Works in Progress
A Garden in Pamplona Alta
I’m certain the question is swimming in everyone’s head, but Sam Hayes ’19 asks it aloud.
“What do you think they are doing in Pamplona Alta right now?”
He’s talking about a shantytown on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, where Hayes and 10 other students in the College’s Global Health Initiative worked for the past 10 days. It’s about 3,600 miles from Crawfordsville, but on this trip back to campus from Indianapolis International Airport, you realize the young men’s minds and hearts may still be in Peru.
From taking university tours and observing research to traveling to mountain and jungle villages like Huanuco, Tingo Maria, and Casa Huertas where they shadowed doctors and worked in veterinary clinics, students got an up-close look at health care in that country.
“At first I was kind of overwhelmed, because the problems they face are so widespread,” says Nick Vedo ’19.
The trip opened students’ eyes to the little things they had been raised to do regularly for the public good, and to public services they had taken for granted.
“You realize pretty quickly how lucky we are,” says Kevin O’Donnell ’19.
“You don’t always know what someone is facing, but you can try to understand; you can lend a hand,” says Jared Cottingham ’17. “I don’t think you have a choice but to have a greater respect for humanity.”
“It was inspiring to see people in Peru fully committed to positive change,” says Matthew Hodges ’19.
For Vedo, working alongside the people of Pamplona Alta to create a community garden was an affirmation:
“Building the garden—physically digging up the soil, the basic manual labor—I liked that because it felt like I actually left something permanent that I could see, something that could last.”
As will the memories, revelations, and concerns planted by the past two weeks, and questions like, “What are they doing in Pamplona Alta right now?”
—Richard Paige