Monday, June 22, 2009

Ecuador in Ellensburg



I'm up hours ahead of Sunday brunch here in Ellensburg. This gathering of mostly late 60s Ecuador Peace Corps volunteers was prompted by email outreach. I was traveling in Cuba and Mexico last November when I was surprised by an email from Frank Wujick. I hadn't seen or heard from Frank since the Oriente (Upper Amazon) of Eastern Ecuador in 1969.











For pics go to
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMhIU3pA8-MCf6yIJFPPTTRjpjXP1ZsxJolWvAs

Frank trained me to become a topographer, to make something useful of the remaining 18 months of my 2-year stint as a volunteer, after trying for 6 months to put in to practice that elusive training in Campesino Leadership, tailored for the highlands where indigenous communities were challenged by USAID-provoked government granting of land with little to no help assisting former share croppers on how to self-govern and become their own merchants. In the jungles of the Oriente, the indigenas had a different challenge. Their ancestors had been nomadic. Gardens were best the first year after cleaning the jungle. Fishing and hunting grounds were also better when not over-used. Homes made almost entirely of bamboo cost next to nothing to build. So, the "poor" indigenas of the Oriente used to move from one sector to another, confident that the whole region was theirs. But, in the mid-20th century, scarcity of land in the Andes resulted in the beginning of colonization of the eastern jungles. Roads came, along with Spanish-speaking "blancos" ("whites"--actually, mestizos with skin darker than the most ardent sunbather of Northern European stock can ever hope for). The Quecha-speaking (a variation of the Incan language) indigenas had to face the reality that if they moved downstream for a change, as was their custom, when they came back they might find settlers had laid claim to a portion of their territory. The Ecuadorian government's land agency, IERAC, was commissioned to grant titles to the indigenas. Three reasons IERAC favored surveying colonist lands first: Colonists had to pay for land surveying. They "used" the land--needing cash to live, colonists cut down large sections of jungle, planting potrero--feed for cattle--or crops such as sugar cane. And, IERAC employed Spanish-speaking blancos who shared the colonists’ values and viewed indigenas, with their tiny garden patches, as "lazy" and not utilizing the land. In fact, the indigena lifestyle and knowledge of the jungle and soil conditions was generations ahead of our current enlightenment on sustainability. Frank was a pioneer, along with Greg Groppenbacher, in starting the Peace Corps surveying program. We went in to indigenous communities (comunas), sometimes for 22 days, followed by 8 days off--enough time to catch buses, via Puyo, Banos and Ambato, to get to Quito, where we could waste our $105 monthly salary in a week. The comunas' indigenas were happy to house and feed us, in exchange for delineating the tracts of jungle where they had decided they wanted to stay put.
Frank had kept in touch with John Hudelson over the decades. John was a volunteer around Puyo, also in the Oriente. After not finding his assignment as a physical education volunteer particularly meaningful and without the enthusiasm of our Peace Corps representative (supervisor), the latter part of his tour John recorded oral histories of the Quechuas. Frank and John also shared in a venture with several of us, beyond the Peace Corps pale--the purchase of Hacienda Buena Karma. John, along with Scott Robinson, an anthropologist, studying the Cofan, an indigenous group in the northern Oriente, stopped overnight at the farm on an upstream Napo River trip. It was for sale--145 hectares (350 acres), bordered by two Amazon tributaries--the mouth of the Misahualli, where it flows in to the Napo. A stream running through it, with a 20-30 foot waterfall. A house, lots of pasture, and a herd of cattle. There were 10 of us. We all contributed $500. Six of us were volunteers: Frank, John, Milton Coke, Hank Wetzman, Bill Cinquini and me. Ira and Lisa were with CARE, living in Quito. David and Sharon had been in Ecuador a year earlier, looking for land. They were conscripted and later lived on the farm. And Scott. And Helena—Milton found her in Quito, traveling south and told her she must come check out the farm we were about to buy. Helena, a Gringa from California, was on a South American journey of discovery. Not long after our purchase, Joe and Jim, hiking through the Andes with a burrow, heard of the farm. They gave up the burrow for the big house and became caretakers of sorts. Word got out and the 1970 South American Handbook made mention of the "hippie commune at Misahualli". We all moved on in the early 1970s and the farm was sold to family of a spouse of a PC volunteer. It's now an alleged "ecotourism" lodge -
https://www.misahualliamazonlodge.com

So, the reunion here in Ellensburg is a blend--late 60s volunteers and Buena Karma types. Along with Frank and John, I wear both hats-volunteer/farm owner. Other farm owners in attendance: Ira and Lisa and Helena. And Alfred's here-a farm resident during the initial golden era that saw construction of 4 huasis (indigena-style houses) at Buena Karma, From Frank's Bozeman training group in 1967, we have Ardis Barnum, Stu Moskowitz, Charlie Browne, and trainer Bernie Fiskins, along with his wife, Kate. From Campesino Leadership, I am joined by Bob Henderson. Bob and I were trainers at the Melville, Montana 1970 training, where Bob and Meg met. They are both here. John, who now is professor in the wine program here at Central Washington University (CWU), along with wife Carol, have generously opened their home to us and fed us Friday evening and Saturday morning.
Beginning Friday evening and again Saturday afternoon and evening, while reminiscing about Ecuador and catching others up on what we've done the last 40 years (!), Ira & John Hud treated us to wonderful jamming on banjo and guitar, Lisa accompanying them much of the time. At a barbeque on campus on Saturday, we gave a young tourism prof some thoughts to ponder in visiting Ecuador in an eco-friendly manner, Bob, Helena and I brought back memories with a slide show.
Sunday was busy, beginning with Sunday brunch and a phone conversation with Scott, from his home in Mexico. We visited the Wild Horse wind farm and the Gingko Petrified Forest on our way to the Cave B Winery overlooking the Columbia River, where Hud and the winery jefe gave us a history of wine growing in the Columbia River Valley, while serving us samples of several wines. We were ready to call it a day after a couple of pitchers with dinner at the Tav in Ellensburg.

The volleyball and net stayed in my pickup. While there were a few still-would-be-athletes amongst us, the persistent winds would have made unlikely anything resembling a volley.

Other 1970 trainees in Melville missing here: Jim Mullens and Lynn Hinch of Helena, Joel Mullen from Salt Lake and Fred DeSmith, from Louisiana, They are floating the Smith River in Montana this weekend. Only so many rafters are permitted each summer, decided by raffle. Lynn's number was drawn and to not use it would have been sacrilege.

Also missing is Jerry Beardsley, from the nearby Yakima Valley. Bob, Meg and Stu stayed with him each night. Jerry is still doing community development. This weekend he is coordinating getting produce to market from his farm, which he is sharing with Central Washington campesinos.

By Monday breakfast back at John and Carol's, several had already hurried off to busy lives, albeit allegedly "retired". No date set for our return as tourists to Misahualli Jungle Lodge. Scott Robinson’s home in the mountains south of Mexico City is also proposed as a potential site for a future reunion. Email will keep us in better touch with each other and future gatherings will happen. This one was a winner.

John Lowry
22 June 2009