Just Water Allocation in the Dulcepamba Watershed
Current Reflections - Surviving Coronavirus
Over the past ten weeks, Ecuador has suffered terribly due to an extremely high COVID-19 death rate, a major oil spill in the Amazon, continued corporate mining incursions, the recent payment of a 10-year foreign debt, and major economic decline.
Chillanes County, where we have been dedicated to supporting campesino and indigenous farmers in securing and protecting their rights and access to water over the past seven years, has been hit especially hard by the secondary effects of the public health crisis. The farmers we care about so much are struggling amid virus-related restrictions that cut off their access to income and markets, and have left them without basic necessities including food staples, personal hygiene items, access to medical care, and in some cases road access, leaving them feeling abandoned and forgotten.
In response, we reached out to family and friends to ask for support to organize relief for the communities that are especially hard hit.
We received an incredible, overwhelming response, and thanks to over 50 donors, we have been able to organize four different types of donations, benefiting more than five communities of farming families in need.
1. Tropical fruits for highland indigenous small farmers
tropical fruits to the indigenous farming community of Santa Teresita. The community is located in the highest, coldest part of the county at almost 10,000 feet above sea level. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the community's 35 farming families have mainly been surviving on corn, beans and dairy products, which they produce, for nearly two months. We purchased the organic fruits we delivered to the community from the small farmers in the subtropical region of the county, giving them much needed business they would not have otherwise had.
Dulcepamba Project member Rachel Conrad presenting the donation in the delivery truck to community representative Don Angel.
Santa Teresita community member Don Pedro unloading the truck and Don Jose waiting for the next load.
Chillanes County Mayor Carmita Naucin and Dulcepamba Project member Emily Conrad visit Señora Olga in her house where she is recovering from a leg amputation, due to advanced diabetes. She says she hasn't been able to go to her doctor appointments for over two months now due to the COVID-19 restrictions, and is afraid she will not be able to replenish her insulin, which she relies on twice daily.
On Wednesday, May 6, 2020, we delivered a truck filled with 2000 oranges, 70 large banana and plantain bunches (with 50-100 bananas/plantains each), and several crates of lemons, papayas and other
Hannah Saggau, store owner Luis Villagomez, Rachel Conrad and Darwin Paredes loading supplies to package.
2. Rations packets for campesino families in 3 subtropical communities
On May 12 and 13, 2020, in coordination with the County Mayor, we delivered 150 rations packets door-to-door in the communities of San Pablo de Amalí, Tendal, and Dulcepamba in the lower altitude, subtropical part of the county.
The rations packets included 8lbs of rice, 3lbs of flour, 2lbs of pasta, 2lbs of lentils, 1 liter of oil, 1 large can of tuna, 2lbs of salt and traditional spices, 6 rolls of toilet paper, a tube of toothpaste, 3 bars of soap, and laundry detergent. We also hired a local seamstress to sew durable, washable face masks to include in each rations packet.
Dulcepamba Project member Darwin Paredes packaging the bulk food items for each rations packet.
Dulcepamba Project members Emily Conrad and Hannah Saggau (in the background) packaging.
Rachel Conrad with about a third of the rations packets ready to be delivered.
Despite not being able to shake hands or give hugs due to necessary social distancing, it was incredibly heartwarming to connect with many of the families that have been so caring towards us during our time in Ecuador, and also difficult to hear about their struggles. Here are updates on a few of the families we visited during the rations packets delivery:
Rachel Conrad and Sra Iralda in front of her house in the small campesino community of San Pablo de Amalí
94-year-old Señora Iralda told us that she and her 98-year-old husband, Don Celestino, have been forbidden by local health workers to leave their property because of their age, so they haven’t left in over two months. She said, “We have some very kind neighbors who drop off bananas, plantains and papayas which we eat, but when there is nothing to eat, we just suck on our thumbs.”
Señora Iralda could not stop smiling ear-to-ear as she accepted her rations packet and asked us to thank those who donated profusely for extending their support to her from so far away.
Señora Iralda
Señora Clementina and family
It has been three months since Señora Clementina, mother to seven and grandmother to many more, had a surgical procedure to remove a bone growth in her foot that kept her practically bedridden for three years. She told us with tears in her eyes that she still can’t stand or walk, due to the fact that there is no way to receive the physical therapy she needs for her recovery. The county mayor, who accompanied us in the rations distribution, is looking into the possibility of sending a doctor to her house to evaluate her foot and give her recovery and strengthening exercises.
