UnderdevelopedPeopleTheIndianslivingonthehighplainsoftheAndesMountains,inSouthAmerica,haveabackgroundrichinhistorybutrichinlittleelse.ThesesevenmillionpeoplefromthegreatoldIndiannationsliveinalandoffewtrees,poorsoil,cuttingwindsandbitingcold.Theirfarmsdonotgiveenoughfoodtosupportthem.Theirchildrenfromtheageofthreeorfourmustworkinthefields.Thedeathrateoftheirbabiesisamongthehighestintheworld,theirstandardsofeducationamongthelowest.Theyliveatheightsoftenorfifteenthousandfeet,whereeventheairlacksthethingsnecessaryforlife.TheneedsoftheseIndians,scatteredacrossthreecountries—Ecuador,PeruandBolivia—aregreat.Theirproblemsaredifficultandtheirdiseasesaredeeplyrootedinanold-fashionedwayoflife.Probablynosingleprogramofhelpcangreatlybettertheircondition.Healthprogramsarenogoodwithoutfarmprograms,andfarmprogramsfailwheretherehavebeennoprogramsofeducation.FiveinternationalorganizationshavecombinedeffortstoseektheanswerstotheproblemsoftheunfortunatedescendantsoftheIncaIndians.TheyareworkingwiththegovernmentsofPeru,BoliviaandEcuadoronwhattheycalltheAndeanMission.Sixareashavebeenformed,oneeachinEcuadorandPeru,fourinBolivia.Heremethodsaretestedtoattackpooreducation,poorfood,poorlivingconditionsanddiseaseallatonce.Wepassedfieldsoflowcomandthinwheat.Wholevillageswereatworkplantingpotatoes.Themenformedalineandwalkedslowlybackward,beatingthesoilwithsticks.Thewomen,onhandsandknees,followedthemen,breakingthehardearthwiththeirhands.Theirredandorangeskirtsflashedbrightlyinthesun.Thescenewasbeautiful,buttheland,seedsandcropswereallpoor.Uponarrivingatavillage,wewenttovisittheschoolforcarpenters.Itwasinanoldbuildingwherethirtyboyswereattendingclasses.Thereweretwoclassroomscontainingcompletesetsoftools.Isawmoretoolstherethaninanycarpenter’’sshopinLatinAmerica.Mostoftheboyswerecuttingboardsforpractice.Theyworkedsteadilyanddidn’’tevenlookupwhenweentered.Theteacherremarkedthatthegreatestproblematthemomentwasfindingwood,asalmostnotreesgrowonahighplain.Someoneremarkedthatitwouldnottakelongfortheschooltoproducetoomanycarpentersinanareawithouttrees,wheremostofthebuildingswereofstoneormud.Thewoodbroughtfromthejunglewastoocostlyformostofthepeople.Theanswerwasthattheoriginalpurposeoftheschoolwastotraincarpentersandmechanicstogotootherpartsofthecountry.Theywouldworkwherethegovernmentisdevelopingnewvillagesattheedgeofthejungle.Acrossfromthecarpentry-roomtherewasamachineforproducingelectricpower.Withittheboyswouldbetaughttheirfirstlessonsinelectricity.Otherboysstudiedcarrepairing.Intheyardagroupofboyssurroundedalargetractor.Theteacherwasshowingthemhowtooperateit.Noonewassurehowmanyothertractorstherewereinthearea.Guessesrangedfromtwototen.Iftheschoolturnedoutmoreboystohandlethemthanthefarmscoulduse,therest,itwashoped,wouldseekalivinginthelowervillageswheremorepeoplelived.Thenextday,againstthecuttingwindsoftheBolivianmountains,weweregoingtoavillagethatistheoldestofthefourBolivianprojectsoftheAndeanmission.Behindus,acrossthevalley,rainfellfromtheblackcloudsbeyondthesnowymountain-tops.Thewindandrainbeatagainstthecaraswetraveledacrosstheopenfieldstocometotheyardofanoldfarm.Mytriphadbeenpannedatthelastminute.Sincethevillagehasnotelegraphtotelephoneservices,noonewasexpectingme.AllthedriverknewwasthatIwasavisiting"doctor"simplybecauseIwaswearingatie.Heshowedmeintoalargeroomofthefarmhousewheresometwentymenwerewatchingfilm.Itconcernedtheproblemsofamanwhocouldneitherreadnorwrite.Butinthefaceofdifficultieshemanagedtostartanadulteducationclassinhisvillage.Hedidthissothathecouldlearntoreadandwinhisgirlfriend’’srespect.Fromtimetotimeduringthefilmthelightswouldgoonandduringthesebreakseveryoneintroducedhimself.Theyhadbeenbroughttogetherforathree-weekcourseinhowtoteach,andtoaddtotheirowneducation,whichinseveralcaseshadnotgonebeyondthethirdgrade.Thoughtheyhadnothadmuchtrainingtheyhadthehelpofgreatinterestand,mostimportant,theyknewthenativelanguage.WhenthepictureshowwasovertheBolivianteacherspulledontheirwoolcaps,wrappedtheirblanketsaroundthem,andwentofftotheirbeds.Someoftheinternationalteacherswentwithmetothekitchen,wherethecookhadheatedsomefood.Wetalkedofthetroublesandtheprogressoftheschool,untilthelightswereputoutseveraltimes.Thiswasawarningthattheelectricpowerwasabouttobeshutoffforthenight.Duringthefirsttwoyearsthevillageprojecthadadifficulttime.Themissionhadacceptedtheuseofafarmfromalargelandowner,andthenativesbelievedthatthelandswouldbereturnedtotheowneraftertenyears.TheMissionbeganatatimewhentheBolivianGovernmentwasintroducingland-improvementlaws.MostofthepeoplebelievedthattheofficersoftheMissionwereworkingfortheowner,whowasagainstthedividingupoftheland.Theyhadaslittletodowiththeowneraspossible.NotuntilthegovernmenttookpossessionofthefarmanddividedthelanddidthefeelingoftheIndianstowardtheMissionchangeforthebetter.Whenthewritervisitedthevillageoftheoldestprojecttheweathertherewascold. A: Y B: N C: NG