Student on 'Unofficial Peace Corps' Builds Up Village In Mexico

Lanny Sinkin '67 and Scott Emmons '67 were among six Americans who worked on a voluntary and unofficial "peace corps" project this summer in the village of Torrecillas, Morelia, Mexico.

Sinkin, a resident of San Antonio, Texas, and Emmons, of Sudbury, Mass., worked with four other Texans, including three school teachers.

Upon arrival, Rosauro Luna, the leader of the group, discovered that the villagers were drinking water from a stagnant pool. The six therefore decided to make the installation of a water system their main project for the summer.

While the men in the group, Sinkin, Emmons, and Luna, lived in an empty shack and worked every day in the mud to construct a water system, the women in the group, Julia Engel, Perla Kifura, and Mary Martin, lived in the village schoolhouse and taught school.

Pursuading the villagers to help them whenever possible, the Americans brought water down the side of a mountain from a spring, cleaned it out, laid plastic pipe and built a catch basin. The equipment, which cost a total of $500, was paid for by the Americans, who were later reimbursed by a St. Louis businessman, Jack Larner, who heard of their activities.

In the meantime, they also cleaned and whitewashed the schoolhouse and taught the villagers modern methods of sanitation, agriculture and hygiene.