Dreaming Big in the Amazon – Luis Vasquez and the Yantaló Peru Foundation

The concept of international volunteer work can conjure a number of different impressions. For doctor Luis Vasquez, founder of the Yantaló Peru Foundation, the idea hits close to home, literally. He was born in this small Peruvian jungle town before studying in Lima and, later, practicing in the US. It was seven years ago that he returned and found the place nearly unchanged from the Yantaló of his childhood. He decided to take action and the Foundation was born.

Doctor Vasquez dreams big and wasted no time getting a staggering number of projects off the ground, including English classes for students of all ages at the Yantaló school, a green hospital [being erected as we speak], paved roads and a year-round volunteer program for doctors, students, scientists and educators.

Warmly greeted everywhere he goes, Dr. Vasquez is a beloved figure in Yantaló and rightfully so. Signs of his foundation’s work are all around, from the colorful trash cans gracing the streets to the smooth ride into town on that new road to the growing population of English-speaking kids. Yantaló is transforming and here, the man is a legend. He’s kind of a legend to me, too, and we just met. In his 70s, Dr. Vasquez has the energy of at least eight teenagers, dividing his time [of which I'm convinced he has a secret additional source] between his work as a stateside doctor, running the Foundation, jet-setting across the globe to every conceivable conference potentially relevant to the Foundation’s cause and spending time in Yantaló – visiting the school, directing volunteers, overseeing hospital construction, attending a dizzying number of meeting, etc, ad infinitum.

At tonight’s welcome dinner, over 20 volunteers are situated around several banquet tables pushed together into a U in a hotel dining hall. Most are surgeons, here to conduct evaluations and operate on a few especially difficult cases. My friend, Annah Yevelenko, is conducting hair and makeup classes as well as working on creating a community center for women, I’m teaching an art workshop for kids and getting ready to paint a mural at the school. Two filmmakers from To The Moon Productions are documenting it all to the sound of a trio performing seasoned, tender renditions of local folk songs as Dr. Vasquez prepares to give a speech.