Aracelly with Lon's Bike Friday. Hot on the heels of the inaugural 16,000 Feet on a Friday -Biking the World's Highest Paved Road 2004 expedition, Lon Haldeman returns to Peru with the generous donations of all who have come in contact with his project to buy provisions for the Puerto Ocopa Orphanage (near Satipo) and Iquitos School. Here's his story:
RETURNING to the Puerto Ocopa Orphanage was a highlight of our cycling tour. Before the bike ride began I told everyone that the bicycle was just a way to get from experience to experience. I said the most memorable parts of this tour would happen when we weren't riding our bikes. Most of the riders didn't understand what I meant since they were about to begin a 16,000 foot climb the next day.
At the end of the first day we arrived in San Mateo. We had some extra time before dinner so we all took a walk downtown. As we went by a school yard a bunch of the kids surrounded our group and started asking questions. Fortunately our guides Clara and Vioricka could translate answers for the children's curiosity. Some teachers came over to see all the action. They invited us into the school yard to watch the children perform some ethnic folk dances for us. In a few minutes the courtyard was filled with a music tape from the boom box and 100 children danced to the precise steps of ancient dances.
We stayed at the school for over an hour watching the dancing and being interview by the children. The whole visit was unplanned. Later that night at dinner many of the riders commented that the visit to the school was a highlight of the day even though we had a perfect day of cycling climbing to 10,000 feet.
These school kids in their red sweaters at the San Mateo school.
Similar experiences would happen everyday as we cycled from village to village. One day we were eating at roadside restaurant. A small girl named Aracella lived at the restaurant. Her parents and grandfather owned the restaurant and were cooking in the kitchen. Aracella was about eight years old and had a bright smile with beautiful teeth. Everyone in our group commented how beautiful and friendly she was. I took several photos of Aracelly sitting on my Bike Friday during lunch. When I went back to the kitchen to pay the bill her mother and grandfather asked me if I liked Aracelly. I said she was really cute and intelligent. Then her mother asked me if I would take Aracelly back to the United States with me and raise her as my daughter. I was a little confused by the offer but then I realized the mother was looking for a better life for her daughter. Similar situations of parents offering me their children to take home and raise in the United States would happen four more times during the tour. Each time I declined, but the experience is something I won't forget.
Our visit to the Peurto Ocopa Orphanage had been in the planning since our trip there last year. This time we would be more organized and bring a good selection of food, clothes, garden equipment and other supplies. We advertised the visit to the Orphanage as part of the bike tour and had a fund raising projects throughout the year. During all our planning we kept our visit secret from the Orphanage. We didn't want them relying on us in case we didn't collect all our supplies.
The pile of food we brought to the orphanage.
During the year we collected about $2,000 in donations from Bike Friday and PAC Tour riders. When we arrived in Peru our group organized several shopping trips to buy supplies.
During one shopping tour we divided our group of 10 people into five pairs of riders with an English speaking tour guide. Each pair of riders and guide were then responsible to buy 25 sets of clothes for an specific age group of orphans, such as boys ages 5 to 10 years old or girls age 12-16 years old. Each group then went into the clothing market to choose a selection of clothes. We were able to get good deals from the market and usually paid less than $5 for an outfit of shirt and pants. For our group it was an interesting shopping tour of negotiating prices and understanding the Peruvian market.
We had ridden our bikes over 250 miles over the 16,000 foot Andes Mountains from Lima to the jungle town of Satipo. We had accumulated and carried our supplies in our support van. The final 50 miles to the orphanage would be in taxies to deliver our supplies. We could have cycled the final 50 miles but the rocky road is suitable for a full suspension mountain bike. For most good riders it is a 8 hour trip and we only had road bikes with skinny tires. We decided to take a the three hour taxi ride because we needed to deliver our supplies and return to Satipo later in the afternoon.
We arrived at the orphanage in the middle of an major thunderstorm. While we were diving for cover under the eves of the 100 year old church yard the children were playing the the rain puddles. The nuns who ran the school put the rainstorm to use and asked the children to line up near the roof downspout. Each child received a large handful of orange liquid shampoo to wash their hair and wet clothes. In a few minutes the courtyard was filled with dozens of children taking their weekly bath and doing their laundry. They rinsed their clothes by running and sliding through the puddles on the smooth marble courtyard floor. They looked like they enjoyed playing in the rain as much as washing their clothes.
The children washing their clothes.
Since our visit was a surprise the children didn't know what gifts we had brought them. We started unloading a pick-up truck load of bags of rice, flour, pasta, cooking oil, tooth brushes, toilet paper and piles of other supplies. The children got even more excited when they saw the new clothing and outfits for them. Then we brought in the selection of toys which rivaled Santa's Sleigh.
An assortment of Beanie Babies, soccer balls, toy trucks, Barbies, Batman figures and Legos were displayed for distribution. By this time the children were beside themselves with smiles and giggles. Then we started bring in the shovels, rakes, hoes and post holes diggers from them to use in their garden. They knew the garden tools were for them to work in the fields. They weren't so happy to see the tools but they knew the equipment was a key to them having enough fresh homegrown food to survive.
It's not about the bike ...
We stayed at the orphanage for about three hours. We ate lunch with the children in their dining hall. They sang us songs for the blessing before dinner. It was an emotional day for our group and the children but for different reasons.
As we started our taxi drive back to Satipo our group looked at Peru a little differently now. We still had to ride 250 miles in four days back to Lima. About 200 miles of it would be uphill. We still had a 16,000 foot mountain to cross. We knew what we had to do, but no one complained about the challenge. Everyone understood now that the bicycle was just a way to get between experiences. We left the orphanage with a better understanding about Peru and ourselves.
Join this trip next year. Read about this and other PACTOUR Peru tours
PHOTO GALLERY A selection of shots by Lon Haldeman
Read about and donate to the Orphanage, get the DVD
For more information, follow this link www.bikefriday.com/bf/pactour.
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