Keepers of Eden

One of the many memorable moments from this last week was when Manuela, the President of the Waorani Women´s Association, decided to set up her laptop and projector in order to show movies in the community of Meñepare. Yep, there we were in the jungle watching the Waorani become totally mezmerized by a movie that featured them--in the same jungle---and their struggle with oil development in their territory. The kids were enraptured by the images of their family that were projected on a wooden schoolhouse wall. It was a little surreal being in a remote jungle Waorani community with little infrastructure...watching a movie about the Waorani.

While in New York at the U.N. meeting on indigenous issues, Manuela was given a copy of Keepers of Eden, a film that adeptly captures the modern challenges facing the Waorani. Anyway, it was interesting for me to watch the movie (narrated by Joanne Woodward) because I know almost all of the people that are featured in it (plus it had some unflattering footage of Puyo). Although I couldn´t hear all of the audio (it was hard to hear the small laptop speakers over the noisy generator and constant rain on the tin roof), what I did hear did not paint an overly-romantic and overly-simplistic characterization of the Waorani as other books and films have done. It also showed the ugly side-effects of oil and western cultural influences on the Waorani---including the alcohol problems and the paternalistic dependency on the compania that has been created. The sad part is, that although someone made this film and is undoubtedly profiting from the film, little benefit is being returned to the Waorani beyond some additional awareness of their plight. I am not aware of any profit sharing or other benefit to them besides giving them one lousy copy of the movie. The least the producers could do is give them a few hundred copies so that the Women´s Association could sell them in their store for a profit and reinvest that money back into projects to benefit them. Ahhh...but that would be too easy. Anyway, all blogstalkers should definitely

Alive and well....almost

Well, we all survived our jungle adventures in Meñepare. We were dirty, stinky and exhausted, but all in one piece when we got back to Puyo. Some of the students have since developed some stomach issues. On the bright side, they are dealing with them in the comfort of Puyo (running water, CABLE tv! and lots of food choices, not to mention professional medical care).

There is soooo much to write about from the last week. I just need to find the time to get it all out. Yesterday I was so tired I couldn´t motivate myself to do much of anything besides rest up and eat. Jer and I did decide that I am going to look for another apartment. Yep, the more than a month straight of no water (besides a few drops in the mornings) has finally pushed us over the edge. The stinky bathroom, partial showers and accumulation of dirty dishes that I can´t wash that then attract fruit flies and cockroaches...yeah, I´ve had enough. So the search begins...

Rain delay

Well, right about now we were supposed to be getting to Puerto Napo and turning off the main road and heading to the Waorani community of Meñepare...but we have a slight delay...it seems the recent rains have damaged one of the bridges leading to the community, thus leading to the oft repeated phrase that has been the bane of many volunteers´existence of late: "no hay paso." Soooo.... this means we must wait until the road and bridge is repaired before we can travel there. I guess the good thing is that we are forced to wait in Puyo rather than on the side of the road (always the optimist). Since the problem area is along the oil road, the company is usually good about fixing this sort of thing, but we still have no good idea how long it might be. Sooooo....the waiting game begins. Some of the students are catching some zzzz´s, others are catching up on news from home, and others are hanging out. I left my house full of hungry Peace Corps Volunteers...
I am trying to put it all in perspective to the students (who have been awesome through the whole preparation). These things happen. It is part of everyday life here. I mean, the last few times I have travelled adentro, there have been delays of varying kinds...from gas shortages grounding the planes, to communities renting our reserved canoes to higher paying people. Asi es la vida. We just have to be patient and wait...

minga month

Friday marked the start of a month-long minga (communal work trip) with a group of 9 students from Duke University. We will be building chambira palm nurseries, constructing a traditional house and a composting toilet. The students will also be doing a feasibility study for use of solar panels in two Waorani communities. It is going to be a lot of work and a lot of logistics (mostly on my part) but I think it will be cool. The group seems really great. They seem well prepared, thoughtful and fun. Last night we all attended the ceremony to crown the new Indigenous Queen. This year it only lasted until 12:30 a.m. Jer and I arrived in pure Ecua-style an hour and a half late...and of course it was just getting started. It was a better program overall than last years (although the karaoke-like talent show in between the indigenous performances was pretty painfull) Am going to be super, super busy over the next month, so I apologize in advance for leaving my blogstalkers hanging. I just won´t have time to do much blogging...but I am positive that once I do, I will have lots of great stories and photos. stay tuned.

fair share of fair food

Well, it is fair time here in Puyo. Nope, no fried Snickers bars or fried cheesecake or any of those great Ohio State Fair favorites. Yesterday I did a sampling of random fair foods. Here is the list, of what I consumed, what I paid and my fairfoodrating from 1 to 5 .
Ceviche de camaron (shrimp) $3. For taste, I give it a 4... It was pretty darn good. But, it was crazy expensive and I was still starving after I ate it (I thought it came with a plate of food, not just soup) So I give it an overall fairfoodrating of 3.
Besito (lame excuse for fresh fruit dipped in chocolate) $0.50. rating: 1. I got about 4 soggy, mushed strawberries that were dipped in a chocolate fountain pot right after a little girl stuck her finger in without any parental repremand. RIP OFF!
Chocolate candies: $0.50. fairfoodrating: 3. The chocolate was ok nothing to write home about.... but I at least felt good supporting an organization that employs disabled Ecuadorians.
Salchipapa: $0.50. fairfoodrating: 3. It is hard to screw up thick french fries. These had a great topping blend of kechup, mayo and onions topped with a splayed hotdog bite. Taste was good, but not as hot and fresh as it could have been.
Mystery meat with papas and salad: $3. fairfoodrating: 2. I was with two of my Waorani friends and we were mesmerized by the roasting of a big slab o meat over a fire. The Colombian guy was a slick salesman and convinced us to buy a plate to share. The potatoes were tasteless, just greasy. The meat was pork we think, fatty and grisly. A fun experience eating with the women...but I am worried that it will come back to bite me...
Oblea (or something like that): $0.65. fairfoodrating: 4. This was my favorite thing of the day. It was a big thin waffle-wafer-like cookie smeared with a variety of jam-like spreads on the inside.

So, all in all it was a pretty underwhelming assortment of fair fares and jacked up prices.

Other random thoughts and observations:

My favorite view from last night was seeing an SUV pull up with a bunch of naked mannequins stacked on the roof like cordwood. Definitely did a double take.

The Waorani Women´s Association has a booth at the fair---and it is the best looking one of theirs to date I have to say (thanks in part to the cool display boxes Jer made). And, this fair more than the others, the women seem much more engaged and almost excited to be participating. They all actually showed up to set up the booth this morning....and EARLY! Yay! Well, going to head back to the fair and then it is off to Tena for toilet taller number 2.