Over Winter Break, I had the opportunity to visit Peru. Many Peruvians are descendants of the Incas, who dominated Peru from the 1400s to the 1530s before the Spanish Conquistadors arrived on the scene.
A significant number of people in Peru today still speak Quechua, the language of the Incan empire. One interesting fact about Quechua is that, originally, there was no word for “thank you” (although today there is, and it is pronounced “yuspagarasunki”).
The Incas did not need a word for “thank you” because service was their primary way of expressing gratitude. They believed firmly in the concept of paying it forward. To an Inca, sacrificing his or her llamas or even his or her own life was a way of repaying others for the personal sacrifices they had made in the past.
In the Incan empire, people frequently made offerings to the gods for the better of the community. It was hoped that the gods would be pleased, and would bless the people with good weather and a bountiful harvest. Llamas and alpacas were often sacrificed, but when an exceptionally large blessing was desired, the Incas sacrificed young children and teenagers instead. These were considered the best kind of offering—the kind that was most likely to entice the gods into action.
According to the tour guide, the children who were selected were willing participants—and their parents were eager for their children to be sacrificed too!
To the Incas, laying down your life so that the entire community could enjoy a better harvest was not a heroic act of self-sacrifice; rather, it was something ordinary, something that everyone would do out of an appreciation for the fact that others would do the same if they were put in an identical situation. The Incas therefore did not need a word for “thank you” because service was their way of showing gratitude.
I’m definitely not a fan of human sacrifice, but I do think that we have much to learn from the Incas.
In the past, I’ve performed service—whether it was tutoring elementary school students or picking up trash in a rundown neighborhood or packing food for impoverished children in Tanzania—primarily because it made me feel good about myself, and not because I wanted to help my fellow man. But service is not meant to be a noble action which makes us feel like we’ve become “better people.” It is meant to be a lifestyle. It is the call to operate out of a vastness of vision, to give of yourself because you know that you are part of a community, part of something far greater than yourself.
More than just a lifestyle, service is a privilege. I’m reminded of what Dolores Huerta said during her speech at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebrations in the Chapel about two weeks ago. Huerta is an award-winning labor activist who organized boycotts and lobbied on behalf of California’s migrant farm workers in the 1950s. She directed the five-year-long national grape boycott of the late 1960s, which protested the mistreatment of farm workers. If you were at the MLK celebrations, you probably disagreed with Huerta’s anti-globalization views and her opinion that the minimum wage should be $30 per hour—I know I did! But there is no doubt that Huerta is a woman of great passion and determination. Oh, and she also has 11 honorary doctorate degrees.
Near the beginning of her speech, she said something pretty striking: “I am blessed to have been able to work with farm workers…” Blessed? When was the last time you heard a surgeon or architect say, “I am blessed to be able to remove cancerous tumors and save lives,” or “I am blessed to be able to design beautiful buildings”?
In that one word, Huerta demonstrated a profound understanding that service truly is an honor. When you are in a position to serve, it means that you have been endowed with certain gifts and talents which you can use to add value to the lives of others. All of us here at Duke have abilities that have been honed with effort but have been bestowed by good fortune. Today, let’s acknowledge that we are indeed privileged and that all of us can say “I am blessed to be able to…” as we make the conscious decision to serve.
After all, Duke’s mission statement says that Duke aims to prepare students “for lives of skilled and ethical service.” Our careers, our work in student organizations, our involvement in the community—these are all ways to serve. Let’s do so as a way of life and out of a heart of thankfulness.
Words are not a substitute for action, and “yuspagarasunki” is not a substitute for service.
Daniel Wong is a Pratt junior. His column runs every other Wednesday.
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