Many countries' economies were so shattered after WWI that many citizens felt impelled to seek new lives elsewhere. This book is about eight European immigrant families who traveled up the Parana River from Buenos Aires, Argentina to the red soil region of Misiones - the home of the Guarani people, the local Indian tribe. The possibility of being able to purchase 35 hectares of land motivated immigrants to make this long and exhausting trip upriver. They knew that their decision to settle in the Argentinian jungle would mean that they would be facing unknown perils in a region inhabited by Indians who practiced a culture radically different from their own. They knew they would be living in a jungle region inhabited by jaguars, snakes, spiders, and other unknown species. Discover the odyssey of these immigrant families as they began establishing themselves in new colonies along the Parana River.
An Argentinean immigrant living in the United States and the daughter of German-Brazilian immigrants to Argentina, Valeria Scherf Vanstrien honors European immigrants for the courage and bravery needed when they left their European motherland to seek a new life in a faraway land in her books, Stories of the Red Soil Immigrants and Historias de europeos en la tierra colorada. Since childhood, Valeria has been a passionate reader as books opened up new worlds for her and were always a great source of comfort to her. As a teacher she has always tried to pass on her love of reading to her students and, now, as a mother, she tries to convey this passion to her children. A teacher by vocation, a wife and a mother, Valeria is currently exploring the path of becoming an independent writer."