The Hotel Decor Was Exquisite

     I was asked by the Peace Corps to go to Puerto Rico for several weeks in 1963 to assist with training programs for potters who would work in South America. The challenge was to upgrade their lowfire technology by teaching them how to build highfire kilns. The ware would be stronger and not break on the way to market.
     We had to figure out what was available in Puerto Rico that could also be found in other countries. Almost all third-world countries have electric companies, hospitals or some such institutions that use boilers in their heating facilities. Often, when the firebrick in the boilers is replaced, it is thrown away. Therefore, we reasoned that everyone could at least find firebrick with which to build simple catenary kilns. When it came to finding a cheap source of fuel, we learned that most of the available wood was being, or had already been used for other purposes. Kerosene, on the other hand, was always available for cooking, even in the remote villages. The government sees to it that it is brought into the villages, by donkey if necessary. So we concentrated on developing burners that fired with kerosene oil. We also developed what I called the "Peace Corps wheel," assembled from pipes, and with a single ball bearing underneath to support the shaft.
     There is an interesting side story to this. After my Peace Corps experience in Puerto Rico, I was invited to Texas A & M to do a workshop. I showed up at the appropriate time to find a couple of students waiting for me at the student union. "Where is your instructor?" I asked. "There isn't any," they replied. "We don't even have a ceramics program." "So what am I doing here?" I cried. Then they told me they thought I might show them how to get a pottery program started, after which the school might open up a department. "We bet you can help us. We hope you will."
     So I said, "OK, first things first. Let's find clay."We got into a car and drove around the countryside until I identified clay banks along the side of the road. We got out and dug some and took it back. I said, "Now we'll mix it with water, and this is the way you wedge it." I told them we had to have a couple of wheels, and gave them a list of materials they needed, including some 2x4s, a couple of pieces of plywood, some concrete and a pipe. In other words, the makings for the Peace Corps wheel.
     We built three wheels that afternoon from material they had salvaged from a construction site. In the evening, I said, "OK, this is the way you kick it, and this is what you do with the clay." And we made some pots. When that was all done, they said, "Now we'd like to fire them." I said, "We're going to have to build a kiln tomorrow, but tonight take your pots home and put them into an oven on low heat because there's moisture in there and we can't fire them with moisture."
The next morning they brought the thoroughly dry pots. I gave them another list of materials and sent them to get house bricks. Fortunately, I had brought my oil burner with me because I had expected a raku workshop. Sure enough, by the end of the day we were firing pots.
     All this came directly out of the Peace Corps experience. In places where there is absolutely no equipment you just have to go out and locate clay, take it back and mix it, build a kiln and fire your pots. It's a lot of fun. In many ways, it puts into perspective what is important in our culture. This approach says: There's freedom in low technology. You don't need all that heavy equipment and high tech. If the Greeks and the pre-Columbians could do it that way, so can you. Unfortunately, our Western mind gets in the way.