down. Where the road headed we didn’t have a clue, it wasn’t on the map. We only knew that we had come much too far to turn around now. After some hours, the tiny village of Pumbochanga appeared on the horizon. The road passed directly into the center, an acre of muddy earth devoid of trees or grass, surrounded by crude adobe-walled, tiled and thatch roofed dwellings. No one, not man nor beast, was to be seen. Our dust cloud caught up as we stepped from the vehicle for a much-needed stretch. Gazing about, we wondered aloud where everyone was. Curiosity won out and little by little some children emerged from the shadowy doorways and cautiously approached. Children, but no adults. It was rather eerie. The urchins were a ragged lot, dirty from play, with tattered clothing. 

In the years we had been traveling to this beautiful country, it had become our practice to give gifts of little treats, toys and clothing to the less fortunate people we frequently encountered. Although these people had little in the way of personal possessions, they seemed to be perfectly healthy and happy, though life was tough in this harsh environment. Soon we had pulled out sacks of clean used clothing, which we had brought for just this purpose, and began to give out various items to the growing crowd of mothers. Some took items eagerly, while other were more cautious, perhaps skeptical of our intentions. When it became apparent we were just friendly, if quirky, strangers, they lost all inhibitions and 

cued up for their share. No matter what we handed them, or what size it was, they were always grateful. Soon, some bananas appeared and were offered to us as ‘barter’. On other occasions, it was fruit or eggs or cooked food, and sometimes they gave flowers when they saw the plants we had in the truck. Almost always, we would toss out the ‘barter’ items after driving on for a distance, but we had learned to accept such items graciously, as it was necessary for them to justify accepting gifts from us. Once we had brought gifts from Linda to a family she met on an earlier trip and they wanted to send her their prize chicken. We declined, explaining that we would be unable to take the gift onto the airplane. They looked 

puzzled, but accepted our excuse. On another occasion, after first giving a twenty-mile ride to an elderly man walking his lame horse, we gave his rather large family clothing, toys and the old gentleman a pair of reading glasses. He was so grateful that he invited us to dine with his family, and gave us a huge rock covered with quartz crystals! Unfortunately, it was far too large for us to take back, so we sadly declined the beautiful gift.

On earlier trips, Wally and I would bring candy and used clothing as favors, bribes and gifts to help us pass the innumerable inspections by police who always had their hands out for some sort of ‘mordida’. When Linda made her first trip, she raised gift giving to an art form, bringing coloring books, crayons, toys and an array of treats. Linda started giving items away at random to the 

always-needy people along our way, stopping at farms and whenever she saw someone walking along a dusty road who looked like they needed a smile. Before our trip was over, we had given away not just our candy and toys, but our own dirty clothing, camping gear and other items we had brought for our own use. My heart went out to her as she searched the truck at the end of our trip for something to give to a woman she met who made a meager living fashioning ornaments of marzipan. We had given away almost everything by that time, and all she found was a half jar of peanut butter for her. Though she couldn’t speak with the lady in Spanish, it didn’t stop her from 

communicating. Words weren’t necessary to express her feelings, and the two of them hugged and cried for a few tender moments before we departed.

Linda’s brand of ‘lollipop diplomacy’ was addictive, and the smiles and happiness it brought to the always-surprised recipients led us to do more on all future trips. Wally would plan ahead, buying up inexpensive toys and favors on sale after Halloween and Christmas, saving them for future trips. Linda and Wally’s wife Dorothy would get used clothing, especially small sizes and children’s clothing, from church ladies who knew of our frequent trips. It was Wally who found the item that brought the biggest smiles. He bought packs of toy sunglasses, most of them with 

Mickey Mouse and other characters on them, and gave them out to children across the country. You could scarcely believe how they loved these toy glasses! Kids of all ages wore them proudly, and their parents beamed with approval. These tiny gifts reaped a huge benefit in satisfaction for us. Nothing can compare to the feeling we got from spreading this little bit of joy to the otherwise hard lives of these little children.