There is so much to sort through from this journey – from the incredible life that is everywhere in the jungle, to the gigantic shantytown that is the city of Iquitos, to the rejection and integration of what is indigenous in that region of Peru. For instance, there are parts of Iquitos where the homes are rows and rows of shacks that have no electricity. On the same streets where people have no plumbing and where the roads are dirt and there are no sidewalks, you will see a lit up billboard of a tall, thin, scantily dressed, and—though Hispanic—very pale-skinned woman selling high-heeled shoes! (Seriously! What is that saying?) Then, a few blocks later, you see a shipibo inspired statue on a manicured grassy hill, or shipibo inspired tapestries for sale on the edge of the Amazon river in a part of the city that is designed for tourists.

On the flight home from Lima, I sat next to a woman who introduced herself and then asked me what I was doing in Peru. When I told her about Healer2Healer she launched into her missionary rap – how she loves Jesus and has been going around the world talking to people in Argentina and Ethiopa and letting them know they are part of the lost tribes of Israel and how they can save their souls by taking Jesus in their hearts. I let her go on rather than tell her how I feel about preaching and converting and telling people they are lost.

Cauhide is a place that I imagine doesn’t get many “outside” visitors. It was wonderful to be welcomed there, and to not have an agenda other than to ease some distress in a place where the suffering of people is largely ignored.

Below is a video of Healer2Healer volunteer and reiki practitioner, Lynda D’amico. Though we share the same reiki teacher (Geordie Numata), I first met Lynda in the Amazon rainforest. Immediately I was struck by her beautiful gentle energy, and we became fast friends.