And the work begins (yeah right)
Trip Start
Dec 15, 2004
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2
5
Trip End
Jan 02, 2005
Santa Elena, Venezuela
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Our volunteer work here is a mixed bag. We can do what we want from a running list which Manfred has in his head. Monday we planted some trees back in the rain forest. All the things you hear about in US about the destruction of the Brazilian rain forest is also happening here, so weīre trying to help counteract that. The jungle here is quite beautiful, imagine the rain forest in Western Washington, and multiply that by 100, itīs stunning. The destruction is quite sad, they cut and burn the trees to make room for farming, but the soil is so weak, it can only be used for one season of crops before itīs nutrients are depleted. So, they go to another spot and start again. But, because the soil is so weak, it canīt really start again, certainly not quickly, even by mother natures time line. There are various organizations down here which are trying to find more sustainable ways of life for the native people, but like everyone else, they like the way they live their life and donīt see why they should change it.
Which brings us to Tuesdays activity, we went to a local village called Sampie. There we are working to help the community be able to bring tourists into their village to see a "native village". That includes teaching some people English (sadly the universal language) finding a more sustainable water source and building a big kitchen. I worked on spackling a wall! Handy that we can mix the 2parts sand, 1part clay, 1part cement and what ever water to make it mushy, right in the middle of the room! That would never work with the linoleum floor. Iīve got mixed feelings about this alternative form of lifestyle as well. While biking through SE Asia, we could tell very clearly which villages were used by the tour groups as "native village" and which were not. The toured villages were aggressive, wanting money and candy. The non-toured villages were interested but not pushy towards us. It was just a different flavor. Of course it is not my lifestyle to chose, who am I to say that one way of living is better, but thatīs what I think.
After working in the village, we went to a natural clay pool and swam and rubbed clay all over! Very nice, it helped briefly with the itchy bug bites. Lots of mesquites, lots of purie-purie (little biting gnats, ouch!)
This morning, we went to a borderline town in Brazil. Giorgio and Claudia go there to do mass shopping because itīs cheaper (the local Cosco) and we just tagged along. Not very interested, a lot like Santa Elena, but more Brazilian tshirts. This afternoon we went to a child care facility to update the playground. Right now, the equipment is in such disarray they donīt let the children play on it. So, we took measurements and are going to make new seats for the swings, seats for the teatertotters, sandboxes, and landing pads for the slides. Cool!
Tonight is pizza night at the house, so we should get going for that! Fun to have an Italian cooking!
Hope you are all well, and Merry Christmas for those who do that.
