Ecotrackers in English

Jessica Dunnin learanig Spanish and Medicine with Ecotrackers

2008-08-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

I spent three weeks with Ecotrackers and during this time I had many fantastic experiences was able to see parts of Ecuador not usually accessible to tourists. I am a final year medical student from New Zealand and I wanted to spend part of my elective in a spanish speaking country, to learn some spanish at the same time as learning medicine. I discovered Ecotrackers via the internet and after reading a good review of it I decided to give them a try. The organisation was very prompt in replying to all of my emails and said they could arrange pretty much whatever I wanted to do. The Ecotrackers organisation was founded by a doctor, and I was able to work directly with him which was fantastic. The organistion is family run and very laid back about organisational details, which I found difficult initially, but in fact I had no problems at all once I relaxed into Ecuadorian time! They more than made up for this by welcoming me into the family, taking me to different places and helping me to organise other activities so that I could see all of Ecuador. Dr Max Moreno, the doctor I was working with, was incredbily generous with his time. Staying in their apartment during my time in Quito was an added convience offered by Ecotrackers.
During my time in Ecuador I was based in the small town of Guallupe in the northern Sierra. The hospital here was small, and had basic equipment required for the out-patient clinics and minor emergencies (anything major went to the town of Ibarra, about an hour away). I had the opportunity to attend all the emergencies if I chose to (faciliated by onsite accommodation) and also outpatient clinics during the day. I was able to take part as much as I felt confident to do so. I was also fortunate enough to be able to attend clinics with Dr Moreno in smaller communities on the periphery of Guallupe. One of these was a small Awa village, an hours walk into the rainforest, where we ran a medical and dental clinic for one day. This offered an amazing insight into a way of life not often seen by tourists, and further allowed me to see the range of pathologies prevalent in tropical areas.
During our holiday time Dr Moreno was kind enough to take me to Esmeraldas during their independence festival, a fantastic series of events with music, dancing, fireworks and parades. Again being with an Ecuadorian allowed me to gain access to activities that most tourists do not attend.
I also recieved Spanish lessons during my time in Ecuador, as I had no Spanish before I arrived. I would advise anyone hoping to work with people in these communities to learn Spanish before arriving, because although it is easy to pick up phrases to get around, it is difficult trying to forge friendships and deal with patients in a foreign language, and my lack of Spanish made me somewhat isolated and dependent on Dr Moreno as my interpreter. Our lessons were somewhat haphazard due to our medical schedule, so I did not learn as much as potenitally could have in the three weeks I was with Ecotrackers, so I would recommend if you want lessons, to stay in Quito and go to a dedicated language school for at least a week or two.
Overall I had many positive experiences during my time with Ecotrackers, I saw a lot of tropical medicine and was also exposed to many different ways of life. The family feel to Ecotrackers made it a great organisation to deal with, and they were extremely helpful and accommodating of my needs

Graham Marsh in Balda Lupaxi

2007-12-07T13:18:00.000-08:00

Right before leaving for Quito I asked Baltazar what problems Quinoa, as a product, had experienced in the past. How strange, I thought, that the main focus of my week here in the Chimborazo community of Balda Lupaxi had been on a crop that I had previously never seen or heard of. Baltazar, the local director of the community, replied that in the past the nutritional value of Quinoa was not fully appreciated, and therefore not reflected in its value on the market. The lack of demand in Ecuador, as well as high processing costs, meant that many farmers had little interest in growing the plant.

Quinoa (Quinua in Spanish, Kinoa in Quechua) is a cereal that grows almost solely in the Andes of Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru. These days it is well known for its great nutritional value and especially high amounts of protein, although in the past the Incas were well aware of its strengths. Unfortunately so were the Spanish conquistors, who saw Quinoa as the source of the power of the Incas. Spanish destruction of the crop (and replacement with European grains such as Barley and Wheat) left the plant as a forgotten crop.

In recent decades natural scientists discovered the rich qualities of Quinoa, and it then became recognised as a potential contributor to problems of malnutrition and undernutrition in the Andes. This was one of many things I learnt whilst in Riobamba (capital of Chimborazo Province) talking Manfred Ebertseder of Deutcher Engtwicklungdienst (DED), the German government development organisation who have helped to reignite the cultivation of Quinoa. Today over 2600 indigenous producers of Chimborazo are part of an organisation which processes and exports to the UK and France. It´s important for the producers to be organised in such a way, not only for the export procedure, but also because the plant requires a lot of processing and carrying this out on a larger scale is much less costly.

Manfred spoke of the social importance of Quinoa, his opinion is that it can play an important part in the rediscovery of identity that the indigenous people of Ecuador are living. “We also send Agroeconomists who ensure that the nutrition of the communities is a primary concern, and Agroscientists who pass on expert knowledge of farming techniques.” He said. I was assured that quality of life (especially nutrition), as well as incomes of producers have increased since he has been working in the area. The DED team is looking to finish their work in Chimborazo in the near future, leaving behind an infrastructure and a base of knowledge that will allow the producers and citizens of the communities to control their own future. Encouraged by this attitude I left Riobamba eager to learn more about this mysterious crop.

Baltazar was always very happy to answer my questions and on the bus ride back he told me of the social and environmental factors that have a grave impact on the lives of the Balda Lupaxi community. The changeable climate and prevalent deforestation has lead to a level of soil degradation, although the truth is that Quinoa is a very resistant plant.

Migration is a great social and economic problem in the area. During my visit I noticed that the population of the community was made up of parents, both young and old, along with very young children. The adolescents of the community tend to leave for the cities, either permanently or during the weekdays, in search of work or education. It is hard to tell whether or not this migration is more individually more beneficial than working on agriculture, but the effect on agricultural production is bound to be negative.

Before returning from Riobamba to the community we stopped to witness a meeting of Quinoa producers from around the Balda Lupaxi area. After a brief introduction by a man speaking Quechua, a young woman began speaking to the group in Spanish. I immediately recognised the logo on her T-Shirt: she was from the Fair Trade Company. From what I understood the Fair Trade Company arranged for a premium of $4 to be paid to cultivators for every Quintal produced, raising the price to $39. “The thing is that most farmers only produce few Quintals per year”, Baltazar explained, “The Fair Trade Premium only really affects those who produce a lot”. For this reason it was not clear to me whether the strict standards that the farmers must adhere to (in order to qualify for Fair Trade and Organic Status) offset the small individual benefit gained from the premium.

So what of the future of the Quinoa crop? If the popularity of Fair Trade products continues, as it is in England, to rise in popularity then there will no doubt be a demand. The important thing is that fair markets are created where Ecuadorian, Peruvian, and Bolivian farmers can compete on a level playing field with those in the developed countries in which they wish to export. Unfortunately I didn´t have the chance to learn about what actions the Fair Trade Organisation take to achieve this end.

The farmers of the Balda Lupaxi area certainly have an advantage over many of their competitors in that their product is also Organic. On top of this they are well organised, and have benefited from the expertise of DED, but do the people really want to make their living through selling Quinoa? Can they earn more in the short-term by migrating to the city, and even if they don´t earn as much, is the lure of the city greater than the wish to live as a farmer? These questions may remain unanswered until, if and when, I return to Chimborazo Province. However, one thing is for sure, if the passion and determination my host, Baltazar shows towards the subject is anything to go by, the future is bright for the Quinoa cultivators of Balda Lupaxi.

Graham Marsh 07-12-07

2007-10-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

¿Y si me hubiera casado?
Por Melinda Savić
Graduada en español en la Universidad de Michigan y con conocimientos de Inglés, francés y bosnio-yugoeslavo, escribió este relato en español sobre su primera semana entre indígenas de los Andes, con un guión de adaptación a radio y video en tres idiomas

Martes, el 2 de octubre 2007, las 11:30 de la mañana, Terminal Terrestre, Quito, Ecuador, yo buscando un bus para Balda Lupaxi, un lugar desconocido en la Sierra ecuatoriana, un lugar desconocido para mí al menos. Chequeando los buses para Cuenca porque se supone que sigo la misma ruta. ¡Bingo! El que vende los boletos dice que sí conoce. ¡Chévere! Compro el pasaje y voy hacía donde el bus,… Parece que no soy la única que no conoce el lugar; el chofer no tiene ni idea a donde voy,…Regresa a la taquilla y se lo pregunta al hombre que vende los tickets. “¡Ah ya! Bien, bien” y me dice que suba al bus yo pues, toda contenta: “¡Por fin!”
Pronto, dejamos Quito, o eso creo, pues el chofer sigue parando para que suba más gente, pero bueno, yo tranquila, lo que me interesa es ver lo que me rodea así que abro mi ventanita y me sumerjo en mi propio mundo. Un desfile de paisajes y pueblitos se ofrece a mí pero lo que más me interesa es la gente, algo que me fascina desde mucho tiempo ya. Algo que resalta es la diferencia entre ricos y pobres; parece que no hay clase media. Veo una mujer llevando un traje, una mujer de negocios, sólo que está llevando el traje en medio de nada, en un pueblito en cual no veo ningún edificio que por lo menos tiene la apariencia de un edificio de negocios y me pregunto: “Pero ¿Por qué? ¿Para qué?”
Otra parada. Entran vendedores callejeros: “Seco de pollo.” “Fruta: mango, uvas, naranjas.” “Empanadas, pan de leche, pan dulce.” y yo pensando: Pero ¿por qué mierda llevé comida? Supongo que es debido a mis cuatro años de universidad y mis viajes frecuentes en bus desde New Hampshire hasta Michigan y viceversa, en cuales mejor llevar su propia comida para evitar los precios exorbitantes y el sabor menos que bueno de la comida que uno podía comprar durante las paradas escasas y cortitas que el chofer hacía.
El hombre que trabaja en el bus, no el chofer, sino el que lo ayuda, pasa para pedir los pasajes a los que entraron durante el viaje, y yo: “Señor, señor, ¿me puede avisar cuándo tengo que bajar porque yo no tengo ni idea? Por favor.” “¿Guamote?” me dice. “Un poquito antes, así me dijeron.” “¡Ah! Ya.” Y yo pensando: “Chévere pues, ya no tengo que preocuparme tanto.”
Un tiempito después,…, básicamente, este mismo hombre me bota del bus y se va sin ni siquiera decirme dónde estaba y yo, como había unos chicos que me miraban, y yo sabiendo que el director del programa de Balda Lupaxi es hombre, dije: “¿Baltazar?” El primero me responde que no, el segundo también,…La gente empieza a juntarse alrededor de mí viendo que había como una conmoción,…y yo: “¿Balda Lupaxi?” y todos: “¿Qué? No conocemos.” Viene más gente preguntando “¿Qué pasa?”, y como ahora todos los demás ya saben mi historia, en vez de responderlos yo, ellos lo hacían. Una mujer que estaba vendiendo algo de comida dejó su puesto y se acercó a la muchedumbre para saber también y, ni uno ni dos, me propone venir a quedarme en su casa, que podía casarme con uno de sus hijos. Yo estaba riéndome, pues no era lo que esperaba. Creo que por hablar español tuve más suerte porque me acogieron súper bien.
Yo estaba preguntando si había un lugar de donde podía llamar y me decían que no que ya era tarde, y de repente, una joven indígena que cargaba su guagua en la espalda saca su celular y como yo tenía el número de Baltasar, pues ella lo llamó explicando que yo estaba en la gasolinera de Guamote y que venga a recogerme, pero él decía que yo coja otro bus para La Providencia, que allá me esperaba. Bueno, luego volvió a llamar y le dijo a la joven indígena que él estaba llegando y que lo espere ahí no más.
Por fin vino. Vino corriendo porque él había salido en la otra gasolinera, y como veía que no había nadie, llamó a la joven indígena otra vez y ella le dijo que yo estaba en la otra gasolinera. Bueno, tomamos el bus y por fin llegamos a la parada de Balda Lupaxi. Tuvimos que andar unos 15-20 minutos hasta su casa. En el camino, hablamos para conocernos mejor, para ver lo que la comunidad estaba haciendo con su proyecto de desarrollo y también de lo que yo vine a hacer. En el camino escuché “Gringuita” varias veces por parte de los niños que estaban jugando frente a sus casas. Al principio me pareció chistoso, pues en Quito no tenía este problema, pero luego, empezó a llegarme, pero ésta es otra historia,… Llegamos a la casa y Baltasar me mostró mi cuarto, dejé mis cosas ahí y nos fuimos a la otra casa donde viven una pareja joven, Luís y Victoria, y sus hijos, Pacari y Cintia, y donde me dijo que íbamos a comer cada día. Me ofreció unas agüitas. Primero yo no sabía qué quería decir exactamente, pero así se dice al té caliente y claro acepté, especialmente que las plantas vienen de ahí mismo, frente a la casa. Cuando me lo sirvió, yo me dije: “¡Oh! ¡Oh! Ahí vienen los parásitos,” pues antes de salir de Quito me avisaron que iba a enfermarme del estómago porque ahí, en la sierra, el agua hierve a los 70º C, lo que permite a los parásitos a sobrevivir, pero bueno, no podía evitar los líquidos durante mi estancia ahí, así que tomé, nada más.
Conocí a la familia, luego comimos, y a dormir. Pues, pffffffff, ¡Qué noche! El frío ¡horrible! No dormí nada, más aun, me puse súper nerviosa por intentar de todas mis fuerzas dormirme, pero nada, no funcionó. Antes de darme cuenta, el gallo ya estaba cantando. Una rutina se desarrolló. Durante el día visitábamos las cosas interesantes del lugar y de sus alrededores y bueno, yo le daba mi opinión a Baltasar por haber vivido en varios países ya. Durante el día todo chévere, luego en la tarde veíamos algunos videos hecho en la región, o en el “barrio” como dijo Luís antes de comer y ya venía la hora que temía todo el día: la hora de dormir, porque más que me daban más y más cobijas, nada funcionaba, si es que lograba a dormirme era por un par de horas máximo. Después de unos tres, cuatro días, empezó la temporada de las lluvias así que ya ni siquiera podía calentarme durante el día, de tal modo que mi ánimo bajó un poco.
El lunes 8 de octubre, fui a la escuela a enseñarles algo de arte a los niños y es lo que más me gustó de toda mi estancia, así que los ánimos subieron otra vez porque se suponía que lo haría toda la semana, excepto el día siguiente por haber planeado ir a Chimborazo con un doctor de medicina tradicional. Llega el martes y Baltazar me dice que el viaje fue cancelado por la lluvia, pues sí, llovió todo el día. Como estaba congelada y nada funcionaba para calentarme, pues tomé la decisión súbita de regresar a Quito el día siguiente después de haberles dado clase de inglés a los niños. Mi decisión no me gustó mucho, pues verdaderamente me encantó trabajar con los niños. El martes pasé viendo videos y pensando en mi experiencia esta semana, y sin querer me dormí en la silla,…
“Puedes venir a quedarte en mi casa, te puedes casar con uno de mis hijos.” “¡Hmmmmmm!” pensé. “En vez de quedarme sentada aquí sola y con la noche llegando, mejor haría aceptar ir con ella a su casa y ver mañana cómo llegar a Balda Lupaxi.” Entonces, fuimos a su casa y ¡sorpresa!, sus hijos eran súper altos. “Raro” pensé, especialmente que la mujer me llegaba a la cintura. Pasamos la noche conversando y riéndonos, y me divertí un montón. La verdad, el hijo que tenía mi edad me gustó mucho. Pensé, muy extraño por mi parte, porque usualmente no tomo decisiones a la ligera: “¿y por qué no casarme? No tengo nada que perder.”
¡Wow! Las cosas se mueven rápido en la comunidad cuando tiene que ver con los matrimonios. Antes de darme cuenta, todo estaba arreglado ya, como sí hubieran estado esperando el momento desde mucho tiempo. ¡Uffffffffff! La ceremonia dura cuatro días enteros. Primero el matrimonio civil, luego el matrimonio en la iglesia, claro con toda la comunidad siguiéndonos a todas partes como si me casara con ellos también, y luego fiesta, fiesta, fiesta. Bueno, no fue exactamente el matrimonio tradicional, pues mis padres no pudieron venir debido a tan súbita noticia y a la distancia, pero toda la familia de mi esposo tuvo que darme la bendición y aceptarme en la familia. Luego, todos nos reunimos a comer cuy y tomar chicha, entre otras cosas, hasta no aguantar más. Como yo no aguanto mucho alcohol, pues después de unos tragos ya estaba quedándome dormida y me dormí sentada en las piernas de mi marido. ¡Uy! ¡Qué raro suena la palabra! Sé que todos mis amigos se van a quedar boquiabiertos al saber la noticia.
Antes de saber lo que pasaba, pues mi marido también se quedó dormido por tomar tanto, pues me desperté cayendo. Abrí los ojos asustada, saltando de mi silla, y era Baltazar que me despertaba para comer, y con toda la familia mirándome como “¡Qué loca esta chica!” “!Uffffff¡” dije en voz alta “¡qué sueño acabo de tener!” Después de comer y regresar a mi cuarto, hice mi maleta pensando en el sueño que tuve. “¡Uich!” pensé. “Ya me imagino las caras de mis padres.”
Bueno, el miércoles se resumió como previsto. Luego de haber dado clases a los niños, Baltazar y yo salimos para ir a la parada de bus y justo en este momento empezó a dolerme el estómago. “¡Noooooooooo!” pensé. “No ahora.” El viaje en bus hasta Quito fue el más largo de mi vida: no acababa. Y para colmo, ponen la peor película que he visto desde mucho tiempo. “Pffffffffff! ¡Qué viaje de vuelta!” pensé. “Mejor me hubiera casado.”

