Hola from the Ecuador’s Andes Mountains!

Another week of volunteering has flown by in Chilcabamba. The food continues to be incredible but unfortunately the weather has been very wet. Sick of not being able to work in the afternoons due to daily showers we have changed our work schedule to longer hours in the morning and taking afternoons off, which everyone is happy with.

The first half of the week we worked on fencing for the villagers. Instead of cutting down trees to make fence post that will rot and fall over, the community uses living branches from other trees that sprout take root and continue growing and strengthening the fence. For a couple of days we worked on cutting, planting and attaching barbed wire to our living fence. We returned to previous job of pulling out trees until there was a landslide on Friday morning. The landslide, caused by the unseasonal rain we’ve been getting here, took out a chunk of hillside in the deep green valley that the river runs through. The river is the main source of water and irrigation for the whole community and they have a complex system of concrete channels that winds through the houses and farm land. The mud, dirt, rock and plants from the landslide blocked this channel and stopped the flow of water to the community. So on Friday we had our first urgent job to do, we worked in the rain shoveling all the debris out of the channel with another member of the community. In the space of 5 hours we cleared about 20 square meters of debris, most of which appeared to end up on our clothes and faces!

Lake Cuicocha

The work has been really satisfying but we have enjoyed our free time also. Susie had the idea of making banana bread with all the beautiful ripe bananas that are so easily found in ecuador and despite high altitude baking complications was a success. This weekend we are back in Otovalo on Saturday for one last shopping trip and then are returning to the community on Sunday to hike around Lake Cuicocha, a lake inside a volcano crater. Hoping for no rain!

Magically still no illness from any of the girls, just atrocious sunburn and bug bites.

Thanks,
Brenna