Trail & Timberline On-line — November-December, 1999
Return to the T&T Home Page |
||
Trail & Timberline features
Wild Colorado featuring articles on the Wilderness Act "Just the Facts, Ma'am" CMC Public Land Policy Director Vera Smith makes a plea for a deeper understanding of wilderness Myths & Facts about Wilderness Volunteers further wilderness efforts Colorado Wilderness Bills of 1999 Happy Anniversary, Baby. The Wilderness act turns 35. Is it grown up yet? |
Ponchos, horses, volcanoes, and real people
|
T&T departments:Education |
by John ParksJuan Rafael Ushca is my “compadre,” meaning I am the godfather of his son. He is a dreamer, a thinker, and an excellent leader of his small, isolated community. He is a puruha indigenous man from the Chimbo razo Province of Ecuador. He wears a red woolen poncho, which he wove himself. He´s a bit round (his friends call him gordito); has a constant smile; and is unusually punctual. It was through my interaction with this influencial man that I experienced a magical year in Ecuador. I went to Ecuador to study international development in Quito for two months at an institution called Fundación Cimas, and afterwards have a six month internship doing god-knows-what. My internship ended up being with the Fundación Natura, a big Ecuadorian environmental non-governmental organization (NGO). I tagged along on that organization’s visits to the communities bordering the World Heritage Site of Sangay National Park. I spent my first frustrating month observing my coworkers interacting with these impovershed country indigenous people, working on my Spanish, and searching for a purpose. Juan Rafael gave me such a purpose. One day when I took the two hour car ride from the city of Riobamba to his village, Guargualla, to seek a meeting about an agricultural project, Juan Rafael offered me a proposition: “Do you like to climb mountains?” “Yes. Why do you ask?” “Because our community has a few experienced mountain guides, and we could take you on a trip to Sangay Volcano for less than any travel agency could afford.” “How much are you talking about?” “Let´s see … fifty a day for each guide.” “That´s way too much for me. The absolute most I could pay is thirty dollars a day.” “No, not fifty dollars. Fifty of our currency: fifty thousand sucres” (the exchange rate at that time was approximately 6,000 sucres to the dollar, making it about U.S. $8). I was embarassed and surprised, but I told him I was definitely interested. I called up a few friends who were working on their internships in different provinces and asked them if they would be interested in a five-day horse trip to climb the most active volcano in South America. We went on that trip, and it changed my life. During the trip I was able to talk to real people who have real problems. I listened to Juan Rafael’s dream for his community: to establish its own guide agency and cut out the middle man. The capabilities of the other three guides—on the mountain and with the horses—impressed me, as did their respect for el gordito. Consequently, I went along with Juan Rafael’s dream, and we talked about how we could make it a reality. I spent the next five months of my life dedicated to that community of seventy-five families. I made new friends in Riobamba, people who were university ecoturism students and who were teaching courses in a few communities, training groups of future guides. The students also are dreamers. They´re from a different social class, race, and background than Juan Rafael (and myself for that matter), but they share a common idea that it is possible to have a better future in that impoverished country. I brokered a deal with the students that I would teach an English course in one of the communities they were working in if they would train guides in Guargualla. Throughout my time in Guargualla, I was amazed by the respect and gratitude I was given and the abilities and positive thoughts of these genuine people. We worked with twenty-eight men and women who wanted to guide foreign adventurers in their expansive backyard. They are all rugged campesinos, adjusted to the challenging Andean environment and an agricultural lifestyle. They range from the shy and small twelve-year-old Jose Manuel Quitio, to the humble and strong fifty-year-old Jose Manuel Quitio, who has fifteen years of experience guiding to all the major mountains of Ecuador. I share the dream with these people that they can successfully bring visitors to their community and their mountain. Tourism will support a local conservation ethic, thereby helping to preserve this unique and beautiful park. It will also encourage conservation, because villagers know that western travelers don’t like to see trash and burned ecosystems in a National Park. Consequently they will be more careful with their treatment of the land. Tourism also will create a much-needed source of work and income for these people, at a higher salary for villagers and lower cost for visitors than if there were a middleman. Finally, tourism will offer a wonderful opportunity for visitors to enjoy meeting these historically marginalized people and experience an unforgettable trip through the high altitude andean grasslands to an incredible, fiery mountain. This group of guides calls themselves the Asociatión of Indigenous Guides of Guargualla, Ecuador (Asociación de Guías Indígenas de Guarguallá, Ecuador [AGIG]). They are working to achive a dream, which is slowly becoming a reality. AGIG has assumed the responsibility for the development of the community through the creation of and environmentally sustainable economic enterprise. They are working hard to organize themselves to welcome any adventure-seeking traveler. If you are interested in a similar excursion and write in Spanish, you can contact the AGIG at Asociación de Guías Indígenas de Guarguallá, Ecuador (AGIG), Movimiento Indígena de Chimborazo, 1420 Casa Indígena, Guayaquil y Juan de Velasco, Riobamba, Ecuador. DON'T FORGET TO ORDER YOUR TICKETS FOR THE ROYAL ROBBINS
SHOW
|
||
![[CMC Logo]](pics/emblem05.gif){kind=small}
Return to the
CMC home page.