VERSION AUDIO VISUAL
Introducción
SONIDO Entra música andina de zampoñas que sube y queda de fondo
IMAGEN Una foto de Baldalupaxi con el Chimborazo, y texto del Titulo
“ SI ME HUBIERA CASADO”
Por Melinda Savic Adaptación de Guión Maximiliano Moreno
Sonido:……………….. Fotografía:…………………..
SONIDO: Fade in del ruido del trafico en el Terminal terrestre que queda en fondo
ESCENA 1: Es de mañana, Melinda llega a la ventanilla de la cooperativa de buses y una persona le atiende.
NARRADOR: Martes, el 2 de octubre 2007, las 11:30 de la mañana, Terminal Terrestre, Quito, Ecuador, yo una chica de Bosnia que vive en Estados Unidos y llegué a Ecuador para un trabajo como voluntaria estoy buscando un bus para Balda Lupaxi, un lugar desconocido en la Sierra ecuatoriana, un lugar desconocido para mí al menos. Voy chequeando los buses para Cuenca porque se supone que sigo la misma ruta hasta que ¡Bingo!
Tuesday, October 2nd 2007, it is 11:30am, at the Terminal Terreste, in Quito Ecuador, I, a girl from Bosnia who lives in the United States, came to Ecuador to do volunteer work, am looking for a bus going to Balda Lupaxi, an unknown place in the Ecuadorian Sierra, an unknown place for me that is. I am checking the buses going to Cuenca, since I am supposedly following the same route. Bingo!
Mardi, le 2 octobre 2007, 11h30 du matin, Terminal Terrestre, Quito, Ecuateur, moi, une jeune fille de la Bosnie qui habite aux Etats-Unis et qui est en Ecuateur pour un travail de bénévole, je suis à la recherche d’un bus qui va à Balda Lupaxi, un lieu inconnu dans la Sierra écuatorienne, un lieu inconnu pour moi au moins. Je suis en train de contrôler les bus pour Cuenca car il paraît que je suis la même route. Bingo!
VENDEDOR: Si señorita yo si conozco a donde usted va.
Yes, miss, I do know where you are going.
Oui, mademoiselle, moi je sais bien où vous êtes entrain d’aller.
NARRADOR: ¡Chévere! Compro el pasaje y voy hacía donde el bus,… Ah..ah Parece que no soy la única que no conoce el lugar; el chofer no tiene ni idea a donde voy,…Regresa a la taquilla.
Cool! I buy my bus ticket and go where the bus is,… Ah! It seems that I am not the only one who doesn´t know the place I am going to; the driver has no idea where I am going,…He goes back to the sales window.
Cool! J’achète mon billet et je vais où le bus attend,…Ah..ah, on dirait que je ne suis pas la seule qui ne connaisse pas l’endroit, le chauffeur n’a aucune idée où je vais. Il repart à la fenêtre de vente.
CHOFER. ¿Dónde queda Balda Lupaxi?
Where is Balda Lupaxi?
C’est où Balda Lupaxi?
VENDEDOR: ¿No sabrás? ¡En la curva unos cinco minutos antes de Guamote!
You don´t know? At the curve about five minutes befote Guamote!
Tu ne sais pas? Au virage à un peu près cinq minutes avant Gaumote!
CHOFER ¡Ahhh! Bien bien Suba no más señorita
Ahhhhhh! Good good. Go on miss.
Ahhhhhhhh! D’accord, d’accord. Vous pouvez monter mademoiselle.
NARRADOR Y yo pues, toda contenta: “¡Por fin!”
And me, all happy: “Finally!”
Et moi, toute heureuse: “En fin!”
SONIDO: En fondo el ruido del bus
ESCENA 2 Vista desde el interior del bus del paisaje que va pasando desde la salida de Quito y luego de la Sierra visto desde la ventana
NARRADOR Pronto, dejamos Quito, o eso creo, pues el chofer sigue parando para que suba más gente, pero bueno, yo tranquila, lo que me interesa es ver lo que me rodea así que abro mi ventanita y me sumerjo en mi propio mundo.
Soon we leave Quito, or that´s what I think, well, the driver keeps stopping so that more people can get on, but oh well, I keep quiet, what interests me most is to see my surroundings so I open my little window and I submerge myself in my own world.
Bientôt, nous partons de Quito, bon c’est ce que je crois, car le chauffeur n’arrête pas de faire des stops pour que plus de monde puisse entrer, mais bon, moi je reste tranquille, ce qui m’intèresse c’est de voir ce qui m’entoure, alors j’ouvre ma petite fenêtre et je me plonge dans mon propre monde.
SONIDO: Bus que para y se detiene el ruido del motor. Ruido de la gente que entra
ESCENA 3 En el interior del bus. Personas que suben al bus y buscan asientos o se acomodan de pie.
Un desfile de paisajes y pueblitos se ofrece a mí pero lo que más me interesa es la gente, algo que me fascina desde mucho tiempo ya. Algo que resalta es la diferencia entre ricos y pobres; parece que no hay clase media. Veo una mujer llevando un traje, una mujer de negocios, sólo que está llevando el traje en medio de nada, en un pueblito en cual no veo ningún edificio que por lo menos tiene la apariencia de un edificio de negocios y me pregunto: “Pero ¿Por qué? ¿Para qué?”
An endless parade of landscapes and villages passes in front of me, but what most interests me is the people, something that has fascinated me for a while. A theme that jumps out at me is the difference between rich and poor; it seems that there is no middle class. I see a woman wearing a suit, a business woman, but she is wearing it in the middle of nowhere, in a small town in which I do not see any building which would give the impression of being of any important business and so I ask myself: “But why? What for?”
Un defile de paysages et de villages s’offre à moi mais ce qui m’intèresse le plus c’est les gens, quelque chose qui me fascine depuis un bon moment déjà. Une chose qui saute aux yeux c’est la différence entre riches et pauvres, on dirait qu’il n’y a pas de classe moyenne. Je vois une femme qui porte un business suit, une femme d’affaires, seulement qu’elle porte le business suit au milieu de rien, dans un village où je ne vois aucun immeuble qui fasse croire que c’est un immeuble de business et je me demande: “Mais pourquoi? Pour quoi faire?”
SONIDO: El bus para otra vez
ESCENA 4: En el interior de bus entran vendedores callejeros: “Seco de pollo.” “Fruta: mango, uvas, naranjas.” “Empanadas, pan de leche, pan dulce.”
NARRADOR: Y yo pensando: Pero ¿por qué mierda llevé comida? Supongo que es debido a mis cuatro años de universidad y mis viajes frecuentes en bus desde New Hampshire hasta Michigan y viceversa, en cuales mejor llevar su propia comida para evitar los precios exorbitantes y el sabor menos que bueno de la comida que uno podía comprar durante las paradas escasas y cortitas que el chofer hacía.
And I go thinking: “But why in hell did I bring food with me?” It is probably due to my four years in college and my frequent bus trips from New Hampshire to Michigan and vice versa, trips in which it was better to carry one’s own food in order to avoid the high prices and the bad tasting food that one could buy during the rare and short stops that the driver made.
Et je me mets à penser: “Mais pourquoi est-ce que j’ai apporté de la bouffe?” Je pense que c’est à cause de mes quatre années d’université et de mes voyages fréquents depuis New Hampshire jusqu’à Michigan et viceversa dans lesquelles c’est mieux d’apporter sa propre nourriture pour éviter les prix exorbitants et le goût moins que bon de la nourriture que l’on pouvait acheter pendant les rares et courts arrêts que le chauffeur faisait.
SONIDO: Música de pasillo ecuatoriano mezclado con el ruido del motor
ESCENA 5: En el interior del bus el hombre que trabaja en el bus, el controlador, pasa para pedir los pasajes a los que entraron durante el viaje
CONTROLADOR: Pasajes por favor
Tickets please.
Vos billets s’il vous plaît.
MELINDA: Aquí tiene….¡Señor, señor! ¿Me puede avisar cuándo tengo que bajar porque yo no tengo ni idea? Por favor.
Here you are…Mister! Could you please tell me when I need to get off, because I myself have no idea?
Le voici…Monsieur, monsieur! Est-ce que vous pouvez me dire où je dois sortir car moi je n’ai aucune idée? S’il vous plaît.
CONTROLADOR ¿ En Guamote?
In Guamote?
Guamote?
MELINDA: En Balda Lupaxi. Un poquito antes, así me dijeron.
In Balda Lupaxi. A little before I was told.
Balda Lupaxi. On m’a dit que c’était un peu avant.
CONTROLADOR: ¡Ah! Ya.
Okay!
Ah! D’accord.
NARRADOR Y yo pensando: “Chévere pues, ya no tengo que preocuparme tanto.”
And I go thinking: “Cool! I don’t have to worry as much anymore.”
Alors je me dis: “Cool alors, je n’ai plus besoin de m’inquieter au tant”
SONIDO Bus que arranca
ESCENA Es tarde en Guamote junto a la gasolinera
NARRADOR Un tiempito después,…, básicamente, este mismo hombre me bota del bus y se va sin ni siquiera decirme dónde estaba y yo, como había unos chicos que me miraban, y yo sabiendo que el director del programa de Balda Lupaxi es hombre, dije:
A little later,…, basically, this same man kicks me out of the bus and goes away without even telling me where I am, and , since there were some young guys looking at me, and knowing that the program director in Balta Lupaxi is a man, I say:
Un peu plus tard, …, littéralement, le même home me fout dehors et part sans me dire où je me trouve et moi, comme il y avait des jeunes gars entrain de me regarder, et comme je savais que le directeur du programme de Balda Lupaxi est un home, je dis:
MELINDA: ¿Baltazar?
Baltazar?
Baltazar?
PERSNA 1: No
No
Non
PERSONA 2: No
No
Non
NARRADOR: La gente que empieza a juntarse alrededor de mí viendo que había como una conmoción,…y yo:
People start forming a little croad around me seeing that there was a sort of commotion,…and I go:
Les gens commencent à se rassembler au tour de moi car ils voyaient qu’il y avait une sorte de commotion,…et moi:
MELINDA: Balda Lupaxi?
Balda Lupaxi?
Balda Lupaxi?
PERSONA 3 ¿Qué? No conocemos.
What? We don’t know where that is.
Quoi? Nous ne connaissons pas.
PERSONA 4 “¿Qué pasa?”
What’s going on?
Qu’est-ce qui se passe?
PERSONA 1 Que está perdida
She is lost.
Elle est perdue.
NARRADOR Y como ahora todos los demás ya saben mi historia, en vez de responderlos yo, ellos lo hacían.
And now that everyone knows my story, no need for me to answer their questions, they were doing it.
Et maintenant, comme tout le monde savait mon histoire, au lieu que moi j’aie besoin de répondre, c’est eux qui le faisait.
ESCENA : Una mujer que estaba vendiendo algo de comida dejó su puesto y se acercó a la muchedumbre para saber también y, ni uno ni dos, me propone:
A woman who was selling food, left her spot and came closer to the crowd so that she could also know what was happening, and out of nowhere, she tells me:
Une dame qui était en train de vendre de la nourriture à laisser son post et s’est approchée à la foule pour aussi savoir et, ni un ni deux, elle me propose:
MUJER. ¿No quieres venir a quedarte en mi casa? Podías casarte con uno de mis hijos.
Don’t you want to come and stay in my house? You could get married to one of my sons.
Tu ne veux pas venir rester chez moi? Tu pourrais te marrier avec un de mes fils.
MELINDA : ¡JA, JA, JA¡
HA! HA! HA!
HA! HA! HA!
NARRADOR: Yo estaba riéndome, pues no era lo que esperaba. Creo que por hablar
español tuve más suerte porque me acogieron súper bien.
I could not stop laughing, well, it was really not what I was expecting. I think I had more luck due to the fact that I could speak Spanish because they really welcomed me.
Moi, j’étais en train de rire, ben, je ne m’attendais vraiment pas à ça. Je crois que j’ai eu plus de chance car je parle l’espagnole, parce qu’ils m’ont vraiment bien accueillie.
MELINDA: ¿Dónde hay un lugar para llamar?
Is there a place where I could call from?
Est-ce qu’il y a un endroit d’où je pourrais appeler?
PERSONA 1: Aquí no hay ahora ya es tarde
It’s too late already, there is nothing at this time.
C’est trop tard déjà, il n’y a rien d’ouvert à cette heure-ci.
NARRADOR De repente, una joven indígena que cargaba su niño en la espalda saca su celular y como yo tenía el número de Baltazar, pues ella lo llamó
Suddenly, a young indigenous woman who was carrying her baby on her back takes her cell phone out and since I had Baltazar’s phone number, she called him.
Tout à coup, une jeune femme indigène qui portait son bébé au dos, sort son téléphone portable and comme moi j’avais le numéro de Baltazar, ben elle l’a appelé.
MUJER 2 ¿Señor Baltazar? Aquí hay una señorita preguntado por usted. Está en la gasolinera de Guamote…. Dice que venga a recogerla por favor. Pero Baltazar le dice que me diga que coja otro bus para La Providencia, que allá me espera.
Baltazar, sir??? There is a young lady here asking for you. She is at Gaumote’s gas station… She says that you please come and get her. But Baltazar tells her to tell me that I take another bus to La Providencia, that he is waiting there for me.
Monsieur Baltazar??? Il y a une jeune fille ici qui vous recherché. Elle est à la pompe de pétrole de Guamote…. Elle dit que vous veniez la chercher s’il vous plaît. Mais Baltazar lui dit qu’elle me dise que je prenne un bus pour la Providencia, qu’il m’y attend.
NARRADOR. Luego Baltazar volvió a llamar
A moment later, Baltazar called again.
Un moment plus tard, Baltazar la rappèle.
MUJER 2 ¡Alo! Si aquí está en la gasolinera todavía. Ya .. ya entonces usted está llegando y que yo lo espere aquí no más.
Hallo! Yes, she is still here at the gas station. Yes then, you are coming right away and that she waits for you.
Hallo! Oui, elle est encore à la pompe de pétrole. D’accord,..d’accord, alors vous êtes en chemin et qu’elle vous attende ici, rien de plus.
Sonido: Nuevamente suena el teléfono
ESCENA: Atardecer en la gasolinera
MUJER 2 Aló que le siga esperando porque se bajó en la otra y como no vio a nadie, dice que ya viene
Hallo! He says that you keep waiting. He got off at the wrong gas station and since he didn’t see anyone, he is coming here right now.
Hallo! Il dit que vous l’attendiez encore car il est descendu dans l’autre pompe de pétrole et comme il n’a vu à personne il dit qu’il arrive.
SONIDO respiración agitada y pasos sobre el cemento
ESCENA En la gasolinera
MELINDA ¿Baltazar?
Baltazar?
Baltazar?
BALTAZAR Sí, soy yo, Bienvenida
Yes, it is he. Welcome.
Oui, c’est moi. Bienvenue.
MELINDA Por fin que bueno que llegó.
Finally, I am glad you came.
Enfin, je suis contente que vous soyiez là.
SONIDO Bus que se detiene
ESCENA Baltazar ayuda a Melinda a subir con las maletas al bus
NARRADOR Bueno, tomamos el bus y por fin llegamos a la parada de Balda Lupaxi.
Well, we got onto the bus and we finally got at the Balda Lupaxi bus stop.
Bon, nous avons pris le bus et nous sommes enfin arrives à l’arrêt de Balda Lupaxi.
SONIDO: Entra música de zampoñas mezcladas con ladridos de perros
ESCENA Crepúsculo del atardecer en el camino de entrada a Baldalupaxi
NARRADOR: Tuvimos que andar unos 15-20 minutos hasta su casa. En el camino, hablamos para conocernos mejor, para ver lo que la comunidad estaba haciendo con su proyecto de desarrollo y también de lo que yo vine a hacer
We had to walk about 15 to 20 minutes to get to the house. On the way there, we talked so we could get to know each other better, to see what the community was doing with its development project and also to see what I came there to do.
Nous avons dû marcher pendant un peu près 15 à 20 minutes jusqu’à la maison. En chemin, nous avons parlé pour mieux nous connaître, pour voir ce que la communité faisait avec son projet de développement et aussi de ce que moi j’étais venue pour faire.
SONIDO: Pasos sobre la tierra y ladridos de perros
ESCENA Atardecer en los caminos del poblado
NIÑOS: “Gringuita”
“Gringuita.”
“Gringuita.”
NARRADOR varias veces por parte de los niños que estaban jugando frente a sus casas, me llamaron así. Al principio me pareció chistoso, pues en Quito no tenía este problema, pero luego, empezó a llegarme, pero ésta es otra historia,…
The kids that were playing in front of their houses called me like this. At first, it sounded funny, well, in Quito I did not have that problem, but later, I got to me, but that’s another story.
Plus d’une fois, les enfants qui jouaient devant leur maison m’ont appelée ainsi. Au début, ça m’a fait rire, ben à Quito, je n’avais pas ce problème, mais après, ça a commencé à m’énerver, mais bon ça c’est une autre histoire,…
SONIDOS música de tecnocumbia en fondo
ESCENA Interior de la casa de Baltazar
NARRADOR:Llegamos a la casa y Baltazar me mostró mi cuarto, dejé mis cosas ahí
We got to Baltazar’s house and he showed me my room, and I left my things there.
Nous sommes arrivés à la maison et Baltazar m’a montré ma chamber, j’y ai laissé mes affaires.
IMAGEN. Entrada en otra casa con otras personas
SONIDOS: Saludos de bienvenida de varias personas
NARRRADOR . Nos fuimos a la otra casa donde viven una pareja joven, Luís y Victoria, y sus hijos, Pacari y Cintia
We went up to the other house where a young couple, Luis and Victoria, with their two children, Pacari and Cintia lived.
Nous sommes allés dans l’autre maison dans laquelle vit un couple de jeunes, Luis et Victoria, avec leurs enfants, Pacari et Cintia.
BALTAZAR. Bueno Melinda aquí es que vas a comer cada día. ¿Quieres unas agüitas?
Here, Melinda, is where you will come to eat every day. Do you want some “agüitas” (little waters (no tiene sentido en ingles))?
Bon, Melinda, c’est ici que tu vas venir pour manger tous les jours. Est-ce que tu veux une “agüitas”?
NARRADOR: Primero yo no sabía qué quería decir exactamente, pero así se dice al té caliente
First I did not know what that meant exactly, but then I understood that that’s what they called hot tea.
En premier, je ne savais pas ce que ça voulait dire exactement, mais c’est comme ça qu’ils disent pour le té chaud.
MELINDA: Claro
Of course I do.
Biensûr.
NARRADOR y claro acepté, especialmente que las plantas vienen de ahí mismo, frente a la casa. Cuando me lo sirvió, yo me dije: “¡Oh! ¡Oh! Ahí vienen los parásitos,” pues antes de salir de Quito me avisaron que iba a enfermarme del estómago porque ahí, en la sierra, el agua hierve a los 70º C, lo que permite a los parásitos a sobrevivir, pero bueno, no podía evitar los líquidos durante mi estancia ahí, así que tomé, nada más.
Conocí a la familia, luego comimos, y a dormir.
Of course I accepted, especially that the plants where coming from there, in front of the house. When he served me, I told myself: “Oh! Oh! Here come the parasites,” well before leaving Quito, I was told that I would get stomach sick because there, in the Sierra, water boils at 70º C, which allows the parasites to survive, but oh well, I could not avoid liquids during my stay there, so I simply drank.
I met the family, then we ate, and it was time for bed.
Biensûr que j’ai dit oui, surtout que les plantes viennent de là même, de devant la maison. Quand il m’a servie, je me suis dite: “Oh! Oh! Les parasites arrivent,” ben avant de partir de Quito, on m’a dit que j’allais avoir des problèmes d’estomac, car là, dans la Sierra, l’eau commence à bouillir à 70ºC ce qui permet aux parasites de survivre, mais bon, je ne pouvais pas éviter les liquides pendant mon séjour, alors j’ai bu, rien de plus.
J’ai fait la connaissance de la famille, on a mangé, et après au lit.
ESCENA En el cuarto por la noche Melinda tratando de dormir
SONIDO: Viento en el fondo y sonido de un gallo
NARRADOR Pues, pffffffff, ¡Qué noche! El frío ¡horrible! No dormí nada, más aun, me puse súper nerviosa por intentar de todas mis fuerzas dormirme, pero nada, no funcionó. Antes de darme cuenta, el gallo ya estaba cantando.
Well, pfffffff, what a night! The cold, terrible! I did not sleep at all. Worst even, I got very nervous while I restlessly tried to sleep, but nothing, nothing worked. Before realizing it, the rooster was singing.
Ben, pffffff, quelle nuit! Le froid, horrible! Je n’ai pas fermé l’oeil de la nuit. Le pire, c’est que ça m’a rendu encore plus nerveuse d’essayer de toutes mes forces de m’endormir, mais rien du tout, ça n’a pas marché. Avant de m’en rendre compte, le coq était en train de chanter.
SONIDO: Música andina en el fondo
ESCENAS VARIAS Mostrando las actividades del pueblo en sus siembras las mujeres en el cuidado de los animales, Melinda jugando con los niños. El amanecer y el paso del día hasta el anochecer en los Andes con el Chimborazo.
NARRADOR Una rutina se desarrolló. Durante el día visitábamos las cosas interesantes del lugar y de sus alrededores y bueno, yo le daba mi opinión a Baltazar por haber vivido en varios países ya. Durante el día todo chévere
A routine developed. During the day, we would visit the things of interest that the place and it surroundings had to offer, and well, I would give my opinion to Baltazar since I had lived in several countries already. During the day, everything was going well.
Une routine s’est formée. Pendant le jour, on allait visiter les choses intéressantes que l’endroit et ses alentours offraient, et puis, je donnais mon opinion à Batazar car j’ai eu la chance de vivre dans plusieurs pays déjà. Pendant la journée, tout allait bien.
SONIDO: sonido de videos
ESCENA La familia y Melinda viendo el video de un matrimonio indígena
NARRADOR: Luego en la tarde, antes de comer, veíamos algunos videos hechos en la región, o en el “barrio” como dijo Luís
Later in the evening, before supper, we would watch some videos made in the region, or in the “hood” as Luis has said.
Plus tard le soir, avant de manger, on regardaient de videos de la region, ou bien du “quartier” comme Luis l’a dit.
SONIDO. Viento y pocos ladridos de perros a la distancia
ESCENA En el cuarto con Baltazar que le da más cobijas.
NARRADOR: Y ya venía la hora que temía todo el día: la hora de dormir, porque más que me daban más y más cobijas, nada funcionaba, si es que lograba a dormirme era por un par de horas máximo.
And the time I was most dredging would quickly come: bed time, because, eventhough they kept giving me more blankets, nothing worked. When I would fall asleep, it was only for a couple of hours, maximum.
Et après, le moment que j’appréhendais toute la journée arrivait: le temps d’aller au lit, car même qu’ils me donnaient chaque fois de plus en plus de couvertures, rien ne marchait. Quand je m’endormais, ce n’était que pour deux heures au maximum.
SONIDO: Tormenta eléctrica.
ESCENA: La lluvia sobre los campos y la gente alegre
NARRADOR: Después de unos tres, cuatro días, empezó la temporada de las lluvias así que ya ni siquiera podía calentarme durante el día, de tal modo que mi ánimo bajó un poco.
After three or four days, the rainy season began so that now, there was no way for me to warm up during the day either, which started to get my mood down.
Après trois, quatre jours, la saison pluvieuse a commencé alors maintenant, je ne pouvais même plus me réchauffer pendant le jour, ce qui a commencé à me mettre de mauvaise humeur.
SONIDO: Bullicio de niños en la escuela
ESCENA : Vista de la escuela y luego Melinda en clases enseñando a los niños a dibujar.
NARRADOR El lunes 8 de octubre, fui a la escuela a enseñarles algo de arte a los niños y es lo que más me gustó de toda mi estancia, así que los ánimos subieron otra vez porque se suponía que lo haría toda la semana.
On Monday, October 8th, I went to the school to give some art lessons to the kids which is what I liked the most of my stay there, so that my mood got better again, especially because I was supposed to do it the entire week.
Le lundi, 8 octobre, je suis allée à l’école pour leurs enseigner quelque chose d’art aux enfants ce qui m’a plu le plus de tout mon séjour, et ça m’a mise de bonne humeur de nouveau, surtout que j’étais supposée le faire toute la semaine.
SONIDO: música de tecnocumbia mezclada con lluvia en el fondo
ESCENA: Entra Baltazar mojado
BALTAZAR: Como estás Melinda
How are you Melinda?
Comment vas-tu Melinda?
MELINDA: Con mucho frío
Very cold.
Très froid.
BALTAZAR: Al parecer el viaje para ver al curandero cerca del Chimborazo no creo que se pueda hacer por la lluvia.
It seems that the trip to Chimborazo to see the traditional doctor will not be possible due to the rain.
On dirait que le voyage à Chimborazo pour voir le médecin traditionnel ne sera pas possible à cause de la pluie.
SONIDO Tormenta eléctrica
ESCENA Tarde en la casa Melinda mirando la lluvia tras la ventana
NARRADOR. Mis ánimos volvieron a decaer ese martes, pues sí, llovió todo el día. Como estaba congelada y nada funcionaba para calentarme, pues tomé la decisión súbita de regresar a Quito el día siguiente después de haberles dado clase de inglés a los niños. Mi decisión no me gustó mucho, pues verdaderamente me encantó trabajar con los niños. El martes pasé viendo videos y pensando en mi experiencia esta semana, y sin querer me dormí en la silla,…
My mood went down again that Tuesday, well, it rained all day. Since I was freezing and nothing could warm me up, well, I took the sudden decision to go back to Quito the next day after giving English lessons to the kids. I did not like my decision very much, well to be honest, I loved working with the kids. I spent Tuesday watching videos and thinking about me experience this past week, and without wanting to, I fell asleep in the chair,…
Mon humeur a baissé de nouveau ce mardi-là, ben il a plu toute la journée. Comme je crevais de froid et rien ne marché pour me réchauffer, j’ai pris la décision subite de retourner à Quito le lendemain après avoir donnée des leçons d’angais aux enfants. Ma decisión ne me plaisait pas, ben pour être honnête, j’ai adoré travailler avec les enfants. J’ai passé tout le mardi en train de regarder de videos, et sans le vouloir, je me suis endormie assise sur la chaise.
SONIDO Música indígena de una fiesta de matrimonio
ESCENA Una imagen opaca que se va aclarando hasta la tarde en la estación de gasolina de Guamote.
MUJER ¡Puedes venir a quedarte en mi casa, te puedes casar con uno de mis hijos.
You can come to stay at my house, you can get married to one of my sons.
Tu peux venir rester chez moi, tu peux te marier avec un de mes fils.
MELINDA “¡Hmmmmmm! Vamos” pensé.
Hmmmmmmm! Let’s go” I thought.
“Hmmmmmmm! On y va” j’ai pensé.
ESCENA Tarde por un camino como el de Balda Lupaxi, Melinda y la mujer llegan a una casa y entran en ella
ESCENA Melinda saluda con dos jóvenes más altos que ella
NARRADOR: Entonces, fuimos a su casa y ¡sorpresa!, sus hijos eran súper altos. “Raro” pensé, especialmente que la mujer me llegaba a la cintura.
So, we went to her house, and what a surprise! Her sons were very tall. “Weird” I thought, especially since their mother was as high as my waist.
Alors, nous sommes parties pour sa maison, et quelle surprise! Ses fils étais très grands. “Bizarre” je me suis dite, surtout que leur maman me venait à la ceinture.
SONIDO: Música de tecnocumbia en el fondo, carcajadas
ESCENA En el interior de la casa Melinda y los jóvenes conversando y riéndose
NARRADOR: Pasamos la noche conversando y riéndonos, y me divertí un montón. La verdad, el hijo que tenía mi edad me gustó mucho. Pensé, muy extraño por mi parte, porque usualmente no tomo decisiones a la ligera: “¿y por qué no casarme? No tengo nada que perder.”
We spent the night talking and laughing, and I had a lot of fun. Honestly, the son who was as old as I am was very nice. I thought, something unusal coming from me, especially that I don’t take decisions like that without thinking it over: “And why not get married? I don’t have anything to lose.”
On a passé la nuit en train de parler et de rire, et je me suis vraiment bien amuse. Honnêtement, le fils qui avait mon âge me plaisait beaucoup. J’ai pensé, quelque chose de pas normal pour moi, surtout que je ne prends pas de décisions à la legère d’habitude: “Et pourquoi ne pas me marrier? Je n’ai rien à perdre.”
SONIDO: Gritos y música de fiesta de matrimonio indígena
ESCENA: Melinda sale de la iglesia de Guamote tomada de la mano de su esposo y los indígenas les felicitan.
NARRADOR ¡Wow! Las cosas se mueven rápido en la comunidad cuando tiene que ver con los matrimonios. Antes de darme cuenta, todo estaba arreglado ya, como sí hubieran estado esperando el momento desde mucho tiempo. ¡Uffffffffff! La ceremonia dura cuatro días enteros. Primero el matrimonio civil, luego el matrimonio en la iglesia, claro con toda la comunidad siguiéndonos a todas partes como si me casara con ellos también, y luego fiesta, fiesta, fiesta. Bueno, no fue exactamente el matrimonio tradicional, pues mis padres no pudieron venir debido a tan súbita noticia y a la distancia, pero toda la familia de mi esposo tuvo que darme la bendición y aceptarme en la familia.
Wow! Things move fast in the community when it comes to weddings. Before realizing it, everything was already all set, as if they were waiting for this moment a long time already. Uffffff! The ceremony lasts four days. First the civil wedding, then the church wedding, of course, with the entire community following us everywhere as if I were marrying them as well, and then, party, party, party. Well, it was not exactly the traditional wedding, well, my parents could not come due to the sudden notice and also the distance, but the husband’s family had to give me the benediction and accept me into the family.
Wow! Les choses avancent vite dans la communauté quand ça vient aux marriages. Avant de m’en rendre compte, tout était déjà arrangé, comme si ils avaient attendu ce moment depuis un bout de temps déjà. Uffffff! La cérémonie dure quatre jours. En premier, le marriage civil, aprè le marriage dans l’église, et biensûr, avec toute la communauté qui nous suit partout comme si je me mariais avec eux aussi, et après, fête, fête, fête. Bon ce n’était pas exactement le marriage tradicionnel, ben mes parents n’ont pas pu venir à cause de la subite nouvelle et aussi la distance, mais la famille de mon époux devait me donner la bénédiction et m’accepter dans la famille.
SONIDO Música de banda de pueblo en el fondo
ESCENA Banquete a la entrada de la casa en un día soleado
NARRADOR Luego, todos nos reunimos a comer cuy y tomar chicha, entre otras cosas, hasta no aguantar más.
Later, we all got together to eat Guinea pig and drink chicha among other things, until we could not budge anymore.
Plus tard, nous nous sommes tous réunis pour manger du cochon d’Inde et pour boire de la chiche, entre autres choses, jusqu’à ne plus pouvoir.
SONIDO de la fiesta en el fondo
ESCENA En la sala al atardecer Melinda se va durmiendo sobre las piernas de su marido.
NARRADOR: Como yo no aguanto mucho alcohol, pues después de unos tragos ya estaba quedándome dormida y me dormí sentada en las piernas de mi marido. ¡Uy! ¡Qué raro suena la palabra! Sé que todos mis amigos se van a quedar boquiabiertos al saber la noticia.
Since I do don’t very well with alcohol, well, after a few drinks I was already passing out and I fell asleep in my husband’s lap. Uy! That word sounds so weird! I know that all my friends will stay open mouthed when they hear the news.
Comme je ne support pas trop l’alcool, ben après quelques verres je commençais déjà à m’endormir et je me suis endormie assise sur les genoux de mon époux. Uy! Ce mot me paraît trop bizarre! Je suis sûre que tous mes amis vont restés bouche baie après avoir entendu la nouvelle.
SONIDO: un perro ladrando
ESCENA: En la sala de la casa Melinda se va cayendo y se despierta bruscamente
NARRADOR Antes de saber lo que pasaba, pues mi marido también se quedó dormido por tomar tanto, pues me desperté cayendo.
Without knowing what was going on, well, my husband had also passed out for drinking as much, well, I woke up falling.
Sans savoir ce qui se passait, ben, mon époux s’était aussi endormi après avoir bu autant, ben je me suis réveillée entrain de tomber.
SONIDO: El perro ladrando
ESCENA. Melinda dormida en la silla y Baltazar tratando de despertarla
NARRADOR: Abrí los ojos asustada, saltando de mi silla, y era Baltazar que me despertaba para comer, y con toda la familia mirándome como “¡Qué loca esta chica!”
I opened my eyes, scared, jumping off my seat, and it was Baltazar who was waking me up to go eat, and the whole family was staring at me as if thinking “What a crazy girl!”
J’ai ouvert les yeux, effrayée, sursautant de la chaise, et c’était Baltazar qui était entrain de me réveiller pour aller manger, et toute la familla était entrain de me regarder comme si ils étaient entrain de penser “Quelle folle cette fille!”
MELINDA “!Uffffff¡” dije en voz alta “¡qué sueño acabo de tener!”
“Uffffffff!” I said out loud. “What a dream I just had!”
“Ufffffff!” j’ai dit à voix haute. “Quel rêve je viens juste d’avoir!”
SONIDO: Ladrido de perro
ESCENA: Melinda, Baltazar y todos comiendo con mucho humor
ESCENA Mientras Melinda recoge las maletas se le viene la imagen de sus padres
NARRADOR “¡Uich!” pensé. “Ya me imagino las caras de mis padres.”
“Ouch!” I thought. “I can already see my parents’ faces.”
“Ouch!” je me suis dite. “Je peux déjà voir la tête de mes parents.”
SONIDO Estudiantes repitiendo palabras en inglés
ESCENA En el aula Melinda dibuja en el pizarrón luego escribe la palabra en inglés y los niños repiten.
NARRADOR: Bueno, el miércoles se resumió como previsto.
Well, Wednesday ended as planned.
Bon, mercredi s’est terminé comme plannifié.
SONIDO ruido vehículos que pasan rápido y pitando por la carretera
ESCENA Baltazar y Melinda llegan a la carretera y Melinda se toma del estómago con gesto de dolor
NARRADOR Luego de haber dado clases a los niños, Baltazar y yo salimos para ir a la parada de bus y justo en este momento empezó a dolerme el estómago. “¡Noooooooooo!” pensé. “No ahora.”
After giving lessons to the kids, Baltazar and I left to go to the bus stop, and at that time exactly, my stomach started to hurt. “Noooooo!” I thought. “Not now.”
Après avoir donné les leçons aux enfants, Baltazar et moi sommes partis pour l’arrêt de bus, et à ce moment même, mon ventre a commencé à me faire mal. “Non! J’ai pensé. “Pas maintenant.”
SONIDO Ruido de una película de video con el del motor de fondo
ESCENA Melinda sentada en el asiento del bus mira por minutos una película en la televisión del bus pero se siente incómoda.
NARRADOR: El viaje en bus hasta Quito fue el más largo de mi vida: no acababa. Y para colmo, ponen la peor película que he visto desde mucho tiempo. “Pffffffffff! ¡Qué viaje de vuelta!” “Mejor me hubiera casado.”
The bus ride to Quito has been the longest one in my whole life: it wouldn’t end. And to top it all off, they play the worst movie I had seen in a long time. “Pffffff! What a trip!” “It would have been better to get married.”
Le voyage de bus jusqu’à Quito fut le plus long de toute ma vie: il ne terminait pas. Et pour mettre la cerise sur le gâteau, ils mettent le pire film que j’ai vu depuis un bon moment. “Pffffff! Quel voyage!” “Ça aurait été meilleur si je m’étais marriée!”

