatch-roof pavilion.
The community meeting was led by these elders.
The community meeting in process. They interrupted their business to greet Judy and Willy, with Derek and Dean.
Community members appreciated short speeches of gratitude by SST Co-Director Judy Weaver and Service Coordinator Willy Villavicencio.
Discussing community business.
A view of community grounds in San Miguel.
A little girl passing by.
Banana and avocado trees near the village.
A view from the village of the Perene River Valley.