A bit later than usually with my blog article, as yesterday I was on a visit in the district of Belén, something I had been looking forward to for some time. This district is for the most part built on the Itaya River and a lot of the houses there are literally floating. I had the opportunity to visit the family of one of my colleagues living in a house that is built on the ground, but in this time of the year the water around it is very deep and the first floor isn’t used as it is full of water. After making a small tour with a boat we arrived at the house to prepare and eat a delicious dinner. We started with tasting all kinds of Amazon fruits and after this we ate a plate with chicken and rice and a dish with fish and banana. The dinner was followed by a refreshing dive in the river and the visit was concluded by a strong Peruvian cocktail. In the early evening we returned to Iquitos, before it became too difficult to find boats that can bring you back to shore.
The evening before we had another party at the boat of the French volunteers, as one of the leaders of the project celebrated his birthday. Besides French and Peruvian people there was also one Russian guy, so I thought it was a good moment to start practising my Russian as well, but after exactly two seconds I had to let go of this plan. As his Spanish is even worse than mine we did however have some interesting conversations in English. He explained fleeing Russia some years ago to escape military service (and the system of dedovshchina that comes with it) and travelling a great part of the world before arriving in Peru. As he had studied history in Russia and was specialized in 20th century culture in his country, it was also fine to have some discussions about Russian history. Although the French probably found it a bit dull.
Another special experience I had on Friday evening. At the invitation of my Italian neighbour I went for the first time to a discotheque in Punchana, another district outside the centre of Iquitos. The contrast with the more upscale Noa in the centre was enormous. When coming in you have the impression to be in a dirty and slightly perverted Latino/R’n’B music clip. But one must say it had some special atmosphere and as the entrance is free you have a very diverse public coming there. First thing we did was buying a drink, together with some Peruvian friends of my neighbour, and instead of each receiving a glass it is the habit in such dancing places to buy one big bottle of beer with which you receive one small glass. The idea is that you fill the glass, drink it fast and give bottle and glass to the next person. One rather strange thing was that they were also projecting the movie Hotel Rwanda in the place. Not really the kind of movie I enjoy when being at a party.
During the week at the office I had been mostly busy with organizing the journey to the Putumayo River, where we’ll be travelling to from the 5th of May. As this is quite some work we even had to skip a march in the city that was organized to support the indigenous communities in the province, which was a bit unfortunate. Another important event was a meeting with ORPIO, the regional indigenous organization, on Friday. Also on that day during lunchtime I was invited to eat at the house of Leyla, one of my colleagues, where I was learned to eat fish the Peruvian way. This means you don’t only have to eat it with your hands, but that you also eat almost everything, including the head of the fish. It was quite crunchy, but there wasn’t a lot of taste to it and I must admit that this time I couldn’t bring myself to eating all of it. I was already glad my stomach didn’t react in a bad way, so maybe I’ll make a better attempt next time.
Goodbye for now,
Jero
Monday, 27 April 2009
Sunday, 19 April 2009
Diarios de Motocicleta
Still working hard here every day at the office, but I’m enjoying it as it seems to me something worth doing. The downside is that most of the time I’m busy on my computer. But good news, in May I’ll finally be able to travel to the Putumayo River and visit our projects there. Going to the border area with Colombia will be quite an adventure as we’ll have to fly to the small city of El Estrecho with a floatplane and from there a little boat will bring us upstream to visit the various mestizo, Huitoto, Kichwa and Secoya communities. An important mission there is to join the General Assembly of MOK+A+, a rice project that was started near El Estrecho to bring an alternative for the illegal and damaging cultivation of coca. A new Board of Directors will be elected and we’ll be looking at some plans that can improve the independence of the communal enterprise. This to ensure the sustainability of the project and to make sure that in the future they’ll be able to function without support from vzw Putumayo.
This week we had some long meetings to discuss our work plans and to improve the efficiency of the organization. One plan for the near future is the sending of four young indigenous leaders to a school for leaders in Cusco in May. Here they will be educated in discussion tactics, press contacts etc. to strengthen the leadership of the indigenous organizations in the light of future challenges, especially concerning the threat of the petroleum exploitation in the area (cf. article last week). Both the Kichwa federation (FIKAPIR) and the Secoya organization (OISPE) of the Alto Putumayo will send two people and to promote the equality between men in women in the communities it will be two times a boy and girl. After receiving a training organized by CONACAMI, an organization mainly active with the indigenous peoples of the Andes region, they will also join a conference in the city of Puno.
Concerning my own experiences here I’m very happy to have been able to visit some more people in and around Iquitos at their homes, noticing once more the huge differences in living conditions here. Especially the recently arrived indigenous people who came to look for their fortune in the city have to live in a precarious situation. One girl who came from the Alto Putumayo because she urgently needed medical attention was able to get an operation thanks to a loan from vzw Putumayo. We’ve visited her at her uncle’s modest living place to see whether she has recovered well and apparently she is healthy again, but not really happy here, so hopefully she can get an opportunity soon to return to her home.
Later this week I also visited the home of a family that housed a Belgian girl last year that was here as an AFS student (many thanks to Michaël and his sister for bringing me in contact with them). They seemed very enthusiast to receive another Belgian at their house and especially the mother, who gives lessons at an indigenous community near Iquitos, can talk for hours while we’re sitting in the rocking chairs in front of the house. Luckily they live outside the busy city centre so it’s a fine opportunity to escape the noise. And also to make nice long rides with the mototaxi or on the back of a motorcycle (most family members have their own motorcycle and they’re always prepared to pick you up or bring you back, but I try to assure them it’s no problem for me going with the mototaxi). Immediately after my first visit on Friday they also invited me to come to dinner the next day, which off course I couldn’t refuse. Now I only have to learn to eat chicken with my hands so they wouldn’t be joking anymore about the crazy gringo trying to eat everything with knife and fork...