Joanna Animashaun, Sophie Brown, Naomi Landau with the Tsachila indigenous

2007-09-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

Tsachilla Community- Santo Domingo de Los Colorados

We are a group of three friends from London, England, travelling independently around South America. Our first weeks placement volunteering with Ecotrackers, involved staying with a Shaman and his family in the Tsachilla village near the town of Santa Domingo, four hours west of Quito. These are our thoughts on our stay…

Work:

Alfonso´s work as a Shaman was his main employment, supporting the family. From what we saw there was a lot of competition within the community for income from tourism and the services of Shamans. It appeared to us that this may have been the main form of income for the community, although we are not sure how much income came from farming and selling produce. One of the earliest observations we had was how relaxed the lifestyle was, this may in part be due to our experiences in the West where employment is more regimented, but daily work in the village seemed a little lacking once basic needs are met!

Another concern we have is for the viability of Shamanism as a main source of income with the modern lifestyle of the large town encroaching on the more traditional ways of life in the villages. It was obvious to us that Alfonso wanted to increase his business, which is part of the reason he was involved with Ecotrackers, both locally and with the tourist trade. The possible problems with increased income from the tourist trade include how to cut through the local competition, how to successfully advertise beyond his work with Ecotrackers and how to maintain the integrity of the rituals.

With regards to maintaining the Shaman rituals locally we were unsure as to the level of belief held by younger generations. We experienced Alfonso performing a Love Ceremony for the children of their friends, but it was unclear how wholeheartedly they believed.

Belief is obviously still strong within some sections of society. We saw evidence of this when we took part in a night time ritual at the river, by their most sacred stone Uru Soña, with a local man who was facing various problems and hoped to solve them with this ceremony. We later learnt it was expensive to take part, showing his level of commitment.

To us it felt that women within the community were respected and female Shamans were not uncommon with Alfonso´s sister also practicing as one. Although within the household Sandra did all the cooking, duties such as cleaning and caring for the baby were more shared.

Social Problems:

Whilst at the community we became aware of some of the problems within the area. It was apparent that certain members of the village suffered, like many people around the world, with a dependency on alcohol. Within the town of Santa Domingo we also witnessed children obviously under the effects of solvents, wandering the streets. This is another problem which is found in poor areas worldwide, as it is a cheap method of escapism.

It was apparent that the occurrence of single parent families in the village was viewed as an area of concern by villagers. There were worries over finances and maintaining structure and discipline for the children.

Rubbish was a very apparent problem in the village, plastic bags and bottles littered the areas behind the living areas and it was quite obvious that no form of recycling occurred. This was largely because there was no effective means and encouragement to recycle in the area. We spent some time clearing large areas of waste but the only method of disposal was small-scale landfill.

New World versus Old World:

As we spent time in both the community and the town we noticed a lot of big differences between the two but also a lot of crossover.

It felt like a different world when we were staying in our bamboo hut with no running water and five minutes away their friends were living in houses with all the modern conveniences, yet somehow the divide between the people did not seem great. This led us to question slightly how typical of the Tsachilla community our hosts were.

The collision between traditional and modern was never more apparent than during a calming ceremony for the baby, throughout which, the shopping channel was playing in the background. This showed the two cultures could co-exist, yet at times it also jarred for us. When we discovered that a twelve year old boy had quit school to solely train as a shaman we questioned its effects on his long term future and wondered whether his choices were being limited.

In conclusion we had a fabulous experience living with some wonderful and unique people and learnt a lot about a lifestyle very different from our own. It broadened our ideas on what to expect and helped us to question our preconceptions. However we also learnt that no matter how open minded you are you still cannot help but judge people and situations from your own cultural perspective.

Joanna Animashaun, Sophie Brown, Naomi Landau

August 2007

Ingrid Cosma fron Rumenia and UK with the Tzachials

2007-08-31T12:54:00.001-07:00

Two weeks in Tsachilla My stay in Chiguilpe has been a mixture of adventure, learning, working with the community, and exploring new dimensions. Oral Hygiene talk to school kids The talk was aimed at increasing Oral Hygiene awareness amongst kids studying at the local school. With the fantastic help from one of the dentists in Santo Domingo, Dr Luis Sanchez, who brought instruments from his practice, the talk was followed by a session of removing badly decayed milk teeth for those kids who needed it. The event was generously supported by who promptly donated boxes of toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoos and conditioners for the kids. Very warm thanks to all who contributed, and I hold high hopes that this little session will have some long term positive effects on the health awareness of the village kids. Medicinal plants There is a wealth of knowledge in the community regarding the curative merits of various plants. Whilst even the ubiquitous yucca and cocoa were interesting to my untrained mind, the herbal bath certainly seemed to have heavenly properties! Yucca plant Cocoa plant Sauna, Tsachilla style Lecture to third year Dental Students at the Colombia University of Santo Domingo ´Odontología y Ortodoncia in Inglaterra´. The University is small and relatively newly born. There are thirteen students enrolled in the Dental School, who study by night between 6-10, and work in the day to support themselves. Given their gruesome working schedule, and my tentative Spanish skills, I was expecting a peacefully snoring audience and a very quick exit towards my awaiting steaming bath. Surprise! I encountered a very interested audience, eager to learn and understand more. Only managed to get away explaining there’s an awaiting shaman who’ll be sending them bad energy should they ask any more questions! Cockfight, Armadillo, and the little snake One way of spending Saturday afternoon… Well, it seems to be true, an armadillo cannot be held in captivity…Exciting trying to though… An unfortunate visitor… Urusona and ayahuasca In Tsachilla legends, Urusona is a beautiful and brave woman, now represented by a stone in the middle of the river. Given Urusona´s strong character, the site is a powerful inspiration and center of energy for Tsachilla ceremonies. The ayahuasca baptism, at night, in ´Urusona´s headquarters´, although not for the faint- hearted, made for an eerie experience. Urusona camping site Balancing the forces of nature Shaman in action Urusona offerings The ayahuasca effect And finally…. It’s been a great experience; I’ve made fantastic friends and learned a great deal about so many things, whilst hopefully I left something behind for the community… …..Hasta luego, Chiguilpe!

Vamos a Rio Amazonas

2007-08-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

Vamos a Rio Amazonas

by Ben King and Grant Kitto

The only bridge over the Morona River and the bus stop.

Peruvian army base.

The results of a night without a mosquito net.

The storm

The calm before the storm.

Our camping spot for the night.

Grant doing what he does best...scrubbing.

A friendly tucan.

One of the 5 motor changes along the way.

Another perfect camping spot by the Morona River.

The local bus.

Grant juggling coconuts.

Puerto America

Pink river dolphins on the horizon.

Welding the drive shaft back together, good as new!

Changing the motor after the drive shaft snapped.

The mighty Amazon!

Fireworks in San Lorenzo

The Disco tech in San Lorenzo.

My new found friends.

Kids chasing us down the street after the soccer.

The children of San Lorenzo.

Another brilliant save by the Peruvian goal keeper.

Team Ecuador!

The crowd singing the national anthem of Peru.

Dinner

Lunch

Our official welcome by the Mayor of the San Lorenzo region.

The banks of the Amazon in San Lorenzo.

The Amazon River.

Camping in the living room of a local family.

Puerto America.

One of the thousands of strange insects in the jungle.

The very windy Morona River leading to the Amazon River at the bottom.

The soccer game at an PetroPeru plant.

Inquisitive locals watching grant pitch his tent.

Sunset

Captain grant.

The first of 3 beachings in the middle of the river.

The Peruvian military and us.

Document check at the closed border crossing.

A river crab.

Chicken on his last legs...

Our home for the next 2 weeks.

The Amazon Basin stretching 5000 km to the Atlantic.

Ben Vs. Tree: Tree 1, Ben 0.

Riding on the roof of the bus.

The road to nowhere...

12 hours in a bus on this road takes its´toll...

Guinea Pig anyone?

Pork maybe?

Face to face with the Mayor of San Lorenzo our eyes
meet as sweat drips profusely onto my Ecuador jersey.
One blow of the whistle and the games on! Ecuador vs
Peru. My mind races back ten days to a chance
encounter with an eccentric doctor who led me here.

I was looking for Spanish lessons in Quito, when I
meet Max. With his immediate enthusiasm it took no
longer than five minutes for me to take him up on his
offer to join an expedition to Peru by boat.

The boat was departing from a remote war ravaged
border region of South East Ecuador.

The objective was to strengthen ties following the
1995 Cenepa war and to increase awareness of the
Amazon jungle and it´s indigenous cultures.

On board was to be a Peruvian football team,
politicians, journalists, teachers and doctors.

With just two days to frantically prepare before the
twenty hour bus journey to the departure point, a lot
had to be done.

A quick search on google of potential health problems
in the jungle revealed a list longer than my left arm.
The biggest concern being ravid vampire bats, malarial
mosquitoes and small fish that like to swim up places
they shouldn't. Not to mention, stingrays, electric
eels, and piranhas that lurk in the murky waters.

Beginning a course of antiquated malaria drugs and
emptying the chemist of noxious bug repellent, Max
assures us he has everything else covered.

We knew we where in for an exciting trip when we
arrived at the office at said time to find it locked.

After 45 minutes nervously waiting the expedition
leader (Max) arrives in time to noisily deal with the
food poisoning he picked up at lunch time. With
another member arriving also suffering the same fate,
we wait patiently unsure of when we are leaving.

Finally everyone arrives and it´s a mad dash in Taxi´s
to get to the ten p.m bus. Twenty four hours later we
arrive in the dark jungle to a welcoming committee of
millions of hungry insects smelling fresh meat.

Drenched in sweat in the 30 C+ temperatures and
extreme humidity, loading ten big drums of fuel and
other supplies made us feel like we had run a
marathon.

The following morning several vehicles arrive carrying
a spare motor and twenty cases of beer. In light of
the expected 50 passengers this didn´t seem
unreasonable. Until when we finally left there was
only 15 of us in total.

We quickly realised we were the Ecuador football team!
D'oh. By this stage it had dawned on us that things
were far from panning out as anticipated and
Ecuadorian organisation was a lot different than what
we were used to. But we departed upbeat all the same.

Somehow amidst all the chaos the correct paperwork had
been obtained from the Peruvian foreign ministry in
advance to smoothly cross the closed border.

At the fourth military checkpoint we picked up a
random Peruvian soldier who hitched a ride down the
river with us. Unfortunately for him and us the army
didn´t send him on his way with any food or even a
mozzie net... hence he became our liability.

On the second night after setting up camp in front of
an audience of inquisitive locals we were challenged
to a game of soccer. This was at a village that
existed solely to maintain a noisy petrochemical plant,
that pumped gas 24-7. This was a perfect warm up for
the upcoming international match in San Lorenzo.

Three nights, 28 hours of motoring and 540km´s on the
Morona river and we had reached the mighty Amazon, A
further three hours and we reached our destination,
San Lorenzo.

The first night in town was spent in the living
room/balcony of a local family once again cramped
together under our mosquito nets.

The festivities in the town begin with our party being
welcomed by the mayor and other local government
delegates. Ignorant to the fact that it was to be
such a formal affair, we feel a bit out of place in our
smelly dirty three day old clothes.

Formalities out of the way, our first official soccer
game is underway, watched by at least half the town.
After a fierce battle on the pitch the Ecuadorians
were overpowered by the skillful locals, 2-0. In
spite of our loss, we were mobbed by the local
children. To try and redeem ourselves we hit the
disco techs like demons on the dance floor.

The second night of festivities started with a bang.
But alas didn´t come to much after the fireworks, as
the town´s new Caterpillar generator ground to a halt,
a regular occurrence.

After a few hours a backup generator appeared in order
to electrify the band, the party continued into the
night.

The next day was spent in a daze, searching shop to
shop for suitable boat supplies, for the return
journey.

With a cheerful goodbye from the local police chief,
we powered off. However after a mere ten minutes up
river the engine started screaming. We started
floating downstream rapidly.

With the current against us it was all hands overboard
paddling with bowls and pot lids to the shore 200
metres away. A quick analysis revealed a snapped
drive shaft. The next two hours were spent modifying
the hardwood boat to fit our underpowered axillary.

24 hours later back where we started with a less than
ideal welding job we powered off again. Unsure of the
quality of the repair we made slow progress with the
smaller engine.

The poor turnout had also meant that money was
limited. Limited money meant limited fuel. The next
five days were spent juggling engines, rationing fuel
and taking reprieve from the the heat with many river
swims at each toilet stop.

Several villages were visited where Max administered
medicine to the sick, whilst we played hacky and did
card tricks with and for the local kids. At one of
the villages we struggled to keep a straight face as
we drank a putrid alcoholic concoction made from
cassava root. Banana´s and chickens were bartered of
the locals to add to the limited food supply.

On the fourth day a controversial decision was made to
motor through the night. After just two hours and two
close calls with the bank the plug was pulled and we
spent the night watching an impressive tropical
lightning storm.

Day five... A round of applause goes up as we reach
the dock after a grueling 57 hours of motoring. Our
timing was impeccable as the twice daily bus was just
about about to depart.

The 20 hour bus ride back to Quito gives us plenty of
time to reflect on the environmental and social
issues facing the people of the Amazon region.

An example of this was the piles of plastic waste
being thrown straight into the river. A closer look
at the rubbish reveals the worst of multinational
unnecessary over packaged junk food is not helping
anyone a bit.

Back in Quito, struggling not to scratch our bite
covered bodies we contemplate on what effects the
planned highway through this virgin jungle could have.

Barbara van der Heiden, the Netherlandsweeks voluntary work at Children’s Hospital Baca Ortiz in Quito

2007-08-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

Barbara van der Heiden, the Netherlands

3 weeks voluntary work at Children’s Hospital Baca Ortiz in Quito

After several months of excitement and preparation I finally left for Ecuador on Saturday June 16th 2007. I had the night flight from Amsterdam to Quito, with a stop in Bonaire and Guayaguil. The flight was fine, no delays or turbulence. Before I left I had several times contact with Dr. Maximiliano Moreno (Max, head of Ecotrackers’ projects) by email. I had the address and phone number, so I knew where to go after arriving at Quito Airport on Sunday morning June 17th. I took a taxi to the apartment and just pushed one of the buttons that said Ecotrackers. Max’ daughter was at the apartment and Max came in just after me. He welcomed me with open arms and that’s when I knew everything was going to be great. We chatted for a little while, Max told me all about the different projects they are working on. And he showed me the apartment, the views are wonderful, all around are mountains (very special for a Dutch person). Because Max had some business to attend in Esmeraldas on Monday, he took me to the hospital right away, 2 minutes walk from the apartment, to show me where I could start on Monday morning.

We went to the 6th floor, Traumatology, to the biggest room all the way at the end of the hallway. My first impression was: what a crowded room, lots of noise, poor equipment and furniture. I was not surprised, because I was prepared for this, I knew I could not compare this with European hospitals. We started talking to a few people, introducing me to the parents and the children. But I was not prepared for the way I would feel, you are never prepared for that. I have no medical background at all, that is why I wanted to do this, to help others, but in a different kind of way that I do at my office job (HRM) in the Netherlands. I do have experience working with children, but not with sick children. But that was part of the experience to gain and also the adventure of doing something totally different. So my second impression was that my stomach turned around and I had this lump in my throat after seeing the injuries of some of the children. They amputated the legs of one of the girls, there was this little boy with a terrible hip fracture (open wound) and most of them had diapers around their legs because of open wounds. On the other side I must admit that most of the children were smiling when we told them that I would come in every day to do some exercises (grammar, math, English etc) with them, so they would not get too far behind in school. So that gave me a push in a positive direction again and the lump in my throat started to fade away. When we walked back I was a little confused about what I should do exactly, but Max assured me that everything I do will be fine and that I did not have to worry at all. The most important thing is that the children get devoted attention, to help and teach them and put a smile on their face.

Back at the apartment I started unpacking my things and settling down. I was going to stay here for 3 weeks. I was tired from the trip and slept for about 2 hours. After I woke up I went out to look for a store to buy something to drink. It was very quiet on the streets, what surprised me a lot. I walked around and found out that just a few blocks away I was in Gringolanda, Mariscal. A lot of restaurants, bars, hostels, internet cafes and little shops. And of course a lot of foreigners. I went to post something on my web log and had a drink on the terrace. Two Ecuadorian girls started talking to me and invited me to sit down with them. It was really nice. After a while it got cold and time to go back. After the sunset it really gets cold in Quito and I was not prepared for that at that moment (no sweater with me). I was a bit surprised that it went so quickly, the sunset and temperature going down. So at the apartment I had a few cups of tea, but I didn’t get warm at all, must also have been the jetlag. In the evening I met the rest of the family. It was very nice to meet them all and have a chat with them.

On Monday June 18th my voluntary work started. Because the doctors make their rounds on Monday morning, I was told to come around 10 o’clock to the hospital, all other days at 9 o’clock. First I had a little chat with all the children, asked their name, their age, in which class they were and what they would like to do the coming weeks. There were 8 children in the big room and one girl all alone in another room. The ages vary from 5 to 13 years old.

This day I also met another volunteer from Canada. She was already here for a month and told me that she worked on different floors. She also told me that I could find the creative therapy room (Ludoteca) on the 4th floor and that I could borrow some toys there for the children. So I went down for a while and met Veronica, she works fulltime at the Ludoteca. She told me I could take some toys, but had to bring them back in time, because they close around midday. But it was good to be able to get some toys (even though they were old in my opinion, for the children it was great) to play with. There were also other volunteers from different organizations.

The first 3 days I spend time getting to know the children and trying to get their trust in me. With some of the children this was more difficult than others, but most of them opened up after a while, and so did the family member that stayed with them. It was also very difficult for me to not notice their illness and wounds, and it hurts a lot to see them in so much pain, not able to move or leave the bed, or sometimes not able to do anything. But this also got “easier” after a few days. You get “used” to it pretty soon. I was there to help them with their studies or just to play with them. I bought some coloring books and some study books to work with. They really enjoyed it. It took their mind of things, of being sick. Some days they did not want to do anything, and I did not want to pressure them, sometimes I just sat beside their bed and read a story or just nothing, just being there was enough.

