When his Peace Corps stint ended in 2001, Peters decided to stay on in Guatemala and pursue the kind of work he thought would make a real and lasting difference. He consulted with the mayor of San Andres, a rural village in the department of Pet?n, and came up with a plan to restore and replant the town's ecological park, which had been badly deforested and neglected over the years. "I had to break away and start to do my own thing, which turned out to be working in the towns and planting," Peters said. "At that point, I made a life decision to stick with Guatemala." Peters returned home temporarily with the mission of earning money in whatever ways he could to finance his work in Peten. He delivered pizzas. He worked in a garden center. "I did whatever I could to raise some cash," he said. Six thousand dollars later, he returned to Guatemala in 2002 to begin his work, the results of which are phenomenal. In just six years, Volunteer Pet?n, which enlists the help of international volunteers who pay to travel to San Andres, stay with local families and work, has restored the ecological park, built two schools and a library and established educational and environmental programs. Volunteers have planted, painted, taught, established and maintained gardens, set up playgrounds, blazed trails, built bridges, dug ponds and stocked library shelves. Their efforts, all the results of Peters' vision, have transformed the community and its people.
Matthew R. Peters has spent most of the last nine years in northern Guatemala, working for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, and the last seven years as director of Volunteer Peten, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the quality of life for local residents through education, environmental efforts and other means
Gov. Mifflin grad spends nine years making a difference in northern Guatemala
Peace Corps stint leads to founding of volunteer group for Matthew Peters
By Susan Shelly
Reading Eagle Correspondent
Mohnton, PA - An e-mail announcement sent out last month to inform recipients of a program featuring former Mohnton resident Matthew R. Peters included this subject line: "What Can One Person Do?"
Those who attended the event found out.
Peters, 33, a 1994 graduate of Gov. Mifflin High School, has spent most of the last nine years in northern Guatemala, working for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer, and the last seven years as director of Volunteer Peten, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the quality of life for local residents through education, environmental efforts and other means.
"I try to accomplish something every day," Peters said.
Peters' journey began when he graduated from Penn State University with a forestry degree in 1998. His first job, working for the U.S. Forestry Service, did not satisfy Peters, so late in 1999 he joined the Peace Corps, a federal agency that places volunteers in areas around the world in which their expertise is needed.
With a mission of conserving natural resources, Peters, who at that time spoke or understood hardly any Spanish, was sent to northern Guatemala, where he where stayed for two years. While he enjoyed the experience, he became increasingly frustrated at what he perceived to be a lack of progress.
"To do the type of work Guatemala needs is to do the grunt work, like building and planting," Peters said. "It's not the work that a lot of people want to do. So people will do workshops and trainings, but in the end, very little is accomplished. That was incredibly frustrating to me."
Lasting difference
When his Peace Corps stint ended in 2001, Peters decided to stay on in Guatemala and pursue the kind of work he thought would make a real and lasting difference. He consulted with the mayor of San Andres, a rural village in the department of Pet?n, and came up with a plan to restore and replant the town's ecological park, which had been badly deforested and neglected over the years.
"I had to break away and start to do my own thing, which turned out to be working in the towns and planting," Peters said. "At that point, I made a life decision to stick with Guatemala."
Peters returned home temporarily with the mission of earning money in whatever ways he could to finance his work in Peten. He delivered pizzas. He worked in a garden center.
"I did whatever I could to raise some cash," he said.
Six thousand dollars later, he returned to Guatemala in 2002 to begin his work, the results of which are phenomenal.
In just six years, Volunteer Pet?n, which enlists the help of international volunteers who pay to travel to San Andres, stay with local families and work, has restored the ecological park, built two schools and a library and established educational and environmental programs. Volunteers have planted, painted, taught, established and maintained gardens, set up playgrounds, blazed trails, built bridges, dug ponds and stocked library shelves. Their efforts, all the results of Peters' vision, have transformed the community and its people.
About 400 children and adults flock to the library, which has become a town center, each day. They play chess, study, access the Internet, read newspapers and visit. An eight-room high school and a three-room preschool, both constructed this year, provide sufficient classroom space for students, who are anxious to learn. Volunteer Pet?n oversaw the town's first theater festival in 2008 and is working on setting up a house of culture. Education will be a primary focus of 2009, with the goal of teaching villagers to sustain and maintain the completed projects.
Private donations
Money for all of these projects comes from the fees from volunteers and from private donations - no government funds are sought or used.
"It's hard," Peters said. "Nothing is certain and there are no guarantees of funding. We go month to month pretty much, just depending on the number of volunteers we have."
Fortunately, because of the volunteers and extremely low overhead (Peters lives in a one-room house with no water or indoor plumbing), costs are able to be controlled and much can be accomplished for a relatively small amount of money. The library, a two-story building, for instance, was built and furnished for just over $20,000, the amount budgeted.
"We have shown the community and the world what can be accomplished with a little knowledge, a little funding and a lot of hard work," Peters said.
While Peters returns to Berks County occasionally to visit family, his heart and spirit are firmly entrenched in San Andres, where he teaches, works the land and oversees projects. Townspeople have asked him to run for mayor or assume another more public role in the community.
Peters, however, remains committed to doing what he's done for the last nine years: teaching, educating villagers about the environment, planting trees, building schools and creating hope and opportunities.
"I wouldn't want to do anything else; I can't imagine doing anything else," Peters said. "There's no thought about me abandoning this or leaving. I enjoy the lifestyle and the challenges of trying to accomplish more and more every year."
What can one person do? Just ask Matt Peters.
•Contact correspondent Susan Shelly at lifestyle@readingeagle.com.
