Cadorette leads trip to adopted homeland

Why Peru?

I find the Andean world fascinating. Indigenous cultures, such as Peru, have been under enormous and constant pressure because of the European invasions of the 16th century. In fact, I feel that Peru is the textbook third-world country. Back when I was in graduate school at the University of Chicago, I had the opportunity to travel to Peru. I was so enamored with the country that I put my Ph.D. on hold and remained there for seven years. I have numerous ties there, and my connections help facilitate travel around the country.

Can you tell us about the trip itself? Who goes along with you?

The trip is a three-week endeavor to study the economic, political, and social circumstances of Peru. Twenty people make the voyage: Half are from the University of Rochester, and the other half are from the University of Toronto. Those from Rochester are mostly students, while the Canadians vary in age and occupation. The trip itself is intense and requires stamina. I carefully screen everyone interested, and tell them exactly what is going to occur.

Where does the trip begin?

The trip begins where most trips to Peru would, in Lima. Here, over five or six days, the group is given a sense of what is going on in the country. Then, we spend three days living with Peruvian families in various slums in Lima. Often there is no running water and no electricity.

What follows this experience in the Lima slum?

After that experience, the group divides in two. Half goes to the northern coast of Peru, to a place called Chiclayo, and the other half goes to Tarapoto, a city on the Amazon basin of the Huallaga River. There are a lot of coca leaves along the shore of the Huallaga, as well as numerous processing plants throughout Tarapoto. These plants produce a doughy substance that is shipped to Columbia and will eventually become cocaine. Drug trafficking plays an enormous role in the Peruvian economy, and a mind-boggling amount of corruption exists in the military and police. Tarapoto gives us the opportunity to study the impact of drugs on an ecosystem and on an entire society.

After a stop in Cuzco, which is the most touristy part of Peru and gives the group a chance to have some fun, we head to Machu Picchu. Here we relax, and the group can loosen up. A language called Cuecha is widely spoken here, instead of Spanish. I believe Machu Picchu is the heart and soul of the indigenous world. It gives people a feeling of how the world existed before the Spanish invaded the land.

How does the trip conclude?

It concludes in Puno, which is on Lake Titicaca by the border of Bolivia. This serves as an additional exposure to the indigenous people of Peru. It is in the high, high Andes, with an altitude that is difficult to adjust to, and is rural and cold. Lake Titicaca is painfully beautiful, and Puno gives participants an impression of Peru far different from that of Lima, which is where we head next to wrap-up the trip.

What do people gain by this experience?

To find out more A general interest meeting for the next trip to Peru will be held this Wednesday, Jan. 28 from noon to 12:30 p.m. in Rush Rhees Library, Room 442.

They gain precious awareness. This experience serves as an initial exposure to Peru and its beauty and problems. It also helps participants see how they are all part of a common human community that includes the Peruvians that they encounter during the trip. The majority of the trip's legwork is done by Peruvian professionals who are committed to social justice. These people are tolerant, gentle, and incredibly patient, and help participants understand that social change does occur. All this is taking place in a country that has just endured a civil war, in which about 30,000 people were killed over a 10-year period. Participants are placed alongside Peruvians in the slums of Lima, for example, making them experience their own feelings of powerlessness and testing their own spirit. People gain a heightened consciousness of who these Peruvians are and what they are challenged to do. Also, participants realize the connection that exists between themselves and the Peruvian people, in the sense that social justice does occur on many levels. Overall, you come back from this trip aware, sensitive to Peru's social and economic issues, and inevitably changed.

Cadorette is developing a contractual agreement between the University and Catholic University of Bolivia that would provide both institutions with study abroad opportunities and other benefits.