One day when I came in they all called out: Buenos dias, Profesora! That was a great feeling, a feeling of acceptance and knowing that they were really looking forward to do some things with me. Besides doing exercises and playing with the children I also helped with changing the beds sometimes and passing out lunch.

During the 3 weeks I helped out at the hospital I did see them improving, not only health wise. Some of them, Luis and Liliana, were learning English, the numbers, colors and little phrases. I did some writing with Aylen, after a while she could write all by herself: “mi mama me ama”. With another girl, Melany, I did some math, and she was using my fingers to count on. It was such a good feeling that my help made a difference. With Jennifer we made grammar exercises in her schoolbook (which was great for me, so I could review this too). With Christian, Roger and Martin I played games. Christian was into gadgets, he loved my mobile and digital camera, he might grow up and be great photographer. I just felt one with the children and family after a while. Like little things: sharing their food with me, being able to have full conversations with them and exchanging experiences/ differences between our countries. It was wonderful.

At work (in the Netherlands) I put up a little memo for my colleagues with the question if they would give a voluntary contribution for the hospital. The feedback I got was incredible and the money I received too. I received almost 475 dollars. From that money I bought some books and most of it I gave to the church organization at the hospital. I met Senora Monica, she took me on her rounds. We visited children and parents who are very poor and didn’t have enough money to buy medication etc. Senora Monica told me that she would spend every dollar wisely and that before I would leave she would give me all the receipts of the medication she had bought for these children. They do such a great work at the hospital. At the Ludoteca they have this little kitchen where they make sandwiches and drinks for the parents that stay with their children all day. The children get food from another voluntary organization, but the parents don’t. They also have candy and cookies for them. One day she gave me a big box of candy to give to ‘my’ children and they were all very excited. These little things are so great!

During the three weeks at the hospital every child got a little place in my heart. Of course there are some that really left a memory. Roger, the youngest, who was so full of energy and joy, maybe a bit overactive in a positive way. He was also very stubborn, that’s what made him so funny. He was the first to leave, which was great for him and his family. I really missed him after he had left, missed his laughter, and I was not the only one who missed him.

Melany, they amputated both of her legs, was so incredible, full of live. It was great to hear that a television program gave her a wheelchair. Of course they came by and took a lot of pictures, also from the pins and wounds, which I found a little bit insulting for her and her family at that time, but who am I to judge. But I was really happy for her that she got the wheelchair, because her parents did not have enough money to buy one. She told me that she wanted to be a teacher whenever she grows up. I think she will be perfect doing that.

And there was this little boy, Martin, who was very, very sick. His grandmother stayed with him most of the time. He was in so much pain. I was not able to play a lot with him, but I just sat with him whenever his grandma had to go for a while. He was very quiet. Luckily the hospital also has a psychologist who came in every other day to check on him. I really hope he’s getting better soon.

During my stay there a few more children were moved to the “going home soon” room as we called it, so a few new children came into the big room. One of them was a 13 year old girl, Daisy. She had a shoulder injury and her leg was still in plaster, but she was able to walk. I felt really bad, cause her father just dropped her there and left, after a week he came back. She did not have anything, not even clean clothes or a pillow (which they have to bring themselves). Luckily the voluntary organization “Las Damas” took care of her and brought her clothes and some toiletries.

On my last day I promised them I would bring something nice with me. So on Thursday I went out to buy little things. I bought for everybody the same: a cuddly monkey with long arms and Velcro on the hands, a nice pencil, some juice, cookies and lollypops.

When I came in on Friday and they saw the big black plastic bag…… there was no way I was going to do some exercises with them anymore. Daisy, the girl with the shoulder injury, helped me handing out the presents and they were all so happy. Nine children with a monkey around their neck. It was so much fun. I had one left, cause Liliana went home that night before. Unfortunately I was not able to say goodbye to her, but I was glad she was able to go home, back to rest of the family. Daisy gave the last monkey to one of the nurses.

It is very difficult to say in just a few words what my experience with voluntary work is, the feeling is hard to describe. I learned a lot, not just about the hospital and medical issues, but most of all I got to know the people. Everybody was so friendly and family life is very important to Ecuadorians. An experience like this makes you appreciate the little things and don’t take everything for granted. I can say without any doubt I would do it again. If you really want something, you should not hesitate, you can only regret the things you have not done.

Of course I also had a few nice trips during my stay in Quito. I went to Otavalo to go to the markets, went to one of the “Middle of the earth” monuments and enjoyed the beautiful landscapes. An other day I went with an organized trip to Cotopaxi National Park and climbed up to 4800 meters. Ride an old train up to the park. On this trip I met Regina from Switzerland, and we planned some other ‘touristy’ trips together. One weekend we went for the day to Mindo and walked through the cloud forest, saw a beautiful waterfall and the butterflies at the farm. We also went tubing down a little river and sat in an old teleferic enjoying the beautiful sights of Mindo area.

During the weeks in the afternoons I went to the Old town, we took the TeleferiQ up the mountain and enjoyed the view of Quito. Visited some museums and just walked around a lot to explore the city. We went out and enjoyed the nightlife and met a lot of people. The first week we (Clare – Australia, Margareth – US, Marco – Germany and Antonella – Ecuador, all connected to Ecotrackers) visited a Salsa concert in Plaza de Torros. It was so great, so many people were dancing and enjoying beautiful music, we even learned a few steps of Salsa. Another night we watched a soccer game on TV in a student bar. It was all a lot of fun, there was not one dull moment at all.

After my voluntary work we (Clare and her mother Lynn – Australia) went to Puerto Lopez by bus. We first got off in Manta, but we did not like the place too much, so we took the next bus to go on to Puerto Lopez. Luckily we reserved a room at Itapoa Hosteria, cause it was very busy. On Sunday we just had a quiet day, walked around town and booked a boot trip to Isla de la Plata for the next day. On this trip we first went whale watching, incredible animals. Then we went for a good walk on the Island and saw frigate birds and the 3 boobies. It had not rained for about 5 years on the Island and everything was so dry, but there were still trees with green leaves. After that we went snorkeling, the water was pretty cold, but you forgot all about it, when seeing all the fish in the water. That evening Regina came to Puerto Lopez too, which was really funny because she shared a cabin on the Galapagos tour with Lynn. On Tuesday we went for lunch and met a Dutch couple who Regina and Lynn knew from the Galapagos tour too. It was such a funny coincidence that we all knew each other. On Wednesday Lynn had to travel back to catch her flight back to Australia and Clare went on to Solango to do voluntary work over there. The rest of us went on a boot trip again, just whale watching. It was worth it to do it a second time! On Thursday we went on a horse riding trip thought the forest. We had very special transportation: we were sitting on white plastic chairs in the back of a truck. Unfortunately the trip was not at all what we had expected. We even felt very bad for the horses, it was so steep sometimes and very muddy. But the guides took good care of us and after the trip they invited us in their house for a meal, which was very nice.

On Friday we all moved on. Martijn, Marjolein and Regina went on to Cuenca. I went back to Quito in the evening, but enjoyed the first sunny day that week at the beach (Puerto Lopez is mostly clouded during this time of the year) before hopping on the bus.

On Sunday evening I left with the bus to go to Cuyabeno. The bus trip was okay, a bit bumpy, but you get used to it. The group was small and very nice people, 2 girls from Australia and one girl and her mother from England. We arrived in the morning at Puerto Carmen and there Pancho was waiting for us. We first thought he was the guide, but he told us he was the cook at the lodge we were staying at. The guide, Washington, was already there with another group. We had a canoe trip for about 2 hours through the beautiful rainforest. We saw a lot of different birds (some looked like turkeys) and monkeys high up in the trees. Arriving at the lodge was a bit magical. Beautiful cabins situated around the main cabin, with a dining area, bar and the kitchen. Hammocks hanging around to relax in. It was great, right in the middle of the rainforest, close the Laguna Grande. We had very good lunch and time to relax in the hammocks. In the afternoon we went for a quiet canoe trip and saw more birds and monkeys. You can never see enough of them, monkeys are my favorite. After that we went to Laguna Grande to see the beautiful sunset. In the evening we had dinner and chatted with the others, all from the US. They were leaving the next day.

Sleeping in the jungle is an experience on its own. All the noises of the birds and monkeys, the beautiful dark sky with so many stars made me want to stay awake… But eventually I fell asleep … I woke up in the morning and felt great! After breakfast we went for a good walk and saw all kinds of trees, birds, and insects. We ate lemon ants, tasted the ‘milk’ from a tree (which is a good cure for stomach aches) and we also tasted the quinine tree (which is a cure for malaria). It tasted the same as tonic water. Unfortunately we did not see a lot of animals or flowers, but that’s because of the season, so I just have to come back another time. But we did see a caiman. After a good lunch (the food was very good and healthy) we had time to relax and in the late afternoon we went piranha fishing. We caught about 4 and a bottle fish. In the evening we had dinner and relaxed some more, the rainforest is the place to relax, you really feel great.

The next day we went together with an other group from another lodge to one of the communities. First we had a nice walk, saw big spiders, beetle and a strange looking caterpillar. We saw the cacao-tree and a lot of banana trees. Arriving at the community there was a big celebration going on because it was the last day of school, lots of music and people playing volleyball and soccer. We went to see a yucca-yard. We first got some yucca roots, peeled them, and then we went to somebody’s house and grated the roots. Our cook put the grated yucca in a cane ‘towel’ and pressed all the liquid out, then they filtered the yucca and the lady put the ‘powder’ an a big plate on the fire. That is how they make yucca bread. They also cooked some yucca in salty water, as well as some bananas. And we tasted the self made alcoholic beverage of yucca. It was very cool to see and taste this all. We went back to the main field of the community where Washington and Pancho played some volleyball. We sat in the shadow and enjoyed watching the games. In the afternoon we went back to lodge to relax and have a late lunch. And in the evening we went for a night walk. We saw so many incredible spiders. I even let one big tarantula walk over my arm. Also the boot trip in the dark is amazing. After that we had a nice dinner at the lodge and went to sleep … remembering all the beautiful things we had seen and done those few days. In the early morning on Thursday we went back to Lago Agrio and took a plane back to Quito.

The last 2 days I went shopping and stayed at a hotel, enjoyed the swimming pool and of course I had to go by the Ecotrackers office to say goodbye to everybody. We had a nice lunch together and it was hard for me to really go. I wish I had much more time to stay in Ecuador, I feel I have not seen enough or done enough, so who knows, I might go back there. 

I would like to express my thanks to Max and his family, who made my Ecuadorian experience very special.

Week 9 in the Galapagos!

2007-08-02T10:44:00.001-07:00

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES FROM THE GALAPAGOS!!!!

July 31, 3006
Margaret Novak

The Galápagos

This past week was one of the most awesome experiences of my life!! I spent the past 7 days in the Galapagos. It was the most beautiful, biodiverse place that I have ever seen. I feel so lucky to have been able to visit one of the world’s most precious sites.

My cousin Ellen and I set out July 24th. We got to the Quito airport around 7:00 am, and left Quito around 9:30. We had to make a quick stop in Quayaquil, so we landed on the island of Baltra around 1:00 pm (it is an hour later in the Galapagos). The airport is the only thing on the island of Baltra; nobody lives there. It was used as a US military base during the Second World War. The airport was a small building made of wood, with tarps for walls. We saw two land iguanas when we got off the plane, which was a awesome; they had green lips!! We had to wait for about 2 hours for a bus to come, which then took us to a dock on the other side of the island. From there, we took a small boat to San Cristobol. The boat was smaller than the ocean swells, and for the first time in my life, I got sea sick! It was awful!! I would definitely recommend Dramamine for anybody taking that boat ride! Once we got to San Cristobol, though, everything was wonderful. We met my cousin’s friend Renee (who is living on the island doing work with the Peace Corps) and set ourselves up in a hostal for 8$/ night. We went out to a nice restaurant on the beach that night and ate wonderful ceviche and fish. Later, we went to the bar owned by Renee’s roommate, Marco. The locals were having a pool tournament, which was quite fun to watch.

The next day, we woke up and walked to a little beach about 20 minutes away. It was a beautiful place, with blue-green waters and baby sea lions every where!! We went snorkeling and the sea lions swam right up to us; it was a tiny bit scary when they were bigger than me, but they were sure cute!! I was able to get pretty close and snap some great pictures!! After the beach, we walked through town and ate some more ceviche at a local restaurant, and then of course attended the local pool tournament. At this point, I had decided that I wouldn’t mind living on the island of San Cristobol for an extended period of time. Everyone was so friendly, and everything was so safe. You could leave your purse sitting around and be completely sure that no one would even touch it.

The next day, we woke up really early and took a trip to Leon Dormida. The boat took us out to a little island off the coast of San Cristobol that looked like a sleeping lion, hence the name. We had on wet suits and snorkel gear, so when we got to the island, we just jumped right into the water (there was no beach, it was simply a large rock protruding out of the water). Immediately, I saw a hammerhead shark, which was awesome!! I was a little bit scared of all the Galapagos sharks swimming below me because they were huge, but they were docile creatures and after a while I got used to it. We saw all sorts of awesome sea life including sea turtles!! We snorkeled for about 2 hours in rather deep water (but the wet suits kept us warm), so after a while we got a little bit tired. We got back in the boat, and then headed over to La Loberia, which is an island that is famous for baby sea lions. The water was gorgeous there; it was crystal clear and a beautiful turquoise color. We were able to see many sea lions as well as marine iguanas, crabs, and various birds. When we got back onto the mainland, we went over to the San Cristobol Information and Interpretation Center. It was a really interesting place, with all sorts of information about the history of the islands, the formation of the islands, and the ecology of the islands. It was great to read about all of these things and to walk around the center as we (Ecotrackers) will be creating a similar center on the island of Santa Cruz. Once again, that night we ate delicious sea food.

The next morning, my cousin and I woke up, bid farewell to Renee, and took a boat back to Santa Cruz. (This time I had Dramamine!) We arrived early in the morning, and found a nice hostal to stay in for only $8.00/night. We decided to check out the Charles Darwin Center. It was awesome!!! They breed Galapagos turtles at the Center, and you are able to walk right up to the giant ones!! I wouldn’t mind working with the Charles Darwin Center in the near future!! We got to meet Lonesome George, the last of his race. It was quite sad really, but he is only 70 years old and has another good 150 years in him, so hopefully they will be able to figure out a way to save the Pinta Galapagos Turtles before it’s too late. They also had land iguanas at the center, which we quite big. It was amazing to learn so much about these rare species, and it makes me so happy to see that many of them coming back from the brink of extinction. We then went on further down the path to the Charles Darwin Beach. Here, we saw some marine iguanas and a bunch of little Darwin finches! They are so cute!! We shopped around a little for some souvenirs (I had to get a Lonesome George t-shirt), and then we ate some more seafood (its soo good!!) at Hernan´s Restaurant.

The next morning, we decided to check out all of the local beaches. We rented snorkel gear (for only $5.00) and then hiked on over to Tortuga Bay. The hike was wonderful; it was a little brick path that led through the dry tropical forest and we were able to see tons of lizards and birds. Then, we reached the ocean and hiked just a little further along the beach until we reached the bay. It was so beautiful!! The water was that gorgeous tortoise color again!! We were able to see tons of marine iguanas, and blue footed boobies. The marine iguanas were awesome, there were about 100 of them all piled on top of each other, and some of them were really big! I learned that if you try to take a close-up picture of them, they will spit at you!! After this, we hiked on over to Nymph Bay, which was also quite pretty. Then it was on to Las Grietas, which is a grotto where fresh water and salt water mix together. We had to take a small water taxi (only 50 cents) over to the other side of the marina, and then we hiked over salt flats, volcanic rocks, and a beach until we reached the grotto. The water was a little cold, but it was really clear and we were able to see some awesome fish. Then we headed back into town for another meal of seafood!

The next day was our last day, so we woke up and headed for the lava tubes. We got there and met Sra. Soila and Don Jose, the two people that own the land with the lava tubes. They are friends of Max´s, and we are going to start up a new project with them there. The tubes were awesome!! The first one was about a mile long, and parts of it were as high as 30 feet! It was completely dark though, so it was a good thing we had flashlights!! The rock formations were quite interesting though, and it was really fun to walk through. There are 3 tubes in all, one short one and two longer ones. Don Jose is working on making another tube accessible as well. After we walked through the tubes, we talked with Don Jose about the upcoming project. He has a nice outdoor center that he is working on, setting up information and various dioramas. He was a really nice man, and I think that any volunteer would be lucky to work in such a beautiful place! I took a look at the apartments as well, and they are quite nice. After talking with them about the project, we walked back into town and then took one last quick trip to the Charles Darwin Beach and the Center, so we could say goodbye to Lonesome George. We had one last night of seafood, and then in the morning, we returned to Quito.

All in all, I think that my experience in the Galapagos was well worth the expense! I was able to see so many rare species, such as George, and I also learned much about the Galapagos that I didn’t previously know. I even got to swim with sharks!! I think that our new project on Santa Cruz will be quite successful, and I am looking forward to seeing what the volunteers can do!

Week 8

2007-07-20T10:58:00.001-07:00

Week 8

July 20, 2007

Margaret Novak (ASU Student / Ecotrackers Intern)

So far, this week has been pretty interesting once again. A couple of men came in on Monday to talk about a new organization in Rio Morona. Manuel (from Kuamar), Rafael (from Santa Ines), and Orlando (from Macas) all have communities that work with Ecotrackers. However, now they will all join together in order to create a strong organization to protect the environment, the biodiversity, and the cultural diversity of the Orient. This is of utmost importance, as right now the petroleum internationals are trying to take over and destroy the region.

I have spent the past few days working on a new poster project that we are going to hang up in the office. I am taking the 8 best pictures from the Coast (including the Galapagos), the 8 best pictures from the Andes, and the 8 best pictures from the Orient (including the Amazon River) and combining them into a giant collage. I have a certain passion for photography, so it has been really fun going through all of out pictures and picking out which ones to use for the poster. I have it all laid out now, I am just waiting for a couple from the Galapagos!

Speaking of which, my cousin came into town this week and decided that she will visit her friend working with the Peace Corps over in the Galapagos. I brought this up to Max, and now I will be accompanying her to do some research for Ecotrackers! I am so excited; this will be an awesome experience!! I am going to be looking into how we can create an Information and Interpretation Center on the island of Santa Cruz. Here, we will post information about local species and environmental problems that face the Galapagos as well as other places throughout the world. I will also be taking many pictures to document the experience and to create posters of various species. I am so excited!!

Week 7

2007-07-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

July 19, 2007

Week 7

Margaret Novak

Last week was yet another interesting experience!! Throughout the week I worked on the Ecotrackers web page as well as numerous web blogs. I corrected some of the English writings as well as translated some Spanish writing into English. I also had numerous talks with Max and various other people that came into the office, and I learned much about the problems that affect Ecuador and the people that live here. For example, I learned of the negative affect that technology can have on a village. Cell phones were recently introduced into a town called Atacames. Before cell phones, people got along alright, but now, they feel as if they are a necessity. However, cell phones cost money, and the people there don´t have that extra money. Therefore, girls at the age of 12 and 13 want cell phones, and so they go into prostitution. Now, there are 12 and 13 year olds pregnant and sick just because they want cell phones. This is an extremely sad thing to have happen to community, and something must be done to put a stop to it. We talked about creating an education program that offers information on sexual health. I think that this would be extremely helpful to the community in Atacames.

Over the weekend, Max, Inti (who is originally from Otavalo, but he now teaches at a University in Australia), and I went on a trip to a community near Chimborazo. The bus ride to Riobamba took about 4 hours; we got there around noon and went directly to the large open air market. Apparently, Riobamba is the largest produce market in Ecuador. There were fruits and vegetables of every kina; there were about 25 different kinds of bananas at one stand! It was really neat to walk around and see all of the different produce. I learned which ones were native to Ecuador and which ones were not. I learned much about the extinction of various plant species due to genetic breeding; about 10 species of plants go into extinction every single day just due to farming practices. We ate at the market, and then continued on our way to the community that we were supposed to meet with, called The New Generation. However, once we got to where we were supposed to be, no one knew of the community. We couldn´t find it, and unfortunately we had no way to contact them. So, Max called a man named Baltazar, who lives in a community very near to where we were. Baltazar came into Ecotrackers about a month ago with two volunteers from Switzerland to talk about a community ecotourism project that would involve reforestation and organic gardening. The community was recently certified to grow organic produce, which is a very positive thing. Now that they won’t have to worry about chemicals leaking into their water sources and it will be much better for the Earth. It turned out that the Swiss girls were leaving the following day, so we had a community meeting that night to talk about the continuation of their project with Ecotrackers. We all gathered in a small building with a dirt floor, and had cake and tea that the Swiss girls had made for their last night, which was quite nice. It was very interesting to hear about how such a project is formed; we talked about how the community, their environment, and Ecotrackers would all interact to create a successful project. After the meeting, we went to sleep in one of Baltazar´s families´ homes. They fed us a good meal of soup and tea and we then went to bed. We woke up early the following morning so that we would be able to walk up to the Mirador (lookout), a lookout above the community, where you can see 5 different volcanoes. It was cloudy and rainy, so we only got a glimpse of Chimborazo, but it was still a breathtaking view. The wild wheat fields, the bright purple flowers, and the rolling mountains were gorgeous. We also crossed over the ancient Inca Trail, which was awesome. It is so cool to think that this trail has been there for hundreds and hundreds of years. We hiked back down (there isn´t much oxygen up there, so it was a little hard to breathe…), and then made our way back into Quito. It was a great experience, and one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen! I think that the project will be very successful because not only is it a beautiful place with wonderfully nice people, but it is also quite near a railroad, the Pan-American Highway, and the Incan Trail. I think that with this new project, they will be able to preserve their culture and their environment while bringing more opportunities to their people.

Click here to see pictures from Chimborazo!

