The Founder

David V. Peterson was born in Peoria, Illinois, February 17, 1944, and graduated from Peoria High School in 1962. He received a B.S. in Agricultural Science from the University of Illinois in 1966 and a Masters in Science from Purdue University in 1970. He is the father of three adopted boys, now adults, and has three grandchildren. David taught science and math in the Peoria Public Schools on both the high school and middle school levels from 1969-1994. He taught Spanish at Bergen High School from 1994-1999. He also coached swimming for seven years in the Peoria Public Schools and four years at Bergen. For six years, David worked with the Boy Scouts and the Explorer Scouts. His hobbies include hiking, bicycling, running, camping, plant identification, and reading.

David's first trip to Mexico was in 1988, and trips continued nearly every summer as a tourist and as a student learning Spanish. In 1997, he volunteered to work for the summer at a student home in Colon, Querétaro, and then during the summer of 1998 at another student home in the city of Querétaro. David retired in 1999, moved to Mexico, and then volunteered at that second home for five years before deciding to start his own organization.