The primary purpose of my trip to the jungle was to visit with the staff members of Minga Peru and travel to meet their target audience members, the women living in rural communities in the jungle (by "rural" I mean population 100-200). The above picture is me with some promotoras (women who attend Minga's workshop and act as leaders in their communities) and socias (women who help the promotoras). On the bottom row from left to right is Erika, me, Jeni, Amarylis (a Minga Peru staff member accompanying me on my trip), and Soreida. On the top row standing is Nanci, Francisca, and one of the promotoras' sons. These women live in a community called "Amazonas" along the Maranon River (part of the great Amazon river--yes, the longest river in the world!).
Amarylis, Emira (another Minga staff member travelling with me), and I arrived in Amazonas a little after lunch time. We rented a car from Iquitos to Nauta that morning (a 1.5 hour drive). Iquitos is the largest city in Peru's Amazonia region (a few million people). Nauta is much smaller and closer to the more remote villages in the jungle. We took a motor boat (called "peke-peke" because that's the sound they make) to the community of Amazonas (the only way to get to these communities semi-quickly is by peke-peke). Amazonas was a 40 minute boat ride outside of Nauta.
The above picture is Emira and I. Behind us is the path to the Amazonas community. Emira is an absolutely fabulous person. While she may not quite reach 5 feet tall, she has an enormous amount of love for Minga, the women in these communities, and for her own people. She hails from a village called Puerta Peru about 3 hours from Nauta by boat. She is of the kukama ethnicity, an indigenous tribe of the Amazon rainforest. She spent the last two years in San Antonio, Texas as part of a program to maintain, promote, and celebrate the indigenous cultures of South America. She and her twin sister are the oldest of 11 children and are the only two women to have ever left her community. While she has had no formal training in radio, she is one of the primary voices of Bienvenida Salud (which I've heard and was very impressed with). She's also absolutely gorgeous like most of the women in the Amazon.
As I said, we visited these communities to talk with the promotoras and socias and learn more about how Minga has helped them and what they are currently doing to better their communities. We sat down in Soreida's home with everyone and just had a conversation. Soreida and Jeni told me of the troubles of domestic violence in their community and how it was very difficult for them to attend Minga's workshops because of the "disapproval" of their husbands. I heard a radio program of Minga's that promotes the right of women to organize in their commmunities, and it included a short soap opera, a conversation between two women and a disapproving husband. After some time and help from Minga, Soreida and Jeni and Nanci were able to attend Minga's workshops and learn about their rights as women and human beings and about self esteem (autoestima). Now they act as leaders in their communities, teaching other women about these themes, organizing projects to benefit their communities and helping in situations of domestic violence.
Soreida also had baby kitties in her house which Emira, Amarylis and I were really excited about!
A quick note about the economic state of these rural Amazon communities: They are in a state of what we would call "extreme poverty;" although, I doubt that is how these women think of their situation. Their homes are usually very open spaces of usually two rooms. Everything is made of unfinished wooden planks. The planks are placed with significant space inbetween to let in sunlight and air. These communities usually are without electricity. Amazonas has electricity two nights a week. They usually catch and harvest their own food which they cook on a grill-like mechanism. Their diet consits mainly of fish (which their husbands catch early in the mornings), fruit, and rice. Extra money earned from selling fish, fruit, and their artisanry is used to pay for their children's education, precious gasoline for boats, kitchen and household supplies such as cooking pans and soap, and clothing.
A quick note about the social state of these communities (for women): Initiation into sex begins very early. Sometimes girls as young as 10-12 begin to have children. At 31 years of age, it is not unusual for a woman to have several children and grandchildren. A 27 year old woman in Amazonas had four children. Because the houses are so open, I can imagine that children understand at an earlier age what is going on when their parents engage in sexual activity. These women have very little control over their own lives due to the care of their children and husbands. Women are considered second-class citizens are not able to participate in community government. All of this is not unusual for rural communities in the Amazon. In fact, the women I spoke with were suprised to learn that I was unengaged (men or children) at 22. Emira is 27 with no husband or children which makes her a novelty in her culture. Minga is changing all of this.
The women also showed me some of the artisanry made from "chimbara" the plant above. They cut the leaves of the plant and dry them in the sun to make jewelry, bowls, bags, etc.
They also dye the chimbara using natural colors made from fruits and herbs. They sell their work in the markets in Nauta. They were so kind to me giving me a gorgeous bag (made by Soreida) and bracelets and dried seeds (made by Erika and Francisca).
After our talk we hiked into the jungle to look at the construction of the fish farms (piscigranjas).
The women just set off into the jungle in their shorts and flipflops with me (completely covered in jeans, hiking boots, and a long sleeve shirt) tripping along behind them. I ran into lots of spider webs that usually remain intact high above the women's heads.
I don't think I have mentioned yet that it is hot as hell in the jungle. Of course, it doesn't affect the women at all. Not one of them dropped one bead of sweat the entire time while I was soaked thru and thru by the time we left. They said, "Well, you are all covered up!" I replied, "Yes, because the mosquitos (zancudos) love sweaty blancas!" They got a big laugh out of that. They gave me a bottle (refresco) of Nauta Cola which tastes pretty much like Coca Cola.
I was so very inspired, moved, touched, in complete admiration of these beautiful women and their new found (Minga only entered this community a year ago) power. They have always been strong and courageous, and now they have the communication skills and the knowledge to use that strength to better their positions as women and better their community. In the future, I hope that I can help Minga in any way that I can to continue their work in empowering such wonderful people.
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