Powering Change: An Electrical Engineer’s Mission to Brighten the Future
Born shortly after the second world war, Santiago Quinto Lapa from Peru looks back on his 77 years of life, one marked by the determination to brighten the lives of others by bringing electricity to their homes and neighborhoods and, no matter what, to never be defeated and keep moving forward with purpose.
I was born in October 1947 on a farm in Peru that was managed by Americans and where my grandparents worked in milk production. I was separated from my mother when I was two years old and never met my father, so I was left under the care of my grandmother.
Due to the famine and the hardships of post-World War II Peru, I had to start working when I was a child. I did elementary school courses at a night school and worked during the day. For high school, I enrolled in a technical college, where I learned about electricity, graduating in 1968.
Encountering Buddhism
In 1974, I was introduced to Buddhism by a woman I used to get my lunch from every day when I was working on a civil construction project. She told me that I could accomplish everything I wanted through the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Consequently, I took up chanting with the hope of improving my life.
As I strengthened my Buddhist practice, I also became deeply concerned about social issues, especially inequality. Through my participation in Soka Gakkai activities, I came to understand the importance of setting goals and of studying to better serve the community.
One day, at a Soka Gakkai meeting, I was moved by the heartfelt encouragement I received from a leader there. He spoke about the Gohonzon—a scroll central to the practice of Nichiren Buddhism that has Nam-myoho-renge-kyo written down the center—and the importance of challenging myself through faith. His words resonated with me so much that I decided to become a member of the Soka Gakkai. I was among the eight members who made up the first Soka Gakkai group Huancaya.
That same year, my grandmother and other family members, encouraged by my conviction, decided to start practicing Buddhism as well. Every day, I shared Buddhism with the desire to spread happiness to everyone so that they could also transform their lives just like I had.
Over the years, as I strengthened my Buddhist practice, I also became deeply concerned about social issues, especially inequality. Through my participation in Soka Gakkai activities, I came to understand the importance of setting goals and of studying to better serve the community, as President Daisaku Ikeda encouraged us to do.
Pursuing Higher Education
Attending university seemed like an unimaginably difficult challenge, but I began chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with determination to be able to do so. Although I did not have the means to prepare myself academically, I grabbed all my books and began studying. I put maximum effort into both my Buddhist practice and daily life. With the support of many people, I was able to get accepted into the Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the National University of Central Peru.
When I started university, I also got a job at a company where I would work twelve hours a day for the eight years it took me to graduate. Thanks to that job and with a lot of hard work, I was able to complete my studies.
I would work twelve hours a day for the eight years it took me to graduate. Thanks to that job and with a lot of hard work, I was able to complete my studies.
During my university years, I continued to participate wholeheartedly in Soka Gakkai activities, and together with other members, we held several cultural events in the community, one at an educational center and another at the Municipal Library of Huancayo. I also shared Buddhism with those around me.
In 1976, two years into my Buddhist practice, I was cycling to work and got hit by a car. I was unconscious for more than three days, had injuries to my face and needed a surgical procedure on my nose. Despite this setback, I did not allow myself at any moment to become discouraged, and I chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
Determining to Contribute
In 1984, during his third visit to Peru, President Daisaku Ikeda encouraged us youth, as representatives of the Soka Gakkai and practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism, to contribute to society and become trusted members of the community. His words motivated me to begin activities that would help to deepen understanding of the Soka Gakkai and promote peace in the city of Huancayo, where I lived.
Thanks to the relationships of trust that I built with my professors during my university years, I was able to contact officials at the university who supported bringing Soka Gakkai exhibitions to the university campus and adding books written by President Ikeda to the campus library. Years later, in 1999, my university awarded President Ikeda an honorary doctorate in recognition of his contributions.
Conviction Stronger than Fear: Finding My Mission
During the 1980s, as Peru faced times of terrorism, and all of us struggled in the face of great adversities. Determined to do my part and contribute to society, I started working on projects that were part of the process of the electrification of the country.
I traveled to different towns that where labeled “red zones”—places nobody wanted to go to due to the activities of guerilla groups. However, my conviction was stronger than my fear, and I considered bringing electric light to these towns as my mission.
I also worked on electrification projects in numerous towns and cities in the Department of Junín and many other localities there. In Huancavelica Department, I helped bring electricity to 16 villages, 10 in Ayacucho Department and 8 in the Province of Yauyos in Lima Department. These projects across all these different Departments were financed by the Social Development and Compensation Fund (FONDOCES).
In the same way I challenged myself at work, I gave my all within my Soka Gakkai community. The organization also began to expand to other areas, and we continued to promote culture and education through exhibitions.
Undeterred
In 1991, I got married and formed a family with my three children, who also practice Nichiren Buddhism.
In 2010, while working at a metal shredder factory, I had a serious accident and was electrocuted with 22,900 volts. My whole face was burned, and my right hand was severely affected. The doctors told me I shouldn’t have survived and that I would never recover fully. However, I continued chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo daily for a speedy recovery.
Despite the accident, I remained determined to bring electricity to towns that had no light. Witnessing the joy and enthusiasm of the town’s people when they saw electric light for the first time was something that motivated me to continue my mission. This is why nothing stopped me, and I was able to complete the electrification plan of 12 localities in Piura City, 24 in Cerro de Pasco Department, 8 in Chiclayo Department and 64 in Cajamarca Department—all financed by Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines.
A New Purpose
In November 2021, I was hospitalized due to constantly feeling unwell and loss of appetite. The doctors told me that I had 48 hours to live. My blood pressure was very high—they said I should have died in my sleep. I was diagnosed with renal failure and had to go through 15 days of hemodialysis and then continue the dialysis at home.
Thanks to my Buddhist practice, the unwavering determination it gave me and good medical treatment, I was able, bit by bit, to reduce the number of times that I had to have dialysis. My kidneys improved and began to function at 14 percent, so the doctors adjusted my dialysis to every other day.
Despite my illness, I have not allowed myself to be discouraged. I have begun to appreciate every moment of my life and enjoy the time that I have with my family. Soka Gakkai activities fill me with joy along with my daily Buddhist practice that keeps me moving forward.
Without a doubt, all that I have overcome and accomplished—both personally and with my family—is because of my Buddhist practice, the Soka Gakkai and the encouragement of my mentor, President Ikeda. Keeping him in my heart, I am determined to share the light of happiness with others by sharing Nichiren Buddhism and achieving ever greater victories in my life.
Adapted from the September-October, 2024, issue of Nueva Era, SGI-Peru.
