At the crux

Also working on the map for the Búa territory, which has become a political issue since in spite of our explanations to the contrary a group of local people have been spreading rumors that the purpose of this is to raise taxes. The map will integrate GPS coordinates of houses and parcels together with an aerial photo from the government's Instituto Geográfico Militar.

Rio Pastaza and waterfalls

It's difficult being here and trying to help create a better life when so many don't seem to care about their society and environment, but only their own selfish interests. This seems especially true in the cities, but even in rural comunities I've visited it's a very small percentage of people - and mostly around my stage of life, rather than younger adults or elders - that are actively involved in trying to improve things. Most are just buying into the consumerism and indulgences being pushed on them from the cities. Guess this is not much different than in the US, but I see more crime here. Then again I'm traveling and living in different circles than in the US.

written by  cjones on February 21, 2008 from Quito, Ecuador
from the travel blog: so-journ
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Building the base of the seed dryer/cob oven

Paperng the sand-filled interior of the oven

Spent a couple of days at a farm on the coast, on a nature reserve owned by George and Christine, a couple from Peru who moved from the city to live close to the land, to help organize associations for conservation and organic production, and to set an example for others in how to manage the land more sustainably.

Arrived during the construction of an innovative seed and fruit dryer made out of cob - mixed sand, clay and fiber - and using a passive solar collector and bread oven (depending on the weather) to dry the seeds or fruit (or coffee or cacao beans). Since none of the raw crops generate much income, appropriate technology such as this could add value to products and be enable more economical production. Since some fruits are harvested only during a short season each year, preserving fruits in this way could make a greater diversity of foods available (e.g. mangoes) year round.

Another way to increase income could be to form associations to eliminate some of the distribution costs from farm to market. For example, by joining together, individual farmers may be able to rent a truck themselves to transport produce to market rather than each paying individually to a distributor to pick up and deliver the produce. Also, there may be tax breaks, as well as agricultural benefits, for sustainably managing and obtaining protected status for agroforesty lands.

The dominant economic model promotes exportation and mass production that benefits a few at the expense of many and is damaging to communities and the environment. Rural communities buy Cokes and chips that are mass produced somewhere else and sell bananas and pineapples into the commodity market. Although fairly traded products like cacao could play a role, I think from it's generally more beneficial to strengthen the local economy and allow communities to become more self-sufficient.

It's very challenging to even incrementally improve the income of families in the rural areas with agricultural products. However, it seems that with more awareness, appropriate training and reliance on locally available materials and products, the need for income could be reduced and by a more nutritious locally-grown diet, some health problems could be averted.

written by  cjones on February 14, 2008 from Quito, Ecuador
from the travel blog: so-journ
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I think it's wrong and not effective in the long-term to impose, and it would be arrogant and misguided to promote a set of values if they were just those of one group of people vs. another. However, what if the values come from God? Of course people could disagree about what God wants, but personally I want to promote what I believe that is, not just anything a community wants. What this could mean in a particular context isn't fixed. I believe God desires for us to be humble and continuously turn to him for guidance in prayer.

In the book Tropical Forests and the Human Spirit, it was noted that without a common spiritual tradition, there is little to prevent self-interest (we could say “sin”) from undermining the goals of the best intentioned development efforts.

It may be impossible NOT to promote a set of values. It's just that in a secular organization, these may not be discussed - they could be more implicit. We promote values by the way we live and the kind of relationships we have. How can even the best intentioned really do any good without God?

Whoever invokes a blessing in the land
will do so by the God of truth;
he who takes an oath in the land
will swear by the God of truth.
For the past troubles will be forgotten
and hidden from my eyes.

Isaiah 65:16

written by  cjones on January 31, 2008 from Quito, Ecuador
from the travel blog: so-journ
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Still defining the goals of my work in the community, but have many ideas for helping with reforestation, mapping for land use planning, and setting up educational programs for health, environmental awareness, and better agricultural practices. One challenge is that none of the crops grown there generate much income from the local market in Santo_Domingo. Another is that much of the land has been seriously degraded from chemical use, burning of crop residues, and monoculture. Some of this land has been leased to mestizo campesinos and the indigenous government has recently decided to not renew the leases and to reclaim the land. This is of course a sensitive issue, but presents an opportunity to make improvements in land management. Yanapuma is working to unite the 7 communities in a cultural rescue effort, which has as one tangible objective the construction of the new cultural center.

Lots of mosquitoes there - much more than anywhere else I've been on the trip. There's a fairly good road but very few vehicles passing by. Some of the main crops are plantains, cacao, yuca, malanga (like taro), maracuya (passion fruit), sugar cane, pineapples, teak and corn.

written by  cjones on January 24, 2008 from Quito, Ecuador
from the travel blog: so-journ
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Under the sacred (1800 year old) tree

Rojelio in the vivero

Second day of the workshop in Tumbaco

Appears now that the computer problem (or at least one problem) was a loose connector for the disk drive that prevented booting but not reading the disk. Reinstalled the OS but after inserting a shim to hold the disk in place it seems to be working fine now.

written by  cjones on January 20, 2008 from Tumbaco, Ecuador
from the travel blog: so-journ
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The last two days have been testing my patience. Mostly because yesterday the hard disk in the laptop I bought just 2 weeks ago wouldn't boot. It seems now that it may have become infected with a boot sector virus, but also the recovery disk I had created a couple of weeks ago just after I bought the computer didn't recover. Finally found a technician today who recovered the few data files I hadn't backed up and I think can restore the OS tomorrow. Didn't have these problems when I didn't carry a computer. Another drawback is that outside of the city, it's easy to find internet cafes but hard to find WiFi locations.

written by  cjones on January 15, 2008 from Quito, Ecuador
from the travel blog: so-journ
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