Yesterday (Monday) has been one of my favorite days so far. We traveled to the cloud forest—at one point, we were literally over a rainbow!!—to visit a community called Yunguilla. In the late 1990s, Yunguilla decided to try to attract tourists through an experiment in sustainability and communal living. They were not sure whether tourists would be interested (as they said, “All we have are clouds and forests”), but today they are thriving.
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| Orchids in a greenhouse in Yunguilla |
For the past five years, the residents of Yunguilla have been working with USAID and growing orchids. They are still not able to sell their orchids internationally, however, due to bureaucracy (the paperwork is taking a long time).
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| Chihualcan. The seeds are bitter, so you bite into the fruit and eat the fruit and juice, without chewing the seeds. |
The residents of Yunguilla also make jam and cheese that
they sell to tourists. Working out of a small kitchen, they make four types of
jam: fruitilla, uvilla, mora, and chihualcan. Right now, there isn’t very much fruit, so one woman was
working by herself, but when there’s more fruit to work with, several women
might be making jam at the same time. It takes 10 pounds of chihualcan fruit to
make 18 small jars of jam. The whole process takes about six hours. Each
morning, people bring milk from their cows to the cheese factory. They are paid
money for each liter that they bring. The milk is cooked and extra liquid is
drained off. The result is fresh cheese and yogurt.
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| Making jam of the chihualcan fruit |
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| Ms. Meyer with Melanie; photo taken by four-year-old Brittany |
Just like when we were in the Amazonian village, children
followed our group around on the tour. This time, it was just two sisters:
eight-year-old Melanie and four-year-old Brittany. I love young kids, and I
bonded with the girls and allowed them to take many photos with my camera.
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| Ms. Meyer with Brittany; photo taken by eight-year-old Melanie |
One thing I’ve noticed about the children in Ecuador is that
older siblings are consistently patient and kind toward their younger siblings.
The older siblings often remind the younger ones of how to behave
appropriately, and the younger ones comply. For example, when we visited a
beautiful new house in the village (the family lives downstairs, and there are
guest bedrooms upstairs to provide sleeping space for visiting tourists),
Melanie reminded Brittany to walk quietly. The children are also very friendly
and warm. They held my hand and asked if we were going to be staying in the new
house. Melanie in particular took care to tell me things about their lives,
pointing out the community house where the villagers gather together for
celebrations and just to spend time together.
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| A house in Yunguilla. Notice the clouds in the background. |
I captured video of Melanie singing her favorite song. I
find myself incredibly moved by the message of this song.
“El amor, a la patria cantemos, las hazañas
de la libertad,
con estudios y trabajo logremos las semillas de paz y hermandad
con estudios y trabajo logremos las semillas de paz y el hermandad
En la ciencia
encontramos aliento, que daria tu porvenir,
En la escuela sin par alimento que
es el fruto de un dulce vivir.
Adelante la fe despertemos, que es un futuro mejor…”
Here's a rough translation:
We sing to our homeland, the result of freedom
With studies
and work we will sow the seeds of peace and brotherhood
With studies and work
we will sow the seeds of peace and brotherhood.
In science, we find fulfillment that will give you your future…
School is the best way to realize a sweet life.
We wake up our faith to find a better future.
As an educator, I don’t think I can say anything better than
this: education and hard work are the keys to a great life.
An interesting little village. The kids seem a lot more adventurous than up here. You mentioned the 4 types of jam they make, is there any significant difference between them? Different ingredients, perhaps? Also, is it hard to see with all the jungle fog?
ReplyDeleteThe jams are different flavors, just like strawberry vs. grape. I'm not sure how the process of making them changes from one type to the next.
DeleteThe fog from these photos is actually clouds! It was not hard to see because we were at 9,000 feet, so we were close to the sun and the light was good.
Hello Mrs.Meyer!Seems like your having a great time down there! I just wanted to ask did the cheese and jam taste good? Also I wanted to ask are they very dependent on the tourist industry? When I went to Costa Rica last summer, the country thrived on tourists and at one point in a small beach village it seemed like we were getting hounded by people who wanted us to buy what they were selling.
ReplyDeleteSydney - these are great questions! The jam was amazing. I brought home two jars to share with my family--the fruitilla and the uvilla. I did not like the cheese very much. It reminded me a little bit of tofu.
DeleteThe community and country do rely on tourism, but I would note that they aren't aggressive about selling to tourists. I remember visiting Playa del Carmen in Mexico and seeing the intensity of the vendors; in Ecuador if you said "No" they would leave you alone.
Are you thinking about going on the school trip to Costa Rica this summer? I can tell you more about it in school if you're interested.
Hi Ms.Meyer I was wondering why they would shrink heads, does it have any meaning to the people there?
ReplyDeleteHi Ben - I found this on Wikipedia; it should answer your question!
Delete"In the 19th century muraiya Shuar became famous among Europeans and Euro-Americans for their elaborate process of shrinking the heads of slain Achuar. Although non-Shuar characterized these shrunken heads (tsantsa) as trophies of warfare, Shuar insisted that they were not interested in the heads themselves and did not value them as trophies. Instead, they sought the muisak, or soul of the victim, which was contained in and by the shrunken head. Shuar men believed that control of the muisak would enable them to control their wives' and daughters' labor. Since women cultivated manioc and made chicha (manioc beer), which together provided the bulk of calories and carbohydrates in the Shuar diet, women's labor was crucial to Shuar biological and social life. In the late 19th century and early 20th century Europeans and Euro-Americans began trading manufactured goods, including shotguns, asking in return for shrunken heads. The result was an increase in local warfare, including head hunting, that has contributed to the perception of the Shuar as violent. In 1961 Edmundo Bielawski made the only footage showing what appears to be one of their head-shrinking ceremonies."