We’ve been in the campo (rural area of Paraguay) for three days now. Once we reached San Jose de los Arroyos, the small town closest to the rural area where we are staying, the road quickly transitioned from paved to dirt. Hannah, the Peace Corps volunteer stationed in Dacak (where the schools we worked in are located) explained that this area receives little to no government assistance. The most evident proof of this fact was the ‘roads’ used to navigate the campo.
These dirt roads, red with iron, are uneven and, even more so than the paved roads in the urban areas, unkempt. While the roads in Asunción were bumpy, the dirt roads in the campo are extremely uneven and become essentially impassable once it begins to rain. It was easy to see that the lack of infrastructure we had already noted in the city was only augmented by the campo’s lack of government assistance and extreme distance from any urban areas.
Out in the campo we’ve already been exposed to some of the realities rural Paraguayans face on a day-to-day basis. First and foremost, the state of the roads and the effect the weather has on transportation in the campo. Every family owns at least one motorcycle since most cars couldn’t navigate the bumpy campo roads. When it rains, the dirt roads quickly become like muddy rivers. Once it begins to rain, life in the campo pretty much shuts down. Everybody stays in their houses to wait out the rain, and school is canceled because the students can’t get there.
Yesterday, we were supposed to spend the morning at a local farm, but a sudden downpour meant we had to rush back to Hannah’s house only a few minutes after we arrived. From our few days out here I think I’ve learned just how much life in the campo depends on the weather. The people out here are at the mercy of the rain, and while we’re out here so are we. We’ve had to be very flexible with our plans and realize that in the campo you really are at the mercy of nature.
This afternoon after lunch I was talking to Juan, one of my host parents, while watching the World Cup. He asked me a bit about my parents after I showed him some pictures of my family last night. We eventually got into a discussion about medicine and health care; coming into the trip, I didn’t know exactly what to expect in terms of health care in the campo, but it came as a shock to hear Juan tell me personally how dire the situation can be. Juan explained to me how in many cases, anybody who gets seriously ill in the campo dies. Although the family across the street from my host family has a small pharmacy, they can only provide basic care and antibiotics and any serious medical care is many miles away. Juan also noted that while private care facilities exist for the wealthier Paraguayans, the majority of poor Paraguayans have the same extremely limited access to health care.
Seeing the effects of the weather on life in the campo and hearing Juan talk about the lack of health care really made me think about how much we take for granted living in the United States. Even though we all come from different socioeconomic backgrounds, we still all have access to paved roads, which we know the government will maintain and can be sure that medical care is only a few minutes away. Living out in the campo has really forced me to be aware of the tremendous opportunities and advantages we’ve been given compared to many others living in the same circumstances as the Paraguayans of the campo.
Nicholas, 17, Sidwell Friends School