The greatest gift The greatest gift (January 30, 2004)

Family spends 10 days in Peru sharing their time and talent
by Dolores Fox Ciardelli

The Heaton family believes in giving to others and this Christmas they acted upon it in a big way. The family of five spent 10 days in Peru helping out at an orphanage in the mountain village of Anta where their group of 32 overhauled the plumbing, electrical and food storage systems. The group was sponsored by a private voluntary organization called Chasqui Humanitarian.

The Pleasanton family - mom Pauline; dad Kurt; Krista, 22; Misty, 20; and Ryan 17 - first collected clothes from the community to bring down.

"We ended up with 300 or more items," said Pauline. "We went down with 19 suitcases."

They gave the clothes to a humanitarian group in Lima to distribute. From Lima they traveled to the town of Cusco, which served as the base from which they drove about an hour each way every day to the orphanage.

"It houses 32 children, ranging from 4 months to 17," said Pauline. "When we first got there I was put on a committee to go around with the nun to assess the needs." They divided the basic needs under the headings of cleanliness, food and shelter. Then the group organized a plan of attack.

"Under cleanliness we gutted and redid several bathrooms from the ground up," Pauline said. This included digging a 100-foot ditch to start, and ended with installing new toilets.

"The group went with a plumber so he helped make sure everything was done correctly," she added. They also taught hygiene to the students, such as how to wash their hands and brush their teeth.

Pauline worked on the improving the food system. The 10-by-10-foot storage shed was built of adobe bricks and plaster, and rats had eaten through the walls. Her group cemented the rat holes and transferred the grain into rat-proof buckets. They also built a greenhouse with a drip system, and planted four types of vegetables.

Misty, who attends college in Idaho, worked on the greenhouse. "The Peruvian people were giving, loving and grateful," recalled Misty. "Seven-year-old Roxanne tried to give me her money, one coin. I wish I could do more."

The need for improved shelter was great, Pauline noted. "A huge solarium made out of Fiberglas panels had disintegrated and when it rained, it rained into the living area," she said. "We replaced it, and they were so pleased."

Ryan, a student at Amador Valley High, worked on the solarium. "My greatest memory was seeing the kids," he said. "They'd hug you and try to hold on."

Pauline said there were broken windows in the classrooms and all around the orphanage. "We replaced 37 windows," she said, "and part of them were in an area where outside dogs would come in and bring in fleas and lice."

The teenagers painted the dormitory walls with faces and stars and an underwater theme. "It's a happy place now," said Pauline.

Krista, a college student in Utah, worked on the windows and the painting. "This was a better way to spend your Christmas than the way we usually do," she said. "It was hard work, and in the end it made a huge difference in the standard of living of those people."

The orphanage had little lighting before, but the group put in light bulbs and covered wires that were exposed.

Kurt, who is director of hardware for TiVo Inc., did electrical work. He also was a big help because he is fluent in Spanish. He teaches the Spanish Sunday school at the Heatons' church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where Pauline works with about 160 women to oversee a variety of activities that fulfill local needs.

Pauline said that Chasqui Humanitarian will make sure the projects started by the volunteers last month are kept up. "They make sure it's maintained," she said, "that it's something self-sustaining."

Pauline and Kurt Heaton fulfilled their mission of showing their offspring firsthand the happiness in giving of themselves to others, which was one Christmas gift they received from their adventure.

"The kids really enjoyed being of service to other people," said Pauline. "It fulfilled all of our expectations to be of help to someone."

"We knew we were blessed before," she continued, "but it opened our eyes as to how blessed we really are."

The other family members echoed this sentiment. "As we completed the project, a Peruvian man expressed to me, 'You have given me hope,'" said Kurt. "These words were the greatest gift I could ever have received this holiday season."

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