Building the Future: Our Journey in Vista Alegre

Our team meeting at Tortas Malu to organize, pick up equipment,
and eat delicious torta (cake)!

In the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, along the banks of the Amazon River, lies the indigenous village of Vista Alegre.  Over the past few months, our team has been working to build essential facilities for volunteers, service providers, and tourists.  (Money from tourism provides local employment and helps our operations to become more self-sustaining.)  This ambitious project includes building a guesthouse, kitchen, and bathroom, all of which will support both community development and education for indigenous youth.  However, we've encountered both struggles and successes.

The kitchen floor.

The Construction Process

One of the primary challenges we faced was sourcing and preparing the wood necessary for our construction.  The task wasn't simple; we had to cut the timber, a task complicated by the chainsaw's failure.  This breakdown not only delayed our progress but also affected overall material procurement.  Additionally, transporting the timber required hauling it a significant distance to our construction site, by a small wooden boat navigating the winding waterways.  Building the structures with only hand tools presented another layer of difficulty.  Despite our limited resources, our team demonstrated remarkable perseverance.  Even more daunting was the fact that any additional building supplies required a four-hour round trip—each time an exercise in patience and endurance.  The process was slow, but it taught us resilience, teamwork, and the importance of detailed planning.

Framing the walls and roof.

At last, our new roof.

Our partners in Vista Alegre keep very good records.

Solar Power Installation

Recognizing the need for sustainable energy, we installed a 635-watt solar panel system, complete with a charge controller and power inverter.  We also brought over a 12-volt lithium-ion battery repurposed from our previous project in La Libertad, which will help with energy sustainability.  However, acquiring the solar panel and related supplies proved to be another logistical challenge.  A seven-hour round-trip to fetch the solar equipment highlighted the intricacies of rural supply logistics, most of which pointed to one surprising truth: for reliable, high-quality materials, we found that Amazon.com was the most reliable way to obtain what we needed.  Their shipments arrived in Leticia within three weeks, providing us with much-needed resources for both the guesthouse and the kitchen.   We also wish to mention the helpfulness and patience of the Letician business Energy Sun.  They sold, helped set up, and taught the villagers how to use and maintain the solar installation.

Breakfast before work.  Sometimes the villagers eat
fish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Meeting at Tortas Malu to pick up the supplies.

Roberto is checking the kitchen supplies.

Hooking up all of the solar system parts.

The cables will connect the panel to the charge controller.

Putting together the roof mount for the panel.
It can be expanded to hold up to two additional panels.   

Mounting the panel on Roberto's house.  He is the
caretaker for the project's buildings.

Brayan mounted the electronics in the new guesthouse. 

The system is working and charging the battery!

As a backup, we rely on the village's power.  Unfortunately, 
it is frequently out or experiences extreme voltage fluctuations.

Establishing Connectivity

In today's digital age, reliable internet is crucial for education and economic support.  We installed Starlink's new mini-satellite system to ensure the village could maintain connectivity for the school and to promote employment and tourism opportunities.  This development also plays a pivotal role in emergencies.  While the system functions well, we continually face challenges with the village's intermittent electrical supply—frequent power outages and spikes have pushed us to rely on our solar installation more than ever.

A photo of the Starlink Mini.  It is very "mini".
We mounted it on Roberto's roof, next to the guesthouse.
The new solar panel is pictured in the foreground.

The Starlink app.
We are connected to the network.

The Next Steps

The chainsaw has been repaired.  We have resupplies of food, fuel, and other necessities to restart work.  Yesterday, February 18, we started to cut the last of the wood needed to finish the kitchen.  After this, all of the major work will be finished.

Other tasks include:

• placing a router so we can sell our extra internet bandwidth and share the monthly internet cost
• finishing the painting
• finishing the beds
• building shelves, tables, and benches
• building a pantry in the kitchen
• tiling the shower floor

In June, our director will arrive in the village.  He will be fine-tuning the solar installation, properly wiring the house and buildings with a dual electrical system of village power and solar power, and setting up a donated laptop for village use.

All of the wood used in construction is
milled by a chainsaw.

Depending on the time of year, the wood must be
carried for up to a mile, and sometimes more.

The boats are loaded with hundreds of
pounds of lumber.

The boards are ready to finish the kitchen.

Community Collaboration

This effort culminated in two months of meticulous planning to coordinate our team and supporters in Leticia, gather all necessary materials, teach the villagers how to connect and use the solar system, and collaborate with our friends from Tortas Malu, a local bakery.  The partnership has strengthened community bonds, allowing us to share resources and knowledge effectively.

A video of the technician from Energy Sun teaching 

the villagers how to install and operate the power system.

Acknowledgments and Invitations

As we reflect on this journey, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our supporters and volunteers.  Your unwavering commitment, resources, and donations enable us to continue our mission of empowering indigenous youth through education.

Mark your calendars—this April, we will launch our 2026 scholarship campaign drive.  This year, we hope to support at least 45 students from Vista Alegre, La Libertad, and Leticia.

We invite everyone to join us this Sunday, February 22, for a livestream event on Facebook and YouTube at 7 PM Eastern Time.  We'll dive deeper into our construction adventures, share personal stories from our journey, and answer your questions.  We hope to see you there!

Would you like to join us in Vista Alegre?  In July, 2026, we will be putting the finishing touches on the volunteer and tourism support buildings.  You may come anytime after this to Vista Alegre or to our sister village, La Libertad, in Colombia, to volunteer with our programs or as a tourist.

Thank you for being part of our journey as we build a resilient future for the villages of Vista Alegre and La Libertad!

Have you made it this far in the post?  Thank you for hanging in there!  Please share this update with people you think may be interested.  Once again, we are always looking for volunteers, both in and outside the Amazon, to help with social media, editing, recruitment, grant writing, and fundraising.