Dan Bryant -experiences of a student from Virginia University in Baldalupaxi

2007-07-20T08:28:00.001-07:00

Dr. Maximiliano Moreno y Señorita Margarita,
¡Hola! Soy yo, Daniel, el estudiante del otro día. Muchas gracias otra vez por las entrevistas fascinantes, y por ayudarme en conocer el Señor Baltazar de la comunidad Balda Lupaxi. Era una visita muy interesante e importante para mí. Me afectó mucho, y por eso, escribí muchas cosas en mi cuaderno. También, cuando yo estaba con ustedes y en la comunidad, otra vez me di cuenta de que es importante compartir las experiencias y el conocimiento. Por lo tanto, quiero compartir mis experiencias para que puedan ayudar a la comunidad. Unas escrituras sobre la visita:

I was with Baltazar Paza for only twenty hours, but it was a time I will never forget. I was traveling southward through the Ecuadorian Andes, researching the use of Internet technology and how it might be applied to improve communities. For this reason, I hoped to know a rural community in the Chimborazo province. Baltazar made that possible. When I arrived in Riobamba, I immediately phoned Baltazar to let him know that I would be getting on the bus heading toward Guamote shortly. My plans changed, though, when he alerted me that he too was in Riobamba. He had come to use the Internet, something he could not do in his home community. This immediately re-confirmed one of the phenomena I had been studying in Ecuador, one which Dr. Maximiliano highlighted in our interview – the centralization of resources and tools (herramientas) in cities. Baltazar and I ate a quick lunch in town and took the bus toward Guamote back to Balda Lupaxi, where we began the trek along the dirt road to his home. I was struck by the majesty of the green and yellow rolling hills and open pastures, by the silent gaze of the indígenas as they looked westward over their fields, cloaked in bright tradition. On our way to his home, Baltazar and I took a detour into a nearby garden, where he showed me the beginnings of a reforestation project and explained his hopes for the future of the community. He dreamed of hills covered with trees and protective plants, both for beauty and to preserve the fertility of the soil that blankets his land. He outlined his vision for the strengthening of their traditional identity and the development of a community tourism enterprise so that they might share their way of life with others. Cultural interchange became a theme for my visit, one that, in addition to overarching its entirety, continuously reappeared in small, definable ways. We continued up toward his house, and as we did he described the various buildings -- the community center, the jardín de infantes (a sort of nursery and school), and the few homes he hoped to transform into lodging for future visitors. He showed me his home, and the homes of his close family, which sat just a few feet up and down the hill from his own. I admired his closeness with his family, both in terms of their proximity and their relationship. Baltazar took me behind his home to continue painting the picture he had begun of his life and his community. He explained the beautiful, orange, red, and yellow pastel, wheat-like stalks that wafted there. They were kinwa, a special type of edible grain that comprised part of his livelihood. Most of the families in that area were members of an organization of kinwa exporters, but very few were able to sustain themselves with income from this alone. Some years, he said, one could not produce enough kinwa to sell. They had to eat first what they needed to survive, and consider sales later. Oftentimes, there was nothing left for that second consideration, and sometimes not even enough for the first. He went on to describe his dream of cultivating more of the land for kinwa and other traditional crop production. At this point, Baltazar excused himself for a moment, entered his home, and re-emerged in his traditional dress – a deep red, striped poncho and a felt hat. He also donned heavy rubber boots, better for walking through the wet fields. He explained that he very much preferred this clothing, but that when he went into the city he felt the necessity to change into something more urban. We continued up the hill a few feet to his nephew's home, where I met much of his extended family, including of course, his nephew, Luis, and his two adorable children. After Baltazar showed me the garden and described his plans for its beautification, we continued up the road into the hills, with the children running alongside us for a few minutes. After they turned back, Baltazar and I followed an old path that diminished in size until we reached the Inca Trail. A light rain pattered our faces, and we continued past the trail to the "mirador" (the lookout point), from which one can see five separate volcanoes on a clear day. Clouds obscured some, but Sangay stood out in the southeast like an unchanging monolith. I could feel the serenity of the place. A few minutes after we returned to his nephew's home, Baltazar departed to bring the cows home for the evening. I have an image of him turning in the doorway and disappearing into the twilight that I will never forget. I stayed with his extended family. Baltazar's niece and nephew made tea from the fresh mint leaves of their garden, and it was enough to calm anyone after a long day. I sat for a minute, overwhelmed by the day's passing, and the children came to keep me company. Luis's son was full of energy, and he proudly showed me the "huequito," the little hole in the middle of the table, as if it were a great secret. His curiosity gave me hope. Baltazar returned, and the six of us together ate a delicious and generous filling of traditional cuisine. Baltazar shared his religious views and explained the religious breakdown within the community. Some were Catholic, others Evangelical, but most shared a strong reverence for nature and community. After dinner Baltazar escorted me to my room, just a short way down the hill. Luis's son insisted on joining us, and we three trotted slowly through the serene darkness, punctuated occasionally by the baying of nearby animals. There was only nature in the night. My two companions bid me goodnight, and I quickly relaxed into an eclectic room, where magazine images of Bruce Lee ornamented a contrast with the local crafts and artwork that adorned the walls. I considered further the effects of the Internet and cultural interchange, and these considerations accompanied me as I drifted off to sleep. They were there too as I awoke with the sunrise. After a quick breakfast, Baltazar invited me to join him as he returned the cows to the field. As we -- that is, Baltazar, three bulls, one cow, and I – trudged down the narrow path toward the open fields, he explained to me the importance of these cattle for his livelihood. They grew them from their youth so that they could sell them at maturity, and the twice daily walk with them had become an indelible part of his daily routine. He explained also how the once-open fields had been parceled out and how that had been an important and necessary change in the life of the town. Yet he also explained the simultaneous necessity and importance of communal property in the town center, and he described the community identity that existed, but existed in danger. We returned together up the hill, and he invited me into his home, where I was surprised to find a pristine computer. Again, it offered a distinct contrast of old and new, traditional and innovative, that set me thinking. Baltazar explained to me that the community did not have the Internet, but that he desired the computer for word-processing and video. He then inserted a special video that we watched together. It was entitled "Sawari," (marriage in Kichwa), and documented in vibrant reality both the plights and celebrations of Balda Lupaxi. Baltazar explained to me that his community's traditional identity was among its most treasured riches, but that it presently suffered. This movie, he said, was just one way of sharing that identity and those sufferings with the world. In addition to a jovial marriage, the movie depicted the great urban migration of the community's youth, who were allured by urban ostentation and enticed to cast off their traditional culture. Among the movie's many moving scenes is one of a town meeting in which leaders discuss how they will combat this great outward migration and loss of identity. At movie's end, Baltazar answered many questions that it had stirred in my mind, and he offered to send it to me via email. I knew in just this one gesture that the Internet was a great tool for the strengthening of identity, yet I was conscious of its greatly unequal distribution. After we concluded our conversation in his home, Baltazar walked with me to recover my things, and he escorted me back down that road toward the Pan-American Highway. It had seemed a lifetime or just one second since I had arrived. I did not know which. Baltazar explained how to catch the bus to Guamote, and we parted.I realized that I had developed a great respect for him, a man that cares so deeply for his community and works each day to reinvigorate his cultural identity. I watched him as he turned, crossed the highway, and headed back into Balda Lupaxi to continue his work. I will never forget those twenty hours. - -

- - - - -Ese es mi cuentito de mi tiempo en Balda Lupaxi. Ojala que pueda ayudar a la comunidad y su identidad importante. Gracias por animar la importancia del intercambio cultural y por hacer posible estas experiencias. Que le vaya bien.Sinceramente,Daniel-- Daniel M. Bryant

Weeks 1-6 With Ecotrackers!!

2007-07-12T10:50:00.001-07:00

Week 6

July 9, 2007

Margaret Novak

We got back into Quito early on Monday morning. We spent most of Monday organizing and catching up on things. I translated the statutes of Ecodivers and Econavigators into English and we discussed the creation of a new webpage for the organization. I spent the rest of the week working on the new webpage. We decided to use a blog for now, as it is free and works just as well. This included writing about my experiences, uploading pictures from our trip, loading the videos from our trip onto Youtube so that they could be used on the webpage, and organizing the layout. I also created my own personal blog this week, with links to various pieces of work that I have translated, blogs with my experiences on them, and other sites that I currently deem important.

The other day, two people came in to talk about a new project in a town near Chimborazo. They want to bring in volunteers to help with reforestation, environmental protection, English courses, and cultural preservation. It was really interesting to see how such a project is planned. We talked about how the community, the environment, and Ecotrackers would all play a part in the project. We are will probably visit this site next Saturday in order to check out the location and set up the next step.

This past week, we also made a calendar for what we will be doing for the next two months. It looks like I will be going on a cloud forest expedition from the Andes to the coast, and also an Amazon River trip over to Peru in August.

On Saturday, I went to the Cotopaxi National Park with my Uncle and my cousin. It was a lot of fun! We drove up as far as we could, and then started to hike, but we didn´t make it all the way as there was barely any oxygen up there and I found it hard to breathe. We then had a picnic by the lake, which was really nice. I am so glad that the clouds blew off, so that I could get some great pictures of the volcano! I would definitely recommend this excursion to anyone, it was just beautiful!!

Week 5- (in Salango)

Week 4

July 6, 2007

With all of the excitement going on in week 5, I seemed to have forgotten to write about week 4. Let´s see, week 4 was slightly uneventful because I still had a bit of the gripe (flu). I stayed home one day from work, and the other days I just tried to hang in there. However, by the time the weekend rolled around, luckily I was feeling much better. Friday night, I went to a salsa concert with Claire (Australia), Marco (Germany), Barbara (Holland), and Antonella (Ecuador). The concert was a lot of fun! There were bands from Ecuador, Colombia, and Cuba. The music was great, and everyone in the crowd was dancing all night long. It´s too bad that we gringos don´t really know how to dance, especially to the salsa. I ended up spending the night at the Ecotrackers apartments with everyone else as we got home around 1:00 am, and the buses don´t go that late back to Pifo.

The next morning, Claire and I decided to go on an adventure. We set out for the Incan sun festival, Inti Raymi. We took the bus over to Pifo (they were working on the bridge in Tumbaco, so this took about 2 hours) and then hung out with my family for a while. After a few drinks, we got on the bus to Otavalo, as we planned to spend the night there. However, for some reason we both feel asleep and didn´t wake up until we reached Ibarra, a town about an hour north of where we wanted to be. Of course there were no more buses back to Otavalo that night, as it was almost 10:00pm. So, we managed to share a cab with a local lady and we made it a hostal. From there, we used the trusty Lonely Planet and made our way to Café Arte, where we watched Andean bands play music while we had something to eat. The music was wonderful (I love the flutes!), and we had a great time.

The next morning, we took the bus to Cotacachi, the town that was having the festival that day. When we got there, people were beginning to gather in the park in front of the church. It was really fun to watch as the day went on. There were groups of native people dressed up with chaps made of llama fur and very large hats, and each group chased the one in front of it around the square. There were tons of police to make sure that the groups didn´t run into each other. It was very loud with whistling and chanting, and everyone was having a great time. Then, all of a sudden, the crowd started running like crazy. W e assumed a fight broke out, so everyone was stampeding, but then we realized that it was more than that- the police had set off tear gas. It hit us; our eyes were blinded and we coulnd´t breathe very well. We ran into a side street to try to escape the gas, and we found a bench to recover on. That stuff can really burn your throat!! The natives thought it was funny to see us gringas get tear gassed, because we had no idea it was coming, and obviously they had known it was inevitable, so we had to pose for a few pictures. After that, we decided it was time to head home. So, we hopped on a bus to Otavalo, where we hoped to catch another bus back to Pifo. Unfortunately, the last bus to Pifo had left just before we got there. So, we had to detour all the way back to Quito, adding another 2 hour bus ride to the trip. And then, the bus decided to drive around the entire city of Quito and enter through the south side (we were coming form the north)….. I ended up getting home around 7:30 that night, and as I was walking down the hill to my Uncles house, a crazed poodle attacked me and I got bit on the leg. What a way to end a crazy weekend. We had a great time though, and it was quite an experience!!!!

Week 3

June 18, 2007

Margaret Novak

Last week was my third week with Ecotrackers. I started out the week translating documents into English and uploading the finished products onto Wikipedia. In the middle of the week, the two kids from England that volunteered in the Shuar community of Kuamar came back to tell me about their experience. They uploaded all of their photos onto the computer and I started to create a new Kuamar page for the web-blog with their photos. At the end of the week, however, I got really sick. I came down with a horrible fever and went home early on Thursday and stayed home on Friday. Luckily, my mom and my sister are visiting, so my mom was able to take care of me. I just came back into work today, and everyone is rushing to get the signatures from Esmeraldas into the computer system so that all of their hard work to change the law will not go to waste. I hope we can get everything done in time!!

Friday, June 08, 2007

The End of My Second Week

June 8, 2007

Margaret Novak

It is now the end of my second week with Ecotrackers. This past week was pretty interesting. On Monday, a man named Manuel came in to talk to Max about setting up a project site in Kuamar, a Shuar village in the southern part of the Ecuadorian Amazon. It is about an 8 hour bus ride from Quito, followed by an 8 hour hike through the jungle. There is going to be a huge Shuar cultural festival next April, and so Manuel also wanted to talk about setting up for that event. Later on that day, a couple of kids from England showed up and wanted to do a volunteer project in the jungle, so we sent them off with Manuel. They will be helping to teach Shuar children English by giving them key words related to nature, like butterfly for example, and then taking them on a small jungle trek to find the butterflies in order to put an object to the word. They will also be helping to set up for the upcoming Shuar cultural event. It was really interesting to see how just like that we were able to get a project started up in a remote Shuar village. I plan on visiting Kuamar sometime in the near future, as I am sure an 8 hour trek through the Amazon jungle would be quite an adventure. I also talked with Max about going to a scuba convention in Salango at the end of June. I would be able to get scuba-certified, and apparently it is whale season! That sounds like a ton of fun! We also talked about a 9 day Amazon River trip, where we would take a raft all the way down to Peru; that would be pretty awesome too! I am not visiting any site this weekend as my mom and my sister are coming to visit, but I do plan to visit as many as possible after they return to the States. We are also trying to get the constitution changed in order to protect the disappearing coastal rainforest in Esmeraldas. There isn’t much time left and we need about a thousand more signatures (Max is there right now trying to get some more) and then we need to enter them into the computer system. Yesterday I helped Juan Carlos enter some names and numbers into the system; I didn’t realize how much work it takes to change a law or part of the constitution- it takes a lot!! Anyways, the sun is shining now, so that is good; it isn’t quite as cold as it was last week! I can´t wait to see what next week brings!

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

The First Week of My Internship with Ecotrackers

June 1, 2007

Margaret Novak

It is Friday, and I have just finished up my first week interning with Ecotrackers. I was a little nervous coming into this internship, as working in another country can be a little scary, but after being here for a week, I am very happy with it. It is wonderful to work with so many intelligent, passionate, and kind people. This is exactly the type of organization that I would like to work with in the future.

My first day, I spent most of the time listening to Max, the Director of Projects and my supervisor, explain how Ecotrackers works and what the organization encompasses. I learned quite a bit and everything that he had to say was extremely interesting. The next day, we talked more about what kind of work I would be doing, including translating documents into English, working on the Ecotrackers website, and attending to volunteers. I will also be able to spend the weekends visiting various sites, which I am excited to do. At one point a couple of men from Esmeraldas came in for a meeting to talk about a new project. They want to set up a program to save ancient trees in Maldonado. Apparently there is a huge problem with deforestation in this poor community because the palmafricana companies are buying trees for only $10.00 each in order to cut them down and make room for their business. This is devastating as some of the trees are 300 years old. With their proposed project, people would be able to ¨adopt¨ a tree for only $20.00, twice as much as the community is currently getting per tree, and then that particular tree would be protected. They talked about starting a website and promoting it to various universities in the United States, specifically those with large African-American populations (as Esmeraldas has a large Afro-Ecuadorian population). This was a very interesting meeting, and I am glad that I was able to be in on this new idea. I think that it would be very exciting to work on such a project. The past few days I have been working on translating a couple of documents. Their contents are extremely interesting, and I have enjoyed learning more about intelligent tourism and the issues facing Ecuador. Some of the abstract concepts have been slightly challenging to translate, but I like a challenge.

The only downfall to my current situation is that I spend about 3 to 4 hours on the bus commuting in and out of work everyday, as my Uncle lives in Pifo. Since I come in from 9:00am to 5:00pm, I have to wake up at 6:30am and then I don’t end up getting home until around 7:30pm. It is also very cold in Quito. I am glad that I am able to wear sweatshirts and jeans to work, but I think I need some mittens. However, the long days and the cold weather are a small price to pay for the experience that I am receiving while working with the Ecotrackers organization. It has only been one week and I am already learning a lot, I have met people from all over the world. Everyone here is really nice and I know that I am really going to enjoy interning with Ecotrackers this summer.

Scuba in Salango

2007-07-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

July 3, 2007

Margaret Novak

This past week was awesome!! We went down to a coastal town called Salango to create a new scuba project. The idea of this project is to offer scuba classes to people in the local community so that they will be able to have an opportunity to develop ecotourism as an alternative to their current fishing industry. The system works because volunteers pay the locals for room and board, and then they can use that money to pay for the scuba equipment. For example, we paid the amount of money it took for them to rent the equipment (the instruction was free thanks to our dive instructor, Peter) and in turn we had someplace to sleep and 3 great meals every day.

We (Max, Veronica, Dominica (Ecotrackers), Mario (Swiss student) and I) left Quito Monday night at about 10:30 pm. The bus ride to Salango took about 15 hours total, so we finally made it to Salango around 1:00pm on Tuesday. We arrived at the community museum, and set ourselves up in these little cabanas right on the beach; they were really cute and also quite comfortable with two beds in each room. As soon as we got there, we met our scuba instructors- Peter (a dive instructor from the Galapagos) and Suzanne (an assistant scuba instructor and a professor at the University of Delaware). We also met the six local boys from Salango that were taking the scuba course with us. We started our classes right away and watched various educational slideshows on Peter’s computer. It was really interesting to learn about scuba diving as I didn’t know anything about it before hand.

After class, we went to eat dinner in the little restaurant owned by some of the people taking scuba classes with us. All of the food was really good; we got to eat a lot of seafood, which I love. We also ate a lot of fried bananas and rice. Later on, Mario and I went to the beach and I found all sorts of cool shells, including the infamous spondylus shell, which used to be used as a form of money in Salango 5,000 years ago.

The next day we had another scuba class and then we went out on the boat for some real practice. We learned how to set up all of our equipment and then headed into the water. It wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be; I was pretty warm with the wetsuit on. I didn’t think that I would be nervous scuba diving, but after I got under the water, I realized that it kind of scary to be breathing underwater. However, it was also very exciting!! On our first dive, we just kind of got used to the water and our equipment. The locals boys learned their PADI skills with Peter while Mario and I just swam around and looked at cool stuff on the bottom of the ocean floor. It was kind of cloudy out, so the boat ride home was a bit cold, and everything in the boat got wet and salty (including Mario´s towel, which was completely soaked and smelled of fish….) We changed on the boat, and it was impossible to get the wet suit off, I had to have some help!! Those things can really stick! When we got back, we all went to eat dinner and just hang out.

The next day, we had class again, and then went out for our next dive. This time, we went to a different part of La Isla Salango and we dove much deeper (about 10 meters/30 feet). We saw all sorts of exotic animals including manta rays, sea cucumbers, star fish, sea urchins, tropical fish, a tiger snake eel, white coral, and one of the guys claimed that he saw an octopus. This time down, Mario and I practiced our emergency ascents and other skills, such as how to breathe from your buddy’s regulator. I will admit that I was pretty nervous for the first 5 minutes that I was 30 feet underwater because it is hard to imagine what you would do if all of a sudden you didn’t have air, but after we practiced what to do in such an event, and then I felt much better. We swam for quite a long time, and then got back to the main land at about 3:00 pm. We ate lunch and then went into Puerto Lopez to return our equipment. In Puerto Lopez (only about 5 or 10 minutes from Salango), we hung out for a while and ate dinner. Then, Mario, Peter, Susana, and I went to a little bar called La Playa and drank some caipariñas near the beach. It was a good time, and we even managed to create a whale costume out of a gray dress for Mario to wear to the whale festival the next day.

The next morning, it was time to study for our final exam. We had one last class and then we got our PADI books and started to review for our certification. We all went to the beach to study because the sun was finally out. At this point in time, we not only studied for our certification, but we also finalized the plans of our new international organization called Ecobuzos y Econavigantes (Ecodivers and Econavigators). It was really interesting to see how an organization can be created with just a group of people and an idea. Max jotted down notes while we all discussed the statutes of the organization. After a couple hours, we had decided that the organization will have different locations throughout the world that will offer environmentally friendly water activities, such as scuba diving, to members, volunteers, and people of the local communities in order to create more opportunities for those local communities. After we had created a concrete plan, Max typed up the proposal for Ecodivers and Econavigators. Then, we all went back into Puerto Lopez for the whale festival. It was really fun! Everyone was dancing in the streets and celebrating whale season.

The next day, Mieke, a volunteer from Belgium, and I went on a tour to La Isla de la Plata (The Poor Man’s Galapagos) and it was awesome! We saw humpback whales on the way and on the way back while on the boat. That was cool. The island is part of the Machalilla National Park. It is protected, and therefore had the most amazing assortment of nesting birds. We saw the blue footed booby, the nazca booby, friggots, and we even saw an albatross!! The birds were so used to friendly humans that they weren’t scared at all and we could get within feet of them. We also saw some type of small snake while on the island.

After we got back, we met up with Peter, Susana, and Mario, who went scuba diving again that day. I am a little jealous as they saw sea turtles, but I also had a blast, so it worked out. We ate dinner and hung out at a bar called Clandestine near the beach for a while. That night, Mario and I slept at the house that Mieke was staying at (owned by one of the guys that took the course with us) as the cabanas at the museum were being taken over by students from the University of Florida. The house was quite nice, and we had comfortable beds to sleep in.

The next day, Mario and I headed back to Puerto Lopez as we had to get our pictures taken for our dive certification. We hung out and shopped a little bit (I had to buy a hammock) and then we settled down at the little restaurant called Spondylus again. Susanna and Peter didn’t get back until late, but we got to say goodbye. We got the bus at about 7pm and then the ride was only 10 hours back. (Why did it take 5 hours less on the way home??) We arrived in Quito at about 4:45 am and came back to the Ecotrackers office to sleep on the floor as Mario didn’t have the key to the apartment. So, now we are back, and I am missing the beach!! I had a wonderful time and I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone else!!!!!!!!

We are currently sending more volunteers down to Salango. Hopefully more of the local guys will be able to pay for the PADI certification with the money that the volunteers pay for room and board. That is one of the biggest problems that we are facing; the local people don’t have extra money for scuba certification and equipment, and scuba can be quite expensive. However, with more volunteers, more funding, and more organization of the project, they will be able to reach their goal of creating new scuba opportunities in the community. And with our new organization Ecodivers and Econavigators, we will be able to accomplish much in the development of sustainable water use and recreation throughout the entire world. I think that Ecodivers and Econavigators will be able to make a great difference, as I have already seen what is possible in the little town of Salango.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES FROM OUR RECENT SCUBA COURSE IN SALANGO.
CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF HUMPBACK WHALES FROM OUR TRIP TO LA ISLA DE LA PLATA.

Andreas Eri Myhre: The secoyas, their shamanism and the Yagé

2007-04-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

The traditional shamanism

Before the Spanish and Christian invasion of the rainforest and its original habitants, nearly all of the cultures in the region could be characterized by the shamanic religion and its worldview. Unbelievable enough is this worldview something most indigenous cultures all over the world have in common.

The daily -awake- life is just a small part of the much bigger reality. Where the spiritual worlds, the heavens and hells and their habitants all the time affects our lives in good and bad ways. This is the first foundation of the old shamanic worldview. The second -but as important- is that we humans have the opportunity and ability to affect these worlds trough our own senses. Mainly through our dreams, but also through something called the shamanic trance.

The shamanic trance can be reached in many ways through a big variety of methods. Lingering fast, dance and drum ritual, absence of sleep or the use of a hallucinogen plant are all well know methods. If one knows how to move in these eternal and timeless realities, one can experience the beginning and the end of the world, see the birth of stars and the end of the universe. One can transform one self into all the animals, bacteria’s and viruses. Talk to all the plants and learn about all their healing qualities. Meet angels, demons and yes, even the dead. And one can look into the future.

But to be able to control these experiences, to steer the car the right way, so to say, and get the help or visions you need, you have to know these worlds in and out. Something that only can be achieved through long lasting and hard training, or in other words through becoming a shaman.

In the shamanic tradition of the secoyas, like most of the indigenous people of the amazons, the hallucinogenic plant mix called ayahuasca, or in secoya yagé, is used to enter the shamanic trance. The tradition of using yagé may go as far as 5000 years back.

The shaman was in the old days both the communities priest and doctor. He was the man the community called on if they had any problems physically of mentally. Because he was the man with the right knowledge, experience and qualities in the spiritual worlds to heal and defense his people. Something he had achieved through hard schooldays consisting of violent doses of yagé.

