San Roque, where Anja and Austin are doing their service, is most notable for its size; whereas Arequipa and Ayacucho are major cities of several hundred thousand people, San Roque’s population is a mere 800. Another significant difference is altitude; rather than being in the high Andes Mountains, it sits down in the hot, humid lush Amazon basin; there are more shades of green than you can count.
After a 45-minute taxi ride from the airport in Tarapoto to the village of San Roque, the two students met Maria and Doug upon arrival. While part of their service project involves occasionally working on the farms of their host families, the two physics majors are also working on a project to assess water quality in local streams. Because the many coffee farms in the area produce organic waste that, upon decaying, acidifies water runoff, Anja and Austin are measuring the pH of area streams. The water project, as well as some work with local ecotourism projects, are supervised by Rodrigo, an ecotourism tour coordinator.
Austin and Anja are all smiles as they come to greet Doug and Maria upon their arrival.With us is Joel, Anja’s host dad, who helps with ecotourism projects in the village.The two physics majors share their experiences in San Roque so far.A supper of rice and chicken with Anja’s host family, including little brother Axel, grandma, Idelsa (mom) and Joel.After breakfast the next morning Joel brings a juvenile armadillo he found outside.Anja with her host parents in front of their home.After breakfast we walked to a stream where Austin and Anja would take a water measurement.Joel explains how we need to cross this river to get to the stream on the other side. Maria is thrilled with the idea.This is the stream for the measurement.Anja and Austin were pros at crossing the river.Joel saves Maria’s backpack (with her camera and cell phone) from going into the drink. Meanwhile, Doug walks on water.Austin marks the volume of the water sample.Using a field kit they measure the pH and chloride levels of the sample.The color of the pH indicator in the 2nd column is compared to the reference colors in the 1st column. [The pH was estimated as 7.4]Maria and Doug prefer to cross the river on the new bridge.Back at home, Austin hangs up his wet socks outside his bedroom.A big supper of rice, potatoes, chicken and eggs at Austin’s home.Austin in front of his home with his host family (from left): Heiser (dad), Kenlly, Gino, Mirlanith (mom) and Brayan.Before leaving we had a meeting with Rodrigo, who creates ecotourism initiatives in the area and supervises the work of Anja and Austin.
