My memories about the Rotary Club of Ventura-East

Posted by Rafael Canton, M.D.

on Feb 03, 2016

Since I am now one of "the most experienced" members of my Rotary Club, I would like to share some of my Club-related memories1 for the members of our Club who were not here several decades ago. I am submitting these memories to The Breeze, in short narratives. These memories are not thoroughly documented or complete. I hope my contemporaries in our Club will feel free to offer their own memories, to supplement or correct mine. (If Jeff Hata agrees.)

The Totonaca Project

This project was directed by Eric Nicolet, and lasted quite a few years. It was funded by a grant from Rotary International, and it was sponsored by our club, by a club in Mexico City, and by a dub in the Totonaca region.

When the Spanish invaders arrived, the Totonacas were a powerful empire that was a rival of the Aztec Empire. They occupied a vast region to the east of the Aztecs. The Totonacas sided with the Spaniards. The Totonaca territory is now spread over several Mexican states.

Although the ancient Totonacas had left behind some impressive ruins of huge building, (which we were not aware of during our grant), in the twentieth century, the people were in great need of a variety of essential services, especially related to health and education. Our program was created to provide some of such services, and to teach the Totonacas how to help themselves, at least to some extent. High priority was given to promoting the building of latrines. The goal was to diminish gastro-intestinal infectious diseases, which were a major cause of illness and death among children.

The territory was vast and remote from cities. Our Club bought its own truck and had its own driver. On one occasion, I went there with Eric, for a couple of days. There were no electrical lights to be seen. I distinctly remember that, at night, it was so dark in my bedroom that I literally could not see my hand in front of my eyes.

THE TOTONAC PROJECT

(Rotary Club of Ventura-East History,

by Rafael Canton-For "The Breeze'', June 2005)

I think "The Breeze" plays a key role in maintaining our Club's history alive. In this spirit, I’d like to share some of my memories of the "Totonac Project." (John Carroll and/or Eric Nicolet would have done it much better.) I invite any corrections that may be more accurate or complete than my recollections.

This project received one of the earliest grants from the "Health, Hunger, and Humanity" Program offered by Rotary International. It was originally written by our Club but it was sponsored jointly with a Club in Mexico City and a Club close to the Totonac region. The original grant was extended a number of times, over almost ten years. I believe it added up to close to a million dollars.

Eric Nicolet was in charge of supervising the Project. He visited it many times. I was always impressed by the sacrifice and devotion that implied. Eric was extremely vulnerable to ''tropical diarrhea." Because of that and, I believe, because of his diabetes, the only thing he could eat in Mexico was bananas. He had to carry his own water, at a time when that was not as convenient as now. At one point, the personnel at the Mexico City airport became somewhat suspicious of this "Gringo" who was traveling, so frequently, with all that liquid... He would fly to Mexico City, be met there by a person from the Project and ride for several hours, to the Totonac Region. He usually stayed there for several days at a time. At one point, a local Catholic priest expressed the suspicion that Eric was really a spy and a member of the CIA That idea seemed reasonable to some people in that region-apparently, there was a rumor that the CIA had, in met, infiltrated at least one Christian mission, in Central America. There had been resentment, on the part of the Catholic clergy, of the Protestants missionary who had "invaded their territory." The fact that Rotary is non-religious might have been helpful.

The Totonacs are an American Indian nation which, at that time, consisted of many villages - about 60? - spread out over a large area Centuries ago, they bad built impressive stone buildings and cities. Like other civilizations, they were taken over by the Aztecs. When Hernan Cortez arrived, the Totonacs decided to help the Spaniards against the Aztec Empire. It didn’t do them any good. When we found them, their standard of living was extremely low. I think John Carroll, described it as "at Fourth World level."