Through his education the shaman meets and makes his allies in the other worlds. He meets the angels and the demons and gets the chance to choose the light or the dark road. This is another important part of the shamanic tradition. Because Brujeria, as the dark road is called, is a well known phenomena for all shamans. And is a road that leads to a well know phenomena in the western world, egoistic power. A brujera will do everything in his powers to reach his goals, even murders can take place.

Yet all the most powerful curanderas agree that the road of the light that leads to the most healing, powerful visions and allies are the by far most difficult one.

In the old days the secoyas would dress in their most beautiful cloths, paint traditional patterns in their faces and place their red and yellow crowns, graced with Tucan feathers, on their heads. Before a yagé ceremony the secoyas would meet in the yagé house at about 4 o’clock, lay down in their hammocks and wait for the ceremony, which always lasted from sunset to sunrise, to start.

Nobody would ever enter the yagéhouse without their ceremonial dresses.

The ceremonies would always be leaded by the shaman, who cooked the Yagé, sang and blew smoke over it before he gave it to the participants. If somebody was sick, he or she would be brought to the ceremony and laid down in a hammock in one of the corners in the house. The shaman would then, after reaching his trance, start to blow smoke and sing over the patient to call on his spiritual contacts. He would then in his visions get a picture of the patient’s condition, what had to be done, what plants or spirits he could use to threat the condition. After one of these ceremonies he would never accept anything but a presents, if the family was pleased.

The intentions of a good shaman were always to heal, not to earn money. An interesting point for us in the western society with a medical industry that heals, but at the same time earns more money than ever. In fact, last year the pharmaceutical industry earned more money than any other industry in the US, even more than the oil industry. With these facts in mind it’s easy to ask oneself what the actual intentions of the industry are? To earn the most money or heal the most people?

Another interesting picture of the difference between the traditional and the western medicine is the doctor or shaman himself. In the west, the doctor gives the medicine, or the magic bullets. In the jungle the shaman takes the medicine himself..

The history

After the Hispanic invasion of the timeless world of the rainforest more than 300 years ago, the secoya culture and their way of life have been through some huge changes. At one point the secoyas counted more than 30000, with a proud culture and spiritual tradition. From that point the population has dropped profoundly, and today no more than 500 secoyas are still alive. The Hispanic introduction of alcohol, Christianity and the European diseases, not only cut the population with nearly 98%, but changed ,at the same time, the secoyas relationship with their own spiritual and healing tradition forever.

The other big explosion hit the timeless world for no more than 30 years ago. With the first oil findings in the region in the seventies, the coming of the oil companies and later the colonists, forced the secoyas to change their way of life yet another time. From living in big communities, where as many as 15 families could share the same house. The secoyas had to divide themselves along all of their area to prevent further invasion. The families that traditionally had no more than 2 children decided to get bigger. Resulting in families today where it’s more common to see 7 than 4 children.

All of this has changed the traditional shamanism..

Shamanism today, my meeting with the two shamans and the Yagé

Traditionally the biggest shamanic festival is celebrated in the middle of august in the secoya communities. This is the time when the heavens are said to be closest to the earth, and have therefore always been the time to celebrate the newly graduated shamans. In the old times secoyas from close and far united, and everybody, men, women and children, participated in a huge yagé ceremony.

This festival is still an important part of secoya culture, but is today more than anything else a perfect picture on the problems the secoyas have with continuing their old traditions. To day no more than 10-20 %, most of them over 50 years, participate in the ceremony, and not in many years have any shamans graduated.

One of the reasons for this change is the fact that the young secoyas fear the Yagé. Christianities position through time and today must of course take some of the blame. As the Christians never have been easy on people traveling to the spirit worlds after drinking a hallucinogenic brew to visit angels and demons. But also the very popular alcohol has a lot to do with the change in the youngster’s mentality.

As Fausto, one of the strongest profiles in the community, strangely enough pointed it out for me.

-After my only experience with yagé I could tell that this stuff is much stronger than whiskey, in other words, to strong for me..

About half of the 500 still living secoyas can today be found on the Ecuadorian side of the boarder. Among these there are unfortunately just two shamans.

One of them is called Don. Cesario. He is a small and frail man around the age of 90 with a constant smile on his mouth. Unfortunately did I only get the chance to meet the experienced shaman a few short, but interesting hours.

Cesarios healing qualities have made him a big national and international reputation as a powerful shaman. And when I met him at his little farm, a family from Santo Domingo had just arrived. The mother of the three grown up children were sick, so sick that she couldn’t stand up. Their plan were to stay at don Cesarios farm for about a month, so that the shaman and the powerful nature could get time to put their healing hands on the sick women.

The very process of healing, hearing, breathing and seeing the enormous nature for a period of time, is as important as the shamans work in the healing process, could don cesario tell me.

Another interesting point for me in the middle of all this, was that don cesario, as the old shamans, just got paid in presents. In this case, a large quantity of salted and smoked fish and the working force of the three children for the whole month.

The other secoya shaman that lives in Ecuador is Julio. A private man in his early 60. who came to the community for no more than 4 years ago after his wife died. Julio was also the man to lead my only Yagé ceremony with the secoyas.

Before I came to the secoyas I had tasted the magical jungle medicine two times earlier, when I visited a community of indigenous tsatilas. That time I was given two beautiful experiences. But I never reached just the point I wanted, where the snakes and the spirits shows you what you just might see in your wildest dreams.

My expectations to the ceremony with Julio were therefore massive. And before Julio started out the preparations I made it clear to him that I didn’t want another tourist dose. He answered me with a big smile and made it quite clear to me that the night would be long and interesting. The preparations, cutting and cooking of the Yagé were then started as the sun was right over our heads.

Around 5 pm. everything was ready. Julio in his traditional shamanic clothing’s, but with a crown without tukan feathers, and I were both calm, but tired after a long and hot day without food. We therefore decided to lay down in the Yagé house in the outskirts of the community, wait and rest.

In one hammock were I, a man from a society where the brew we were about to drink, in the eyes of the law, is said to be as dangerous as Heroin. On the other side of the fire was Julio, with a maybe 5000 years old tradition and experiences from the age of 11 to support what he was doing. A really absurd meeting. Unfortunately didn’t Julio’s magical songs help on the strength of the Yagé. And even after 7-8 big glasses of the bitter brew I hadn’t reached the point I wanted to, even though the butterflies, snakes and colors were dancing a slow waltz when I closed my eyes.

The future

Today the secoyas are facing new big challenges and changes with a future that moves faster and faster, and closer and closer. And with just 500 secoyas still alive to take care of there rich and knowledgeable tradition of theirs, it is really clear to me that no help from the outside is too big.

Through my time with the secoyas I experienced some of the most fantastic mentality of solidarity i have ever seen. If a man is building a house or planting a field of corn, this is a job for everybody. And everybody is helping with their warmest smiles around their mouth. Feelings like this should inspire everybody with the same mentality and an interest in maintaining the old cultures, in the evermore chaotic and globalized culture landscape of today, to help.

The world can not afford to loose another culture like this.

Fortunately a lot of help is already coming. Political support to education in secoya language, documentation of old stories and legends and installation of solar panels in the community are all good and helpful projects.

The biggest part of the responsibility of maintaining the culture, and especially the shamanic part of it, lays, in any case, with the secoyas themselves. And with their continuing dreams about a stronger tourism, based especially in their culture and shamanic tradition, a master plan is needed. With only 4 relatively old shamans still living. With a Christianity that is continuing to get stronger, alongside the growing fear of drinking Yagé, something radically has to be done if the shamanic tradition of the secoyas shall be accessible outside the history books in the nearest future.

More....

Lisa James and Michael Pelps from England: Evaluation of the status of english teaching

2007-03-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

7

Teaching English to Protect the Amazon Jungle

Introduction

Our background (Michael and Lisa)

We arrived in Quito in February 2007 to spend the final two months of our gap year travel. We intended to spend one of these months volunteering, and had not pre-arranged any volunteer work until we arrived. There are numerous volunteer options in Ecuador, and after two days of making enquiries to various volunteer organisations, we chose to arrange our placement with Ecotrackers.

Having taught English to children in South Africa and Cambodia during our gap year we expressed our preference to teach English at schools in a rural location in the Amazon Basin.

The project

We were assigned a specific project titled ‘Teaching English to Protect the Amazon Jungle’. The main objective being to teach children specific vocabulary relating to the Amazon Jungle e.g names of plant, animal and insect species that live in the Amazon Basin. By doing so, the children would benefit in the future if they were to become bilingual tourist guides in the area.

In addition to teaching English, weekends, would be spent on the Ecuador and Peru border, where there are plans to build a new Volunteer lodge with facilities, and a shop. This area will be used to accommodate future volunteers.

Also, there would be opportunities for us to be involved in the re-forestation of the sand banks on the Morona River, caused by subscidence due to logging in the area.

Location and getting there

The location options were discussed, and it was decided that we go to San Jose, a small town near the Peruvian border.

Our journey involved taking the 18.30 hrs bus from Quito’s main bus terminal to Macas. This journey can take between 9 and 11 hours. We chose to spend one night in Macas before continuing to San Jose. Macas is a small town with shops and restaurants, and accommodation options. The next morning we left Macas at 6.45 hrs, and travelled by bus to San Jose. This journey can take from 8 to 12 hours, on a very slow and bumpy road. It is recommended that you buy snacks and water in Macas, as there are no eating options on the way.

San Jose

The town of San Jose is a small community of a few hundred people. It consists of mainly colonials, and some indigenous Indians. The people are friendly and made us feel very welcome. The main employment activity is agricultural i.e cattle farming, however it is hoped that this will change to fish farming, to prevent further deforestation caused by land clearing for cattle farming.

At San Jose, nobody speaks English, so a good understanding of Spanish is recommended.

Accommodation and facilities

There are a few shops in the town which sell soft drinks, beer, and basic provisions, although choice is minimal. Accommodation is either in the family home of Dona Luber, who prepares all meals, or in the building situated next door (depending on the number of volunteers). There is an outside cold water shower and toilet, which is shared with the family, but lacks privacy. However, there is another toilet and shower at a neighbour’s house which may be used, and is more private. There is no laundrette, so clothes must be washed by hand. Bedrooms are basic, but adequate. Three meals are served each day, usually consisting of rice, meat, fish or egg, and a vegetable.

There is no electricity between the hours of 1pm and 5pm and 10pm and 5am. There is no television or mobile phone signal. There is one telephone in the town, but it is unreliable and expensive. If you like comforts and luxuries, this may not be a suitable project location for some.

Schools

There are three schools in the area. One is located in La Union, which is a 1 hour walk, and the other two, are in close proximity to the accommodation.

Camping weekend in the Jungle

As already mentioned, we had the opportunity to spend the weekend in the jungle, where it is hoped that future volunteers will be accommodated. The Director of the project also hopes to build a new village here, with facilities, internet access, and shops.

The area is located along side the Morona River, a few metres away from the Ecuador and Peru border. Access to the area is by canoe, which takes approx. 45 minutes. The project is at a very early stage – and the building work, to date, has not yet started. There is no toilet facilities or accommodation here at present. It is possible that future volunteers will be involved in the building and development of these.

All food and supplies were purchased for the weekend before leaving San Jose. On arrival at the site, we had to build a shelter for camping. The shelter was built from wooden planks, 1 metre off the ground, and surrounding trees were conveniently used to support the plastic canopy placed above the shelter for rain protection.

We brought mosquito nets, which are essential. Long sleeved tops, long trousers and socks are recommended, and the use plenty of insect repellent all helped to keep the mosquitos away to some degree.

Cooking was done on the fire, which we kept alight for the duration of our stay (the smoke from the fire also helps to keep mosquitos away). Washing and bathing were done in the river.

Reforestation of the river bank was also undertaken, by planting young shrubs and trees.

Before we returned to San Jose, we were taken by our project director (Orlando) by canoe across the Peruvian border to Suan Juan Indian village. We had to stop on the way at a Peruvian Military check point to get permission to cross the border. We were met by the Commandant of the military base, who also joined us with his wife, on our visit to San Juan village.

Overall, it was a rough and ready camping experience but was very enjoyable. It was great to sleep in the jungle with only the noise of the insects, birds and animals to listen to.

The weekend had many highlights, one being the crossing of the Peruvian border, (without a passport), and to visit a Peruvian military base. The Commandant and his wife were very welcoming and friendly, and it was a pleasure to meet them. The visit to the village of Suan Juan was also a special experience. It is hoped that future volunteers will be able to teach English at the village school.

Expedition to Peru

During the time of our placement in San Jose, there was an undergoing project, by the same director, which involved an expedition by canoe from Ecuador to Peru.

The main objective of the project was to promote the potential for ecotourism in the area and to promote the freedom for Ecuadorians to travel the Morona river to Peru. In the past this journey had not been possible due to the conflict between the two countries. At the end of the war between Peru and Ecuador in 1999, an agreement was made between the two countries to allow Ecuadorians the freedom to travel to Peru via the Morona river. However, to date, never had such a journey taken place. We were therefore the first ever group of people to do so.

Michael and I were fortunate to be invited to attend this unique experience. The 6 day journey from Puerto Morona (near San Jose) to San Lorenzo (Peru) commenced on the 1^st March 07. Ecotrackers volunteers, together with news paper reporters and journalists were invited on this journey which was the first of its kind in history.

28^th Feb – The final preparation of the canoe was completed, and we then travelled a short distance where we camped for the night. This was at the border, and was the meeting point for the remainder of the guests to join us for the journey.

March 1^st – We were joined by the rest of the party at 6am, and after breakfast we started the journey. The first stop was at a Peruvian Military base, where two Peruvian soldiers joined us for the journey to San Lorenzo.

We travelled each day for about 8 – 10 hours, stopping briefly for a swim, and toilet stops. Food was cooked on the canoe, with supplies brought by everyone, and fresh fish caught in the river by Louis and Michael (piranas and catfish). Drinking water was boiled from the river and also used for cooking. During the travel time, we entertained ourselves with card games, singing Ecuadorian folk songs, and guitar playing.

As volunteers, it was wonderful to share the joy and excitement the Ecuadorian people felt on this historic journey, who were undertaking for the first time the freedom to travel the Morona river and Maranion river to Peru.

Accommodation on the journey to San Lorenzo, was spent at Indian villages, where we were welcomed by the community leaders. Meals were prepared for us using traditional methods, and their schools were opened for us to sleep in. Some evenings were spent by the fire, singing songs, to entertain our Indian hosts.

We arrived in San Lorenzo a day behind schedule, due to difficult navigation in low water. San Lorenzo is a unique city as it has no road access. We all stayed in a hostel for two nights, and ate in the local restaurants. Everywhere we stopped along the way, we were received gladly by the various communities. Their hospitality was excellent, and all seemed encouraged by this trip as it is beneficial for those villages located along the route, as it will create trade and eco tourism which can only help in making the communities prosper. Also, these communities were encouraged by the prospect of having volunteers in the future, to teach English at their schools.

The return journey took three days, and we stayed overnight at the same Indian villages as we did on the way. We arrived back at Puerto Morona, feeling a great sense of achievement. We were very honoured to be part of this unforgettable experience, and hope that other volunteers and tourists take the opportunity to travel to Peru in this unique way.

Conclusion

We have had a varied experience by volunteering with Ecotrackers. Our time spent teaching English in San Jose was very satisfying and enjoyable. We would recommend this project to future volunteers as it will become more interesting as the project develops and gains more momentum.

Evaluation of the status of english teaching

in the area of Morona

The work we started was teaching basic English to children in San Jose and La Union. We feel that it is really important that future volunteers continue the work, so this document contains information for future volunteers and should be updated every time somebody leaves.

La Union

Situation: The children know very little english. They have never had an english teacher and they don´t have course books. They seem to have some vocabulary in their notebooks, because the director of the school has been teaching them some words, though he does not speak english. They are familiar with a few greetings and so on, but have no understanding of grammar. Depending on the day there are approximately 40 pupils from 9-12 years old. It is hard to maintain consistency as some pupils do not attend every day.

What we have done: We have been teaching them (a revision of these should be sufficient):

Hello

What is your name

My name is

How are you

I am fine

Where are you from

I am from

Also we have been teaching the ”head and shoulders, knees and toes” song, and body parts. They may remember some of it. Some have done colours.

Recommendations:

–Asking them to repeat loudly, e.g new vocabulary and greetings. This is an effective way to help them remember, and practice pronounciation.

–Playing games and singing songs are effective ways of getting all to participate, as some are very shy.

–There is a notebook for the school, that will be handed with comments from earlier volunteers. Write what you do. If we have to continue without books this is very important.

The voluntary afternoon kids from the San José primary school

Situation: They come voluntarily and are quite enthusiastic. They have notebooks with some words from the school, but they are basically starting from scratch. Being out of the school environment (we have been doing the classes on Doña Nube´s terrace) makes the teaching environment more relaxed and informal, but there are no facilities (e. g. blackboard), and naturally there are many kids that don´t attend.

What we have done: We have been teaching them (a revision of these should be sufficient):

Hello

What is your name

My name is

How are you

I am fine

Where are you from

I am from

Also we have been teaching the ”head and shoulders, knees and toes” song, and a few other body parts.

26/2 We taught them various kinds of animals, and asked them to draw them, which they enjoyed very much. We tried the ”Old McDonell had a farm”-song, but it was a bit difficult for them.

Recommendations:

–Drawings, songs, and games seems to motivate the children easily.

The secondary school (el colegio) of San José

Situation: They are taught english and have english text books, but they are all below the level of their book. Their theoretic understanding is better than their pronounciation and conversation is very basic. The older pupils are keen to learn and seem to enjoy being taught english by volunteers. They are enthusiastic and the environment is pleasant.

What we have done: We divided into 3 groups. Michael and Lisa spent all their time with 6th grade

(17 years +), doing conversation, greetings and a few other things like the verb ”to be”. They are a pleasure to work with, and have adjectives in their notebooks. Tom and Bjarke did pronounciation with different classes; difficult sounds and tongue twisters(difficult sounds: -me, -ve, -m, -sk, th, t, r). Helen used the children's english text book, and based activities (easier than those of the book) on this: e. g. christmas, spare time activities etc.

Recommendations:

General recommendations

–A good idea would be to watch a lesson with the english teachers to get an idea of the level and the teaching methods.

–Volunteers should always keep a record of what they have taught, so that future volunteers will have a reference.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Agnes Falck In Atillo

2007-03-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

Agnes Falck In Atillo reporte

The community

Atillo is a community about 2 hours by bus from Riobamba. The altitude is 3450 metres. There is only one road and it stretches between Riobamba and Macas. There are two bus companies to go with, Riobamba and Unidos. Every day pass about seven busses in each direction.

The community includes 650 persons spread over 20 kilometres. There are three schools and two churches.

The landscape is nice with a lot of mountains and grass. It is cold. Only if the sun is shining in the day there is an opportunity to sweet. The rest of the time you will need a lot of clothes. It will be about 8 degrees Celsius in you room by night. Don’t forget your sunscreen every day though. And boots and rain clothes.

I went to Atillo to teach English in the school and take photos of the landscape. I slept in a cabin and ate in the only restaurant in Atillo. It is run by the intelligent and strong woman Dora, her parents and two girls who also live with the family. Dora has got a daughter who lives in Riobamba to go to school. She is not married though.

The people and the life

Most of the women marry when they are 15-17 years old and the men maybe a few years older. It is very unusual with birth control so the families are big. Even up to ten kids or more is not rare. The family mostly owns two beds, one for the parents and one for the children. The houses aren’t really small but they aren’t big either.

In Atillo they grow very little, mostly potatoes and cereals, and some sort off grass to use for fire. They also grow pines, a tree imported from Europe. But what they do for a living is to have animals. The cow is the most important animal. Every day they sell the milk to the local cheese factory which pays 25 cents per litre of milk. The total gain of course depends on how many cows the family haes, and how many of the cows are giving milk. I think most of the families have about 20 cows. Mostly only the woman gets up early to get the milk. Of course she milks by hand, and even though she is fast, it will take her two hours. I asked a few families what they earn and it is about 6 dolls a day.

Other animals are horses and donkeys for transportation, sheep for clothing, dogs to guard the house, and to eat or sell pigs, hens, guinea pigs and rabbits.

There are not many opportunities to do any other work in Atillo. There is the restaurant with Dora, her parents and two girls, a kinder garden where one man works, the cheese factory driven by one family, a small place where they cross stones, a small “fishfactory” for “trutchas” and some very small shops for food and sweets. Mostly the families go to Riobamba to by their food though. They had just started to build a new school but they need more money to finish it.

The School

I taught in the school placed in the middle. There are 22 children in age 6-12. They are divided into three lasses, even though there is only one teacher, Licensiado. The way he works is two give two of the groups tasks to finish while he is teaching the third group. The older kids have got a book about history, geography, mathematics, politics and even a little sexual education.

The teacher lives in Riobamba which means he has to go by bus two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. He told me he had tried to live in a small room close to the school but he thought it was too cold and lonely. The teacher is sometimes lazy and wants to stay in Riobamba. Then he tells the children that he has got important courses or tells them some other excuse.

The bus arrives at 8.15 and lives at 12.15. There is also a pause at 10 ò clock for lunch, so in all there is about three hours of teaching. The lunch is made by the mothers of the children. The government gives some of the ingredients.

The building is not a real school. They started the school only one year ago and before it was a community house. It is very noisy and cold but there is sufficient space and light. No toilets and water though.

The College

There is no college in Atillo. If the children go to college they have to move to Riobamba or some other place. If they are lucky they have some relatives to stay with. They start in college when they are 12 years old and finish when they are 18. It is difficult for the children from the countryside to live in the town. They have been to worse schools and also they haven’t got a lot of friends. Many of them will give up and go home to Atillo again. An alternative is to study in distance. I don’t know a lot about this, but I bet it must be hard to learn on your own.

Earlier it was very uncommon to go to college. But maybe this will change. All the children I spoke to said they will go to college. I hope they will.

posted by Ecotrackers @ 2:16 PM

BJARKE FRYDENDAL in the BJARKE project

2007-03-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

The new volunteer´s house at border Ecuador-Peru in the Morona River

the sunset in the jungle

Two months with Ecotrackers and Orlando Montufar on the Morona River

My project:
My project was to help a guy called Orlando Montufar with vitalising the zone surrounding the peruvian-ecuadorian border on the river Morona. This river is Ecuador´s most direct way to the big rivers of Peru, the Amazon and Brazil. My work consisted of a lot of different things – all in all I was helping Orlando in whatever he was doing in order to develop the zone in a sustainable way, so people can have alternatives to cutting down trees, fishing, hunting and cattle (which all damage the rainforest). I helped prepare the Ecotrackers house in the village San José de Morona for further volunteers, later on coordinated four volunteers and helped them teach in the village, built a shelter in the middle of the rainforest, and later on I helped prepare a six-day journey to San Lorenzo(the first Peruvian city downriver) in which I also went. My work was very varied and I had a lot of responsibility.

The community of San José:
San José is a colonist cattlevillage very close to the border. People were friendly and welcoming. The men work from morning to evening in their farms a bit outside the village, and the place were a bit boring in the afternoon, when there was nothing to do. There were no young people – almost everybody between 18 and 25 had gone to Macas to study. I had only little contact with indigenous communities, only when I was visiting communities with Orlando. People are still sceptic about the project, but some, the organisation Ecomorona is working well,

The good things:
It was very fascinating to participate in a project, starting almost from scratch. Watching it grow, bit by bit, even building the chairs for the arriving volunteers to save money. I got to see a Peruvian army base from the inside, and visited indigenous villages as they are, with Manchester United T-shirts, boomboxes and so on. It was a really very non-touristy under the skin experience. I learned a lot of things about working like that in a country like this and about organising things. Also it was a great experience to see the Peruvian river villages and especially San Lorenzo (50000 inhabitants, no road access, no cars, no tourists, but apart from that everything you would expect from a city of this size). In fact so great that the next thing I will do is travel to Brazil on these rivers. Other than that, I got to sleep in very savage rainforest a few times which was a great experience.

