Sharing the Amazon River in Peru By Anne Ens Black. The clear water turned black. The men gathered around as Lifewater volunteer, Kathy Borland, held up the test results of the mighty river before them. The expressions on the faces of these indigenous healthcare workers changed as the implication of this sank in deep. Their primary water source was contaminated, which affected them all. Lifewater’s partners, Ken and Terri VanBrunt, are missionaries with Amazon Focus, located in the jungles of Peru. They have been ministering to the Chayahuita Indians for several years now. This was the first-ever Lifewater hygiene training in Yurimaguas, drawing national healthcare workers, mainly men, from 23 out of 122 villages in the surrounding area. Each man represented a different village from along the tributaries of the Amazon River. They had come to the training expecting to learn different cures for their people’s sicknesses. Infant mortality is high in these villages; as a result people do not name their children until they are two years old. Malaria, skin rashes, and stomachaches are prevalent. As the week progressed, however, the group discovered techniques for preventative healthcare, mainly focusing on methods for purifying and using their immense water source as a way to fight disease. During the training, four of the Indians gave their lives to Christ. They were impacted by the hygiene teachings that discussed physical as well as spiritual truths. As the men climbed into their canoes to head home at the end of the week, they were all filled with hope from the practical experience they had gained and the privilege they carried with them. They realized that in order to prevent more sickness and death, they must spread awareness not only to their personal villages, but also to all those who shared the river in common as a source of life. The contamination of the river, which involved all of their villages, gave them a new reason to work together in unity. More Articles from the 2005 Spring Newsletter: Water & Disaster | Blessing the Nations From Home The Ugliness of Contaminated Water in Kenya | The Silent Tsunami