Hola,
Back on the computer for my allotted hour.
We are well into the jungle, in the sense it is flat and the mountains are up-river from us, though the local folks talk about the two ranges that flank this area. There is a small canyon where the two ranges meet that is famous for the wildness of the waters flowing through (in essence the whole watershed of three river systems). It is said to be hugely deep and prone to whirlpools. Only the best motoristas take canoes through, and then only during certain conditions, otherwise folks hike up, over, and around. I think google earth will show you pictures of this place called a "pando" locally. Part of the lore of the area. Today the river is down and we had very hot, sunny weather.
Day two is over with more cultural and language challenges, though folks seem engaged and involved. A couple of the participants seem to have been through major trauma and seem to come and go, mentally. There are three "mestizos" in the group who have all the gregariousness of most latinos, and they will be chuckling while half of the indigenous folk are stone-faced. Everyone seems to enjoy the light and livelies [exercises], however.
Have been learning a fair amount about the native groups. All are subgroups of the Jibaro (a name many of them use though it is not their original name for themselves) people and they are related fairly closely to the Shwar and Ashwar [Indians]. The place of women is pretty low, and the folks from the Environment Ministry and other NGOs talk about the extreme difficulty of outsiders having any substantial contact with the women. Even if they do some work, they will not accept money but wait for the husband to show up and get paid. Social problems in the area are huge. Lots of AIDS, sexual abuse, revenge killings, suicide (particularly among women), alcoholism, etc. And yet I´ve never seen a group grasp I-messages faster or work better at resolving conflicts in some of the standard AVP confrontation exercises. Below, most of the group is heading back across the river at the end of the day.
Community is very strong, but very contentious. A couple of the Apus who are taking the workshop talk of how the people don´t like them to come to Nieva out of fear they will sell communal lands to the oil companies. These guys wouldn´t dream of doing that, from how they talk.
Fascinating. Brujeria [witchcraft] is rampant and blamed for a lot.
Re my visa, I´m hoping to play it by ear, depending on how the trip back works. It may not be as full of timely connections as I had coming here. Hope I don´t have to stay until Monday but it may be that is when I catch a flight back from Cuenca. Or I could spend more time and pay the 200 bucks in Quito. Will see and have a better sense when I get back up to Bagua or Jaen.
Love,
J.
No comments:
Post a Comment