The wild things:
I slept in only scarcely cleaned rainforest, with a tarantula hidden in the plastic we were sleeping under. I saw landmines. On the boat-trip we stopped in an indigenous community for the night, where nobody had seen a camera before, and the children wanted to touch us.

The future of the project:
I believe that the Morona river has a great potential for both tourism and trade, and with more volunteers coming it will work. There is great interest among the indigenous villages on the river for tourism, and as far as I can see it will work, as long as it receives constant support from volunteers.

All in all evaluation:
The organisation of my project was rather chaotic, also because I was the very first volunteer in the project, in its very initial phase. I am sure that future volunteers will meet the organisation with a clearer idea, and better planning(but of course, they are ecuadorians). Even though, be prepared that the project may differ from the idea you have when you leave Quito. I had a very good experience, for it is a good project, my coordinator was good and I was able to work effectively, which was ultimately what I wanted. For those who want traditional Indian dresses, shamanism and ayahuasca, birdwatching and medical herbs, this is not the project. For those who want and authentic experience of a community close to standing still, a knowledge of the social, economic and political problems that sustainable development confronts in this region and the experience of being part of the real battle (which is neither simple nor romantic), this is indeed the project.

Bjarke Frydendal, Denmark

Subscribe to: Pos

Natalia Tomalak a poland student of ecoturism with the Shwar Chaman in the National Park Sangay

2007-02-11T15:02:00.000-08:00

My experience with Shuar Shaman and natural medicine took place in Santa Ines between 18th and 25th of January. I stayed with a family of Rafael Shakay whose grandfather was a well known Shaman. Rafael himself is not a Shaman but has knowledge of the medicinal plants and shamanic rituals. There are other members of his family - his uncles that are Shamans.

The Shaman in Santa Ines is a young man, that is for shamans, at 42 years old. He lived and practiced shamanism in Tena for many years. Now he just returned to Santa Ines and does not have his sacred place yet. He was chosen to become a Shaman by his father-shaman when he was 5 years old. As he was interested in that, old Shuar shamans started to teach him the techniques, rituals and medicinal plants. He needed 12 years to purify his body by using a special diet, not having relationships with women and many others restrictions that were strictly ordered by the old shaman. It is the shaman-teacher who decides when an adept is ready to move forward. Future shamans in order to become like their teachers have to undertake many trials of hallucinogenic drinks of different strength. The resistance of the body and soul has to be very high so when dealing with negative energy they can recuperate and will not be affected.......More press here

Carina Sjoberg-Hawke an English student of History in the National Park Sangay

2007-02-11T11:53:00.000-08:00

Atillo, Zuñac and Macas

Atillo, 3100m
There are about 640 people in the community of Atillo. It is a community that has always been, if not always officially recognised, for centuries, even before the Incas. But there originally there were no natives; the ancestors were actually from Colombia, or some from the Orient or Coast.

Over 200 years ago there were two lots of indigenous peoples living in the surrounding areas, Pruhes and Shuars. Then came the Colombians, who settled in the area which is now Atillo. The Spaniards followed. With each new nation over the years a mix of nations naturally occurred. The Spaniards brought with them horses and eventually roads; trading became commonplace, but distances were of course still very remote. Until the arrival of automobiles, riding horses to Riobamba, for example, took two days or more. And even after the arrival automobiles, this would still be the case as the roads were not always passable by vehicles.

For many decades there was a fight for freedom from Spanish landlords of the farms. In 1933 Atillo residents got their right to own their own land and cattle. This was a first in the whole of Ecuador.

Links between Atillo and Macas in the east have always been strong with or without a road. The relationships between Atillo and the closer areas to the west on the other hand have never been so strong.

This no doubt has a lot to do with family, language and education: a lot of relatives of those in Atillo reside in Macas; a lot of the closer areas still speak kichwa (castellano too though) whereas the residents of Atillo do not, haven’t done for at least eighty years (eg. Dora’s parents know just enough, but not a lot, of Kichwa, to converse with those beyond Atillo); and there has been a school in Atillo for eighty years teaching in Castellano only.

Atillo, and no doubt many villages, towns, cities, in Ecuador, is very conservative. I have learned for example that to jut have a boyfriend at the age of thirty could be unwelcome if you’re not going to marry. Having kid out of wedlock VERY frowned upon. Perhaps not unlike society in England and other European countries a few decades ago. But I get the impression that things are changing, even in the small remote places. Education perhaps has a lot to do with it and knowledge of the outside world so much more available.

I think it is difficult if you ant to get out. You rely on your family for food, room, etc, but if you decide you to live your own life, with or without someone else and you no money and your parents would be angry with you, may never speak to you again, it is very difficult to rebel.

But rebel would seem to be the answer if change is what you want in a community like Atillo. You’d have to accept that you’d be looked down upon, perhaps not talk to family for years and have a long, difficult toil ahead.

Question is who is right or which life is better? Or even should we be allowed what we want? It is not for me to say or judge, although I think it is and always should be the individual’s choice and decision.

Zuñac, 2400m
This is a small catholic parish with no indigenous people. Seventy years ago the population of the original Zuñac (200-300 metres further up), descendents of yet again Colombians, came down to Sambicentre, which is now the centre of Zuñac. Today there are forty-six families, approximately 200 people. They all mostly work with agriculture, and mostly for themselves. They rarely sell anything they make, though if they do, they go to Macas.

The road, tunnel and bridge on which it lies was welcomed when constructed, because, as many residents told me, made 6 days to Riobamba 3 hours instead! The other road recently added between Guamote and Macas has been a mixed fortune; less business for the local restaurant for example, but less traffic disturbing the peace and environment. The tunnel though is not finished; rumour has it that the government would prefer to spend money on the coast. Apparently it will continue in February.

The restaurant owner is from Riobamba. He says there is nothing to do in Zuñac and misses Riobamba. I also met the Tenure Secretary, the President of the parish (who preferred I talk to others in the community) and an old guy who was supposed to know a lot about the history of the parish, but actually didn’t have much to say or at least wouldn’t expand on much. The language barrier of course made it difficult.

It is a modern parish – has a telephone centre, something that Atillo doesn’t have, and a new church - tucked between jungle and sierra often surrounded by mist, that welcomes new innovations, facilitators (the road and tunnel etc) but it also continues the old ways strongly; community spirit, agriculture for themselves, faith (rest on Sundays!)

I didn’t learn much about the history; the people didn’t seem to want to talk about the past or at least assume “history” is only the past fifty-odd years, where as I’m interested in centuries back.

Macas, 1500m
The road to Macas is a dangerous one, or at least, not straight-forward! It is unfinished, full of pot holes, mud and stones, trees/twigs in the way following lots of rain, and during the time I visited, landslides caused more problems.

When there is a landslide either the road is impassable or vehicles get stuck. In either case, the drivers get out and deal with it, change buses on either side of the landslide or pick up stones and form an adequate pass. Sometimes this is still a problem through, as even though smaller vehicles may get by no problem, the big buses can and do get stuck, so the drivers and passengers get out and “dig it out” of the situation!

Once passed the very high ground, the chances of landslides are less, but the road is still at times a bumpy ride and there are other problems with or without much rain, like waterfalls, which at times cross the roads, so always extra careful driving.

As you head down the air becomes heavier, warmer, more humid passing very green vegetation, jungle-like.

When in Macas it’s a totally different arena to the páramos, a city, surrounded by jungle vegetation, hills of such, and the view of the river from the church and/or radio station is very tropical. The difference between the sierra and the oriente feel very defined.

The city itself is very clean; notices everywhere next to bins saying help keep Macas clean. The weekends are pretty quiet, a lot of places closed. It seems to be a very relaxed kind of town, perhaps because of the heat – lots of sun always comes with a laid back attitude!

Un mes en los Andes es una experiencia relajante y tranquila. He aprendido mucho de la gente de Los Saskines y Atillo. Esa gente hace trabajos duros con poco tiempo para relajar, pero se parece que les gusta trabajar porque muchas veces las chicas se reín tontamente!

Durante el mes allí trabajaba también en una escuela tres días por semana; enseñaba inglés durante una hora y media a trece niños. Los niños pensaba que estaba llena de alegría. Un mes no es mucho para aprender inglés, pero los niños aprendía de todas maneras como se dicen "hello, how are you?"!!

Me alegro de que tuve la oportunidad para llegar a conocer la familia Paña. Son ahora mis amigos preciosos.

Carina Sjoberg-Hawke`s report of an English student of Historia in Atillo

2007-02-11T11:47:00.000-08:00

La casa de los voluntarios y turistas

Los Saskines; restaurant, home, mountains and eco-route

Durante un mes yo vivía y trabajaba en un restaurante se llama Los Saskines. Toma su nombre de las montañas que domina en el fondo, que son en parte de los páramos en la comunidad de Atillo (h.3000m sobre el nivel del mar).

The landscape is somewhat like the highlands of Scotland and near The Lakes of Atillo, a tourist attraction and local haven for tranquillity and fishing, reminiscent of Norway. The lakes and the rest of the moor are surrounded by mountains leading off in one direction to Macas (c.1500m above sea level) in the Oriente – the warm jungle parts of Ecuador - and in the other Guamote or Riobamba - cities of the Andes, South of Quito.

Los páramos is a life..... more press here

Evaluation Project Wouter Kakebeeke

2007-02-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

Evaluation Project Wouter Kakebeeke
Dutch student of International Business

Wouter Kakebeeke

Voluntario Holandés que desarrolla del periódico pedagógico Mirada.

1.1 Ecotrackers

Ecotrackers is a non profit organization that works directly with students and volunteers from all over the world, to develop intelligent tourism to preserve the biodiversity and cultural diversity of Ecuador, working to improve the adverse conditions that afflict many communities throughout the country. Intelligent tourism is defined by the foundation as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Ecotrackers works primarily with Indigenous, Mestizo and African-Latino communities situated close to national parks and other publicly protected areas since August 2000. We work alongside other organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, with similar goals to assist people of any gender or age who face the destruction of nature, the extinction of cultures and the many other problems that confront many Ecuadorian communities.

1.2 Mission of the foundation

In order to achieve our objectives and philosophy, Ecotrackers sends volunteers to communities situated in places where the most important work exists, as well as where both the safety and usefulness of the students or volunteers can be ensured.

They believe that one of the best methods to achieve our goals is the promotion of community-based ecotourism or intelligent tourism. This goes beyond simply bringing tourists to a community. It includes economic and socio-cultural development work, meaning promoting sustainable use of resources, the development of sustainable agriculture systems, and providing needed infrastructure, not only for tourism but to improve the local quality of life as well.

These activities must be done with respect for the existing culture of the communities. They believe people have a basic right to choose how they wish to live, meaning that any projects they are involved in must have the support of the community and should be instigated by the community. The function of Ecotrackers is to help provide human resources to the communities, and to work with them in setting their own long term goals and devising a plan to achieve them.

1.3 Vision of the foundation

Globalization and the materialism that often comes with it are affecting small, remote communities all over the world, drawing indigenous communities into an economic system for which they are frequently ill-prepared. Globalization introduces a new set of values; urban-based and western, most often leading indigenous peoples to devalue their own culture and encouraging a view of the environment as a resource to be exploited. Indigenous communities are under intense pressure from petroleum and mining companies, speculators, illegal loggers, colonists, an alien education system, and other outsiders with a very different values system. Frequently, these outside interests destroy the natural environment in which these communities live, or the communities themselves begin to exploit their environment in order to earn cash to be part of the new economy.

Yet alternatives exist, and it is Ecotrackers’ mission to promote different options to ensure a secure long-term future for our communities. Their experience, along with a growing body of literature, has indicated that for any community development program to be successful, it must be undertaken with community support and in a sustainable manner. Sustainability further requires attention to not only environmental protection, but social and cultural impacts and economic needs as well.

2.1 The website Ecotrackers.net

With this webpage we want to publish the latest news about the nature and environment of Ecuador. The actions of the government, companies and individuals are posted here to show the world a process that shows progress, nevertheless we still haven’t achieved all our goals. Furthermore, we publish news about international environmental actions, part of interesting books and much more.

2.2 Main vision of the website
The most important is creating a public conscience about the big problems in the world. In the future, the problems won’t be: Which country’s economy is growing the fastest? Who has the highest percentage? No, the problems will be: How are we going to solve the problems about our environment? How can we guarantee fresh drinking water for our children? These are the fundamental questions, and normally in a democracy, a government acts the way their people wants them to act. So, if the people want to make change about our environment, a government will have his duties to perform.

2.3 Journal “Mirada”

Our stories and experiences are posted on this webpage or on our webblogs. May be the most interesting on this webpage is our journal “Mirada”. The journal is written in Spanish and English, with topics about experiences of prior volunteers and environmental issues. The journal can be used for improving one’s Spanish or English while getting to know more about specialized environmental topics. This way the webpage Ecotrackers.net serves as a specialized portal within the extension of the vision of Ecotrackers Foundation. On this webpage and with our journal we want to promote the use of different languages by using non-professional journalist – our volunteers.

This way we can use our vast information present at the foundation, and besides that generate some financial resource by selling copies of the journal and perhaps income from the webpage itself in the future.

3.1 My personal contribution

My study and personal interest involve international business, and everything related. The main goals of my study is to understand and to be able to perform business related actions abroad. Nowadays, every big enterprise has a certain level of interaction with foreign markets. My interest in particular lies within finding new business or market segment in the future. The phenomenon called globalization in general causes changes in the way of doing business now and in the future. My main job is to understand and adjust myself in new markets and cultures different then my own.

3.2 My contribution to Ecotrackers Foundation

My contribution to the foundation in general implies my knowledge that I obtained from my studies and prior traveling experiences. I use my knowledge in trying to find ways of getting financial income for the foundation. We are trying to sell the journal ´Mirada´. The income is low, but in the future we’ll try to reach all the students close to the Ecotrackers office (around 100.000 students). I also developed the website Ecotrackers.net to give the foundation a larger base and publication area on the internet. My knowledge about website was not so substantial but I learned in small parts to control Mambo, the main program in controlling both the websites, Ecotrackers.net and Ecotrackers.com.
Furthermore, I translated their web page Ecotrackers.com into Spanish, and fixed the other languages on this webpage to work again. I also translated some of their documents in English, like the main questionnaire they hand out to volunteers to found out their preferences.

3.3 The contribution of Ecotrackers Foundation to me

Ecotrackers provided me with a computer and other physical assets. Furthermore I learned a lot from their prior experience and their vision of the new businesses in the 21st century. Finally, I had full access to their database with information and photos from the volunteers that have been working with Ecotrackers in order to create Ecotrackers.net and the journal “Mirada”.

4.1 The future prospect

Our first step towards the future will be developing more editions of the journal “Mirada”. The second step is the expansion of Ecotrackers.net, in order to obtain more interesting content and thus more visitors. Thirdly, we have to improve the position of both the website and the journal in the market, which contains reaching more students to read our journal. The fourth step is to arrange a way of financing the printing costs for the journal. This might be possible from resources directly from the webpage, or selling advertisement space in the journal itself. The fifth step is to stabilize the market positions and great a small but stable growth. Finally, we have to evaluate the whole project and provide useful feedback to improve any of these prior steps if necessary.

4.2 Future volunteers

4.2.1 Community projects

Future volunteers can help my project by going to communities and come back with stories and myths about that community. We can publish these stories on Ecotrackers.net and in the journal “Mirada”. This way we keep the legends of the communities alive as well as their language.

4.2.2 Projects of Ecotrackers

We can publish stories about progression within the training centres of Ecotrackers in the Pacific coast, the islands of Galapagos, the mountains of the Andes and the Amazon rainforest.

4.2.3 Projects from volunteers

Since Mirada is a journal of languages, culture y environmental topics, future volunteers and students, particularly journalism students, can write and publish related articles. If interested, they can try to learn a native language and publish their articles in that languages as well as English and Spanish.

2007-02-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

2007-02-07T12:30:00.001-08:00

Kate Binns in Guamote 2003

2007-01-29T16:23:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Our site
During our travels through Central and South America Mark and I spent a week in Guamote, Ecuador with Ecotrackers. Ecotrackers is a non-profit organisation which aims to protect the environment and culture of rural communities in Ecuador through community ecotourism and volunteer work.

The purpose of this site is to showcase the Guamote Carnival and encourage other travellers to visit the town, which has an amazing weekly market with squealing pigs and brightly coloured materials, and a train station, from which you can ride on the roof down to the Devil´s Nose.

Louise Sagner My experience with Ecotrackers

2007-01-16T13:21:00.001-08:00

Welcome To My Home Page

Hello,

My name is Louise and I live in Sweden.

For many years, I worked in the Lund University Library, Department of Sciences, Technology and Medicine, as Reference Librarian and Information Specialist.

Lund University is the largest and second oldest in Sweden, being founded in 1666.

However, I retired 18 months ago and now I can travel even more, read more books, attend more lectures. It is just great! I enjoyed working though, having the best colleages. The development of library working conditions into the age of databases and Internet facilities have been thrilling.

I travelled for six weeks this spring (2003) in Gujarat and Rajastan. Now I have six weeks in Ecuador.

I just got acquainted with Ecotrackers here in Quito and will volunteer for ten days, to begin with. That will be a quite new experience and am looking forward to it!

When coming back to Quito, around the end of October, I will write a report of my experiences on this my new and first web site

Ecoturism Communitary

2007-01-16T13:21:00.000-08:00

SAN MARINO DE WAPUNO

San Marino de Wapuno

We have spent five days in the community San Marino de Wapuno. It's located 1,5 hour from Puyo by buss. We lived in a young family with our guide Alberto Lopes, his wife and their three children. They were really nice and took good care of us. They lived in a newbuilt house without walls, furnitures, electricity, toilet and water.

The first day we went to a big meeting in the village where the president of the community welcomed us and told the people that we were there to help them develope the ecoturism. We also made plans for the following days and drank chicha.

Under our visit in Amazonas we did trekking in the lovely rainforest and our guide showed us different plants to eat and for medical use. With the guide in the front using his big machetes to make way for us, we walked, climbed and jumped between the stones in the river. We collected food from the forest to make our dinner by bananas, yuca, palmitos and fish from the river. We watched footprints of different animals and we saw a lot of birds and insektes. We had no luck to see bigger animals. We visited waterfalls, a lagoon and plantages of coffe- and cacaobeans, bananas, papayas and ananas.

We spent one night deep in the forest, by the river Oglan. We built a little roof of palmleaves and slept on the ground with moskitos and ants. It was a really great feeling to listen to all sounds from the forest and the little fire burning next to us.

One night we were invited to a big party. Our guide and the president had a band wich played quichua songs and they were wearing small skirts made of plants. We drank beer and danced all night.

It has been a great experience to live in a family like this, and we are very glad that we had the opportunity to do this before all tourists starts to come. We think this community will be a great place for ecoturism because of the beautyful nature and the happy natives wanting you to take part of there lives.

MANGLARALTO, SANTA ELENA

Manglaralto in Santa Elena

We stayed with the family of Roberto Piloso in Manglaralto. The family is Roberto, his wife Blanca and the children Romina 10 years, Salomon 3 years and the dog Kenny. We spent five days in december with the family and celebrated christmas with them. It was great to have the opportunity to celebrate christmas in such a different way! At midnight, between 24:th and 25:th of december, we toasted for christmas and than, in the middle of the night we had a very nice dinner. After that the celebration went on during all night. On the 25:th there is most of all the cildren who celebrates christmas. We went to the church to watch a show where Romina danced and sang. In their christmas there were also a christmastree, candies and "papi noel".

Besides celebrating christmas we visited a very interesting museum "Los amantes de Sumpa" and a place were they showed different projects in the community, for example clean water. We also went to Libertad to do some shopping, walked around in Manglaralto and on the beautyful beach. We spent time with the family and practised our spannish and talk about our different traditions and cultures. One evening we had a barbeque on the beach. We had some very nice days in Manglaralto! It is a very nice town and the people there are friendly. It is quite and free from tourists, in spite of Montañita (which is just 45 minutes walk from there) with a lot of tourists, surfing and party.

There is a lot to do and to see in and around Manlaralto even if we didn't have time for all of it during christmas.

Manglaralto, Santa Elena

Vi bodde i Manglaralto hos Roberto Piloso med familj bestaaende av hustrun Blanca, barnen Romina, 10 aar och Salomon, 3aar samt hunden Kenny. Vi var daer fem dagar i december och firade jul tillsammans med familjen. Det var roligt att faa fira en annorlunda jul med dem. Firandet boerjade vid midnatt mellan den 24:e och 25:e december. Vi boerjade att skaala in julen paa tolvslaget och sedan aat vi en fin middag mitt i natten. Daerefter fortsatte firandet hela natten...Den 25:e aer det fraemst barnen som firar. Vi foeljde med Romina till kyrkan och tittade paa en saang- och dansuppvisning som hon var med i. I oevrigt saa har de plastgran med blinkande julgransbelysning, godis och tomte.

Foerutom att fira jul saa besoekte vi ocksaa ett mycket intressant museum "Los amantes de Sumpa", samt en utstaellning som visade olika projekt som paagick i Manglaralto, t ex vattenrening. Vi strosade runt i Manglaralto och tog laanga prommenader paa stranden. Vi spenderade mycket tid med familjen vilket gav oss bra tillfaelle att oeva vaar spanska. Vi julhandlade i Libertad och hade en kvaell grillparty paa stranden.

Vi hade verkligen naagra underbart skoena dagar daer! Manglaralto aer en mysig liten by och maenniskorna aer gaestvaenliga. Det aer mycket lugnt och turistfritt i motsats till Montañita som endast ligger en 45 minuters prommenad daerifraan, daer det vimmlar av turister, surfare och aer mycket party! Det finns mycket att se och goera i omgivningarna, aeven om vi inte hann med saa mycket i jultider.

Sarah is welcomed into our home by a proud older brother Robbie and a new older sister Denise.

Volunteer program Atacames Ecuador

2007-01-16T13:09:00.002-08:00

name: Sandy

profession: docter

nationality: Dutch

I did my voluntary project in Atacames and surrounding. The welcome from the family was really nice and I felt at home straight a way. In these districts are working teams from promotores de salud who are giving medical attention to the poor people who are living far out. My job was to teach the promotores de salud about the most common childrensdiseases and how to reconize and treath them. The first day was a day to relax. One of the people from the organisation took me on a trip to Galera a little village with a lovely beach. In the evening the family showed me how to clean and prepare freshly catched fish. It tasted great. The first place I had to teach was in Same. They already waited in a small building what was a gift of Unicef. The team was very anxious to learn a lot what made the teaching very nice to do. The next day I teached the practical things like measuring bloodpressure and learning them how to give injections.

The next day was a holiday in Ecuador. On this day (which is once a year) the people visit the graves of there death relatives. The family took me with them to San Francisco, Bunche and Muisne where we visit the graves of there death relatives. In the evening I played with the children on the beach and helped them with there homeworks.

The next two days I had to teach in Puerto Neuvo a little village about 1,5 hour from Atacames. In this district are working promotores de salud with a lot of experience. Some of them are having an experience of 22 years. They are working a lot with medicinal plants because there are no other medicins available out there. They made a list with the most common diseases in that area and I teached them about these diseases and they teached me about the medicinal plants. The funny thing was that we discussed a lot of different things from the first group. They wanted to learn a lot about anticonceptie ( this is still a subject hard to talk about here) . We all spend the night over there. No elektricity so the cooking happened in the dark with a big pot on a fire of wood. All the women and children had to sleep in one room what was a very special experience.