Señora Clementina and her family are extremely grateful for the rations they received and send their blessings to each of you who donated.
Hannah Saggau delivering a rations packet to Sra Clementina's daughter and grandson, Carmen and Jahir.
Rachel Conrad delivering a rations packet to Señora Marlene's son, Carlos. Notice the difference in elevation between where they are standing, right where the road sank.
Emily Conrad delivering a rations packet to a girl from Tendal, who walked nearly two miles to receive it.
Traveling by horseback is one of the only forms of transportation to farming communities that currently don't have road access, like Tendal.
Señora Marlene is in the foreground on the left.
Señora Marlene and the community of Tendal
When we arrived about 50 meters away from Señora Marlene’s house, the municipal pickup truck we were riding in almost bottomed out in a 3-foot drop-off in the road. Disoriented, we got out of the truck to realize that a whole portion of the land just below her house had sunk in what appeared to be a seismic event. Señora Marlene explained that the night it happened, it was raining and her family heard rumbling and trees started falling. They raced out in their pajamas to put rock reinforcements under the house to keep it from toppling over. Since that night, the community of Tendal about 1.5 miles up the hill has not had road access.
Many of the Tendal community members do not own land, and rely on day labor employment on neighboring farms. The lack of work and income is hitting this community especially hard as we mark two months of the ongoing public health emergency measures. The community members, who have largely felt forgotten and unsupported, expressed their deep and sincere gratitude for the rations packages.
Don Ovidio and Señora Judith gave us more bananas, plantains, lemons and oranges than we know what to do with as a thank you for providing rations packets to their community of Dulcepamba.
3. Organic seeds to improve long-term food security
Despite the fact that the families who received the rations packages have so little, many of these small farmers showed their thanks by gifting us tropical fruits from their backyards!
We also received many social distancing hugs to send to friends and family in the U.S., like these from the Miño family
We have also put in an order for 100 packets of organic, GMO-free, local-variety seeds, which we will donate to families looking to plant or expand their personal and community gardens in the community of Naranjal, among others. Naranjal residents live up to an hour's walk from the closest accessible road, and are extremely hesitant to make the journey to the more populated centers given the increased risk of infection. We are excited about this opportunity to support food security for a longer period and build upon the enthusiasm among local farmers to grow organically. The seeds we chose will complement the crops farmers already grow with additional nutritious, local varieties of fruits, vegetables, grains, and traditional medicinal herbs that they would not have access to otherwise, especially during the pandemic.
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Traditional seeds from the Seed Guardian's Network of Ecuador, with whom we placed our seed order
San Pablo de Amalí students performing a traditional dance in the town center.
4. School supplies for elementary school students beginning classes remotely
As Ecuador looks to open up its economy, low-altitude schools are planning to begin the new school year on June 1, starting with remote classes and assignments. In San Pablo de Amalí, the schoolteacher of the one-room primary school is preparing to adapt as best she can. There is no internet connectivity, limited cell phone service, and many residents don’t even have smart phones, let alone computers in San Pablo and the over 200 rural communities of Chillanes County. Despite these extreme challenges, classes will begin with assignments sent over text message or delivered via physical folders in order to maintain social distancing. This means that students will need school supplies, so, we are coordinating with the schoolteacher to deliver notebooks, pens, pencils, and erasers to the 16 primary school students of San Pablo de Amalí. Although these supplies cannot replace the lack of connectivity and obstacles to quality education in the midst of the pandemic faced in this rural region, we hope that alleviating the need to buy school supplies for cash-strapped families will be a small but important support.
San Pablo de Amalí primary school students.
Former Dulcepamba Project volunteer, Colby Russo Hatch, teaching English to the San Pablo de Amalí primary school students.
We know that the pandemic and its fallout are far from over, but it has been an incredibly inspiring and uplifting experience to witness both the immense generosity of our families and friends mainly in the U.S., and in turn, the deep gratitude and appreciation of communities here in Chillanes County, Ecuador that are near and dear to us. We extend our sincere and profound thanks to all who supported this effort. We hope that you find yourselves and your families secure, well, and looking towards a brighter future.
The Dulcepamba Team