I just returned from two unforgettable weeks deep in the Peruvian Amazon with my wife Stefanie, volunteering with Be the Change Volunteers. We traveled long—flying into Iquitos, then heading 60 miles upriver into the protected Tahuayo River reserve. No roads. No grid. Just jungle, canoes, and a hardworking village ready to build a better future.

Our mission? Help construct a new classroom by hand. And I mean by hand—every board hauled, made concrete from almost scratch, every line leveled with a water tube, every nail pounded in the heat. It wasn’t just a construction project. It was a full immersion in community, resilience, and old-school building methods I’d never seen before. We built more than a classroom, we made an impact all around with everyone we met.

There’s a lot more to share—including the time Stefanie needed four stitches to the head (she’s okay), fishing for piranha and pacu, and how we’re now helping document the site layout for future school expansion.

This was my third trip to the Amazon, but my first into this remote and protected part of Peru. It’s a story I’ll never forget—and one I’m excited to tell in full soon.