The next day I also teached them a little bit of english what they find an impossible language to learn. You write it in a different way from pronouncing it but at the end they all managed to speak a few basic words. At the end of the day there was a soccermatch. The local team agains a team from a other village and of course Puerto Nuevo won.

I really admirar the promotores de salud. They really like to help there people and do it on a voluntary basis. The kidness and enthousiasme of the people toke a warm place in my heart.

Volunteer program Atacames Ecuador

2007-01-16T13:09:00.001-08:00

name: Sandy

profession: docter

nationality: Dutch

I really admirar the promotores de salud. They really like to help there people and do it on a voluntary basis. The kidness and enthousiasme of the people toke a warm place in my heart.

My volunteer report

2007-01-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

elcome To My Home Page
Here is my report about the projects I visited. For a brief summary have a look at the "About Page".

the coast
In all the projects at the coast we stayed only about two days, because we were about to find out what the next volunteers can do there. In first case to have a better coordination in Quito. So it was a very special trip for Ecotracker-volunteers.

From Quito we took the nightbus to Borbon and after some hours of waiting at that dirty place we managed to catch the first lancha(motorized canoe) of the day to San Jose. The sun was shining extremly strong for the whole three-hour-ride up the Rio de Cayapas and the narrow canoe of course didn't have a roof. So we were really glad as we finally arrived.
San Jose is a remote village in the selva(special kind of forest) where the houses are still built in a traditional way and the first thing I noticed was the red soil. The poeple there are dark-skinned so we with our light skin were a big attraction.
We were welcomed in a very friendly way and the children wanted to show us the whole village right away.

In the evening after a delicious dinner we taught English to some guides of the village.
Because there isn't any electicity we had to study with candels. That was a special experience.

The next day we went on a excurcion with Pedro our guide. It was very fascinating how well he knew the selva there. We walked in creeks, up some hills and down again on the other side, past medows, learned a lot of the special plants there and of course had fresh fruits right from the trees.
I never had that delicious bananas all my life.
Again in the village we took a bath in the river where all the people of the place just stared at us from the border of the river.
In the evening we were exhausted but still had to teach English.

enjoying the evening with a part of our hostfamily in Bunche

Our next project was in La Tolita, just a little bit further south. The people there were much more outgoing and kept whisteling after us, which was pretty annoying. At that place we didn't really have much to do except teaching English to very motivated children four hours a day. The rest of our time we spent playing football with the children and going to the beach.

The third place we went to was Bunche. The village was so clean and friendly-looking that we loved it there right from the beginning.
The first day we tought English to a group of teenagers which were very interested in learning this language. We also played a lot with the children, which were full of energie all day long.
The second day we went on a hike to a waterfall in the area. The selva here was very different to the kind we walked through in San Jose, but also very tropical and of course interesting for us.
We also had the chance to go to the beach of Bunche, which was a beautiful deserted place.
Our hostfamily was so nice that we would have loved to stay there for at least a week, but our plan was fix so we had to travel on to Manglaralto.

The bus- and boatride from Bunche to Manglaralto lasted two days. So arriving at Roberto's house was pretty nice, as you can imagine. At the time we were there all the inhabitants were preparing themselves for a parade, which found place on the second day we were staying there.
That's why we only tought English for an hour and that hour was pretty useless because the children were already very nervous. So in the afternoon we were able to lend some bikes to discover the area on our own.

And on the 29th of Mai we already had to catch the bus to La Libertad and from there the one back to Quito.

quilotoa
Am Montag, 10. Juni 2002, starteten wir unser Projekt und freuten uns darauf,dem Strassenlaerm von Quito zu entfliehen. Mit dem Bus gings ueber Latacunga nach Zumbahua und von dort aus auf der Ladeflaeche eines Pick-ups auf einer holperigen Andenpiste durch wunderschoene Canyons nach Quilotoa.
Von den Kindern der Familie, in der wir fuer eine woche lebten, wurden wir freundlich empfangen.Noch am selben Tag fuehrten sie uns zum Rand der "Laguna de Quilotoa" , von wo aus wir die imposante Umgebung ueberblicken konnten.
Der Englischunterricht in der Dorfschule fand jeweils zwischen 15.30 und 17.00 Uhr statt. Danach gaben wir uns jeweils dem einzigen Spiel hin, auf das sich alle einigen konnten - Fussball! Die Partien fanden zwar eher auf einem frisch gepfluegten Acker an Hanglage als auf einem Fussballfeld statt,Spass hatten wir jedoch trotzdem.

Am Mittwoch wurde in Zumbahua die "Fiesta del Torro" gefeiert. Das ganze Dorf begab sich, eingepfercht in zwei Lastwagen, zum Fest. Sich auf dem Festgelaende zurechtzufinden war der vielen Menschen wegen gar nicht so einfach. Die Fiesta bestand aus einem Umzug, Festessen und anschliessendem Stierkampf, bei dem jeder seinen Mut - oder Leichsinn - testen und sein Leben aufs Spiel setzen konnte.
Wieder zurueck in Quilotoa, erfuhren wir von Jose, dem Vater unserer Gastfamilie, das tatsaechlich zwei Maenner aufgespiesst wurden, was jedoch jedes Jahr wieder vorkomme.

Die Naechte, welche jeweils von einem wunderbaren Sonnenuntergang eingeleitet wurden, waren in dieser Hoehe (3900 m.ue.M.) bitterkalt.

Der Speiseplan sah folgendermassen aus:
Morgenessen - Kartoffelsuppe, Mittagessen - Krtoffelsuppe - und zur Abwechslung am Abend - Kartoffelsuppe. Einzig die Getraenke verschafften ein Bisschen Abwechslung, mal wurde Agua aromatica und ein ander Mal ein schmackhaftes Getreidegetraenk aufgetischt.

Kam hatte unser Aufenthalt in Quilotoa begonnen, war er auch schon wieder vorueber und wir begaben uns auf den Weg nach Sarapullo.

sarapullo

Am fruehen Sonntagmorgen, dem 16. Juni 2002, trafen wir Pablo, unseren Guide und Gastvater, bereits an der Haltestelle des Milchlastwagens in Tandapi, womit wir nicht gerechnet hatten. Mit ihm und einigen anderen Einheimischen fuhren wir waehrend drei Stunden quer durch den Nebelwald (selva). Die "Strasse" bestand aus einer Aneinanderreihung von Schlag- und Schlammloechern. Wir wurden dementsprechend durchgeschuettelt und konnten darum die nebelverschleierte, tropische Landschaft waehrend der Fahrt nur halbwegs wahrnehmen.
Von Sarapullo aus gings in einer zweistuendigen Wanderung ueber Stock und Stein zu Pablos Finka, wobei wir die Rucksaecke an sein Maultier abgeben konnten.
Ausnahmsweise war nur Pablo und sein Bruder anwesend, da Pablos Frau und seine zwei Kinder, Natalie und Andres, in der naechstgroesseren Ortschaft waren.
Weil die Rollenverteilung hier noch "eher" konservativ ist, hatten die beiden Brueder keine grosse Ahnung vom Kochen. Daher war das unsere Aufgabe, welche die Experimentierfreude in uns weckte. Denn es waren weder richtige Kochutensilien, noch zahlreiche Zutaten vorhanden.

Die Menues bestanden jeweils aus Teigwaren, Kartoffeln, Platanos(Kochbananen) oder (und) Reis mit Tuna. Abwechslung verschaffte unser selbstgebackenes Brot, Nideltaefeli und Pseudopopcorn aus Futtermais. Eine neue Erfahrung stellte fuer uns das Metzgen von Huhn und Meerschweinchen(...) dar. Unser Abschiedsessen aus frisch gefischtem Fisch war das Highlight der Woche.

Richtig interessant wurde unser einwoechiger Aufenthalt durch einige mehrstuendigen Touren auf alten Inkapfaden durch den steilen Nebelwald. Die Landschaft und die Vegetation dort beeindruckten uns sehr! Pablo ergaenzte die Excursionen durch unzaehlige, wissenswerte Informationen ueber die vielen Heilpflanzen dieser Gegend.

Wieder zurueck in Quito bemerkten wir als erstes die schrecklichen Abgase, welche wir in Sarapullo nicht wirklich vermissten.

My Volunteer Work with Ecotrackers

2007-01-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

My Experiences in the Coast of Ecuador

With the organisation Ecotrackers I spent two weeks in the Esmeraldas region (north coast) of ecuador. I was able to stay in two communities, Bunche and La Tolita. I also spent time in Muisne, Esmeraldas, La Tola, Bourbon and Las PeÃƒÂ±as. The following includes a story of my travels and some practical information for transport etc.

My time in Bunche

Primarily I spent one night (27/2/04) in Muisne and a day at the lovely beach there. There is some good hostels there on the beach for -5 per night, also a small spanish school.

The next day (28/2/04) I headed to Bunche where I stayed for 6 days. I stayed with Clemente and his family. There was always plenty of kids about and while initally I was called Ã‚Â´gringaÃ‚Â´ by the end they all knew me as Lorena.

While I was there I taught a bit of english in the school, helped out in the day care centre for children (1-5 yrs) and worked in the garden growing cocoa plants for sale. This enabled me to meet the locales and learn about how there community operates.

I also went to the beach nearby, swam in a waterfall and visited another nearby village San Fransico. I got to eat really fresh seafood including fish, conchas, and crabs as well as much rice and plantain.

My time in Esmeraldas

For the weekend I relaxed in the beach of esmeraldas. Esmeraldas is one of the larger cities in the northern coast of Ecuador. I swam in the beach, and went one of the many discotecas on the beach. I was fortunate enough to meet some locals who showed me round and even prepared cerviche de camarone (prawns) for me! Thanks Jose and his sister Paola!

Ã‚Â My time in La Tolita

I arrived in La Tolita via Bourbon. It is only possible to get to La Tolita by boat. La Tolita is an interesting area because it houses many artefacts for the prehispanics gold ornaments (inc the Banco Central MuseoÂ´s famous golden mask), and many ceramics. In La Tolita I visited the museum, and the beach where you will see many pieces of ceramics.

I also walked with my guide Antonio (owner of the museum in La Tolita) to the places where some of the artefacts were found â€“ and was able to see lots of different fruits in the farmland as well. I also walked through two nature reserves with Antonio, the manglares of La Tolita and the La Selva. Both places were magnificent and adventurous because I needed gum boots to get through the mud!

I also had time to venture out in the canoe and paddled around an island nearby and visited a small community (a couple of houses) called Cacawual, here they farm crabs which they keep in small hut like structures. There was also a couple of turtles in the huts.

Overall, I enjoyed swimming in the river and watching the sunsets â€“ eating fresh seafood, and drinking a lot of coconut water. I attempted to learn the type of salsa they dance there, but it was difficult for me (well at least it was entertaining for the locals!). I also learnt about the La Tolita culture (there is a great book in the museum).

From La Tolita I went to La Tola and met a guide who showed me through the reserve of Majagual where the tallest mangroves in the world are found. This involved a section with a boardwalk and a more adventurous trek through the mud and mangroves. After this walk I went for a refreshing swim in the beach at Las PeÃ±as, which is a nice clean touristy beach with many hotels and restaurants.

Work: Macara, Bunche(Esmeraldas), Los Tayos(Pastaza) ECUADOR

2007-01-16T12:01:00.000-08:00

JUDE WRIGHT (AUSTRALIA)
Work: Macara, Bunche(Esmeraldas), Los Tayos(Pastaza) ECUADOR
11-16 August 2000 Esmeraldas

18-23 August 2000 Pastaza
Macara
In a short stay of 2 days in His smail frindly community we tanght English + did someplanting with the kids. We were also shwn o sound and aherded a game oe sundey socces
Bunche(Esmeraldas)
In thisndelight ful town we stayed 3 days + were Jucky with the timing as it was non-stop fiesta. Here we photograped the natural arrounds to help promote eco-tourism, we also had a great journey in a dugout canoe to collect fresh water for 2 families and after dancing until 5am we attended 8am a christening of Il ninos. I had a fantastic time + met beatiful people who i miss alredy. If i ever return to Ecuador I'll be heading back to Bunche for sure.
e-mail us Los Tayos(Pastaza)
This was our forgest stay of 5 days and here we lived in the jungle with a shuar family. The aim hose was to promote eco-tourism, we were taken to see many of the natural wonders incluiding limestone cawers + walked through much of the surrounding forest. We took loads of fotos to help show off this gem of a place, I was taught 2 shuar song and discovered a lot about shuas culture. It was an unforgettable experience living with the caniras family, they + "Garcia"-(the monkey) now have permanent residency in my heaft.

2007-01-14T14:29:00.001-08:00

BUNCHE, ESMERALDAS

FOTOS

The visit was coordinated by Fernando Godoy, director of the Fundación de Desarrollo Social (social development foundation) based in Atacames. On the way to Bunche we stopped in the beachtown of Muisne. We arrived by motorboat since all access roads are not anymore. Señor Clemente Paneso, acting priest when the padre cannot make it from Muisne, had picked us up from Macará to escort us home. His sister in law, the unique Carmen, was to be our minder and landlady. She and a busy Paneso became tireless guides to many activities.

We were lucky to arrive the same day as the town celebrates their patron saint, San Jacinto. A new statue carved in Cuenca was to replace the old and well loved wooden saint, and it was scheduled to arrive that day. In the afternoon the procession arrived by boat. San Jacinto was paraded through town by a large crowd who chanted rythmic hymns and escorted by drumming, before being taken to the church and placed along his predecesor, who now had an uncertain future. A musical service was offered for the reception. So Bunche launched into a few days of celebration. Preparations included "la minga", a communal cleaning of streets and public spaces. We walked up the hills to some beautifull waterfalls in the Aguacate river, a place which is to become Bunches’ fresh water supply point to replace the salty wells in town. On the way, Paneso and Gringo taught us about native plants and their uses; the hard as ivory Tagua palm seed, the palm frond that is bleached and softened to make the famous Panamá hats in Manabí, the coastal Balsa wood, the multipurposed Chonta palm, wild fruits like Obos (small wild plums), Pepa de pán (breadfruit), Guava verde (large beanlike pod), to name a few.

Also walked along the beach to visit the neighbouring fishing town of Cabo san Francisco. Then, a simple task as going to get some fresh water, a scarce comodity in the coast, from a stream became an odyssey. With the rising tide we jumped in a dugout canoe, filled it with empty containers and put our safety in the hands of Pila, a 10 year old selfmade jack of all trades. After about 2 hours we found the probervial spring, disembarked and stocked up on the vital fluid.

During our stay we had conversations with a few buncheanos about some pressing matters. There is the well known problem of prawn farming. Large areas of mangrove, which used to be habitat of some of the staples in Bunches’ diet (Concha, Cangrejo, Jaiba, various species of fish), have been transformed into ponds to raise the expensive crustacean. Now, due to a virus affecting it, half the ponds are empty of Camarón, or any other dweller. On top of this, some people think the chemicals used in the farms are filtering through into the remaining healthy ecosystems. Another setback are the plagues destroying cash crops these people used to depend on (Coconut, Cacao, Coffee, Banana). Causes are unclear but the results are felt. Health is another issue, a health centre needs to be finished to house permanent staff and store medical supplies, and hopefully a much needed pathology unit on site. Our last evening we had a meeting with the Comité Pro-mejora de Bunche (local improvements comitee) to discuss our stay and some initiatives the community is working on, such as an experimental Concha (seashell) farms. Concha harvest is a prime activity and has been overexploited, so now some areas have been set aside to protect it.

Despite all the obstacles and isolation, Bunche knows how to have a good time, and our last night we spent partying in the name of San Jacinto in the main square. We danced to the sounds of cumbia, salsa and ballenato, ate ceviche de concha and calamari, and gulped the old sugar cane rum. The next morning before departure, we attended the baptism of 11 children. Then boated it back to Muisne, together with the priest, who was a long way from his home, India.

More
Costal Marine Reserve

The Tzachila New Year

2007-01-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went with employers from Ecotrackers and other intrested people to chiquilpe! Chiquilpe is a community with tschila people who are painting there bodies and smear a red paste made from achiote fruit on their cropped hair. This weekend they were celebrating there new year! We where sleeping in cabanyas made from bamboe with a muddy floor, no door, and really hard beds!

It's sittuated in a beautifull surounding so you are allready enjoning just being there! A little less you are enjoning in the evening when you will be bitten by muskitos, get cackroses in your clothes and don't sleep a lot!

Friday night they were having a special ritual... to bad.. there where some tourist over there from Santo Domingo a place nearby who were making so many photo's that it gets enoring! So 1 tip: Be respectfull for the community and their whey of living.

on saterday the whole happing took place on a little festival terain.

2000 Tschila people from 7 different communitys where togheter to celebrate their new year with music, food, art & crafts, and lots of fun!

In the afternoon take a short brake for a refreshing swim in the river. They don't know showers over their!

In the evening back to the festival terain... nice music....

They can't dance the Salsa as good as they can in quito.. so we start with our group of foreigners dancing... following by them.... At that moment they were making pictures and films of us... so we can be intresting for them as well.

After a nice evening.. back to bed..

Next morning after brackfast back to quito..

A great weekend with lots of experiences... but I was also really happy to be back in quito... Yes we are spoiled!!

2007-01-14T14:24:00.000-08:00

After a thrilling match of football against Uruguay, Ecuador is moving on to the Worldcup 2006 in Germany, where they will meet the top countries of the world. I had the privilige of watching the match in Quito, joined by many local football enthusiasts. Eventhough the quality of the match wasn't too high, the people were very excited and stayed positive until the last minute. Fortunately other matches finished in a positive score for Ecuador, so a 0-0 draw was enough to go to Germany.

The party continued in the streets of the Mariscal, until the night turned into day again.

Anna Michael in the Ecuadorian Amazon Jungle

2006-12-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

Remolino Grande

The Secoya Community of Remolino Grande is situated on the river Aguarico in the northeast of Ecuador relatively close to the Columbian border. The river is home to several different communities; Secoya, Kichwa, Shuar, Cofan and the Colonists. To reach the area it is necessary to travel to Shushufindi, which is an unsightly town full of refineries, compounds and gas storage tanks, with the occasional 24-hour nightclub frequented by the numerous petroleum workers that are employed in the surrounding areas. In Shushufindi there is one ‘bus’ per day to Puerto Gregorio, which consists of a open-sided mini-bus where people, animals and sacks of rice ride on the top and in uncomfortable wooden pews along bumpy dirt tracks. The bus ride to Puerto Gregorio is through vast expanses of Palm plantations, punctuated by the odd small village with wooden shacks and occasional ‘schools’. There is no primary rainforest left in this area

More....

Mushullacta

Mushullacta is a Kichwa community situated in the Cloud Forest inbetween Galeras and the Sumaco national park. In order to get there it is necessary to travel to Tena and then from Tena there is one bus per day to a little village called Papanku. The bus journey is very uncomfortable but the view is breathtaking. Halfway into the journey we had to stop at the side of the road as a mine further up was blasting. Once you arrive in Papanku (a few shacks in the middle of nowhere) you will have to walk for two hours along a very bad dirt road. The bus arrives in Papanku quite late so it’s normally pitch black and you can’t see much but you can hear the sounds of the forest around you.

More.....

JJ van Dam – 6 days, Dec 2006 basic information is given about the communities and stays of Quilotoa and Ponce

2006-12-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

Report from visit Quilotoa – JJ van Dam – 6 days, Dec 2006

Logistic expert fom Netherland

Quilotoa: Jan-Joost van Dam un voluntario holandés para desarrollar la logística de los tou

In this report, basic information is given about the communities and stays of Quilotoa and Ponce. In the end, a short point is written about possibilities for Tourism in Ponce.

Getting there

For this, see also the description that has been made already by Ecotrackers.

All busses go from Latacunga via Zumbahua to Quilotoa. The last bus going
directly from Latacunga (via Zumbahua) to Quilotoa leaves at approximately
11:30 in Latacunga. Leaving at Quito around 09:00 is OK to catch that bus. If later, you should take a (more expensive) truck/pick-up from Zumbahua to Quilotoa.
In Quilotoa, stop at the blue arch entering Quilotoa and ask for Cesar or Cesar´s casa.

Ponce is a small community downhill from Quilotoa, 30 minutes downhill walk.
Quito-Latacunga=1.50$, approx 2 hours.

Latacunga-Quilotoa=2.00$, approx 2.5 hours

Description

Quilotoa is a place known by his great views onto the crater-lake/Laguna.
Tourism is the main activity. Along the main road, the most houses are
hostals or handicraft places, but it doesn´t look very modern or nice. The
nature however compensates everything! Most tourists do a day trip to
Quilotoa or stay for a night at the hostal.

Ponce is a community downhill, with less (direct) infrastructure available. From Ponce, it is an hour walk uphill to get to the rim of the crater. The
main activity of Ponce is Agriculture.

Climate

Due to the altitude, the climate is cold and sometimes rainy. Most mornings are sunny. Note: The houses have no heating, so it can be humid and cold inside.

Stay

The stay is at the brother of Cesar, Jose with his wife Maria and their 3
kids. Some characteristics are:

House of concrete without decorations
Private room with twin bed with window (no curtains)
Relative high humidity inside the house
Electricity available
Cold (they have blankets, but own sleeping bag helps a lot)
No heating and running water
Washing facility and toilets outside
3 meals/day. Enough to eat!
Roof terrace

Trips
Market in Zumbahua (best on Saturday morning from 6 till 13)
Walk around the crater lake (5 hours)
Walk down to the lake (30 minutes down) and up again (1 hour)
Horse riding upward (5$)
Boat trip on the lake
Swimming in the lake (cold!)
Horse ride to Inca-cave (10-15$, 3 hours). Cave is not great, but
surroundings are!
Other walks or horse rides

Trips
Know to speak Spanish
Do not expect big changes by short (<>
If available, take a sleeping bag

Possibilities in Tourism for Ponce

We thought a lot about how Ponce could develop and take advantage of the
tourism in the neighbourhood of the Crater and its lake. Unfortunately, we
did not find direct/easy possibilities for the people living downhill from
Quilotoa in the Ponce community. The main reasons for this are:

Lack of infrastructure for Ponce

Most buses go from Latacunga to Zumbahua and there is a relative good connection to Quilotoa.
Towards Ponce is more difficult for tourists, as the walk from Quilotoa to Ponce takes 30 minutes downhill.

Competition from Quilotoa

Quilotoa is already more developed in housing tourists.
Most tourists come for the crater lake and Quilotoa is on the edge of
the rim for that lake.

However, there might be possibilities to develop a form of tourism. For the ´quick´-tourist, it will be difficult, they want to be closest to the Crater Lake and stay shortly. For Backpackers, there could be possibilities, but we think the following will be needed:

Create something that Quilotoa is not having

A hostel that will be positioned as laid back and relaxing place, from which you can continue freshly after a stay for a while. This might include:

Good living room
Nice decorations
Books/games available
Provide tour information
Maybe warm bath?

Create tours/activities

Horse riding off the beaten track
Nice walks
Parasailing?
Maybe moonlight dipping in the Crater Lake?

Set up active marketing in backpacker places in cities as Quito, Cuenca, etc.

Put flyers at the places backpackers are before they go to Quilotoa
Set up easy package deals as ´three nights and horse riding for …$´
Create a website from which they can see the place and maybe even book rooms/tours
Set up active mouth-to-mouth advertisement

Marieke Slootman ECOTRACKERS REPORT WITH REGARD TO WOMENS GROUP PONCE-QUILOTOA

2006-12-20T09:03:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

ECOTRACKERS REPORT WITH REGARD TO WOMENS GROUP PONCE-QUILOTOA

19 December 2006, Marieke Slootman

Stay in Quilotoa: 7-12 December

Containing:

Evaluation of the stay
My experiences with regard to the women´s group and the discussions held
What the group needs
Possible role for Ecotrackers
Example form workshop

More........