We visited a school one afternoon on our trip. It was probably the simplest, poorest school that we have ever visited. There were no teachers at school when we visited. Our guide said that all teachers had to go to Iquitos on the 29th of each month to get paid. Every teacher had to go and be there in person in order to get paid. The trip to Iquitos and back took the teachers the whole day, so the students were at school on this day with no teachers.

This was a primary school for ages six to twelve. Secondary school is mandatory in Peru but the school could be far away from the students and if the river is flooding, students could miss quite a bit of school.

This school was a platform building with walls, one bench, one small desk, a map and a few pictures on the wall. Other than that, the kids had nothing. Vicky is at the bench with our friend, Bill Brookes, to her left taking a photo. The kids had nothing to do this day.

This was some of the school children. They were quite orderly considering that they were on their own for the day. There was quite a variation in age and size.

The school did actually have one amenity, a soccer field. Perhaps this is why countries such as this beat the US in soccer. Even the poorest of schools set in the middle of the Amazon jungle still have a nice soccer field.