Chao!
Jero
This week we had some long meetings to discuss our work plans and to improve the efficiency of the organization. One plan for the near future is the sending of four young indigenous leaders to a school for leaders in Cusco in May. Here they will be educated in discussion tactics, press contacts etc. to strengthen the leadership of the indigenous organizations in the light of future challenges, especially concerning the threat of the petroleum exploitation in the area (cf. article last week). Both the Kichwa federation (FIKAPIR) and the Secoya organization (OISPE) of the Alto Putumayo will send two people and to promote the equality between men in women in the communities it will be two times a boy and girl. After receiving a training organized by CONACAMI, an organization mainly active with the indigenous peoples of the Andes region, they will also join a conference in the city of Puno.
Concerning my own experiences here I’m very happy to have been able to visit some more people in and around Iquitos at their homes, noticing once more the huge differences in living conditions here. Especially the recently arrived indigenous people who came to look for their fortune in the city have to live in a precarious situation. One girl who came from the Alto Putumayo because she urgently needed medical attention was able to get an operation thanks to a loan from vzw Putumayo. We’ve visited her at her uncle’s modest living place to see whether she has recovered well and apparently she is healthy again, but not really happy here, so hopefully she can get an opportunity soon to return to her home.
Later this week I also visited the home of a family that housed a Belgian girl last year that was here as an AFS student (many thanks to Michaël and his sister for bringing me in contact with them). They seemed very enthusiast to receive another Belgian at their house and especially the mother, who gives lessons at an indigenous community near Iquitos, can talk for hours while we’re sitting in the rocking chairs in front of the house. Luckily they live outside the busy city centre so it’s a fine opportunity to escape the noise. And also to make nice long rides with the mototaxi or on the back of a motorcycle (most family members have their own motorcycle and they’re always prepared to pick you up or bring you back, but I try to assure them it’s no problem for me going with the mototaxi). Immediately after my first visit on Friday they also invited me to come to dinner the next day, which off course I couldn’t refuse. Now I only have to learn to eat chicken with my hands so they wouldn’t be joking anymore about the crazy gringo trying to eat everything with knife and fork...
Chao!
Jero
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Remembering Brian
As the very catholic Peruvians were celebrating the Holy Week, especially starting from Thursday, I didn’t see much of my colleagues at the office. But the positive side of the celebrations was that both the Peruvian family I’m living with and the owner of the office invited me to dinner. This way I was able to eat some typical fish dishes the people prepare at home and I managed to safe some lunch money on Thursday and Friday. Also on Friday evening there was a big procession in the streets, with little statues and relics being carried around and people carrying candles. The only thing that’s a bit unfortunate is that there aren’t any chocolate eggs on Easter-day.
Most important news of the week however was the verdict in the trial against Alberto Fujimori. The former Peruvian president was sentenced this Tuesday to a jail term of 25 years, as he was found guilty for the abduction of a journalist and a businessman and the killings by a death squad in the early nineties. At the height of the civil war, with Sendero Luminoso threatening to take over power in Peru, Fujimori took drastic measures to fight the insurgent movement, curbing democracy in the country dramatically. Many Peruvians accuse him of fighting a dirty war against the rebels in which death squads were allowed to operate freely. One of those death squads was responsible for the killing of 15 people during a raid on a barbeque in Lima and for the the assassination of 9 university students who were lifted from there dormitory beds. On the other hand there are also a lot of Peruvians who still support him as he was able to save the country from economic collapse and managed to arrest the most important leaders of Sendero Luminoso, which is now confined to some remote areas in the Andes region. Fujimori’s daughter Keiko is scoring very high in opinion polls lately, especially in Lima, and she already announced that if she gets elected in the next presidential elections in 2011 she will pardon her father immediately, but the Iquiteños I spoke with don’t think she will gather enough support on national level.
At work we finally moved to our new office, which is located in the same house but is remarkably bigger than the old one. This will be necessary as in the near future a lawyer will come to work here to assist us in the case of the petroleum exploitation in the Alto Putumayo. It’s three years now since the Peruvian state sold an area compromising the Secoya and Kichwa communities to the Brazilian oil company Petrobras. As the indigenous people weren’t consulted before the agreement was made it was in fact illegal, so since then our organization had organized some workshops at the Putumayo and Napo rivers to inform the communities about the advantages and disadvantages of petroleum exploitation in the region. In the end the both the Secoya and Kichwa people living there decided they don’t want to risk the future of their families by allowing this kind of pollution in their living environment. This is why the Asociación Putumayo Perú has made an agreement with Solsticio Perú, an organization that provides legal support to indigenous peoples, to help the communities in the judicial procedures that are to follow.
Hasta luego,
Jeroen
Most important news of the week however was the verdict in the trial against Alberto Fujimori. The former Peruvian president was sentenced this Tuesday to a jail term of 25 years, as he was found guilty for the abduction of a journalist and a businessman and the killings by a death squad in the early nineties. At the height of the civil war, with Sendero Luminoso threatening to take over power in Peru, Fujimori took drastic measures to fight the insurgent movement, curbing democracy in the country dramatically. Many Peruvians accuse him of fighting a dirty war against the rebels in which death squads were allowed to operate freely. One of those death squads was responsible for the killing of 15 people during a raid on a barbeque in Lima and for the the assassination of 9 university students who were lifted from there dormitory beds. On the other hand there are also a lot of Peruvians who still support him as he was able to save the country from economic collapse and managed to arrest the most important leaders of Sendero Luminoso, which is now confined to some remote areas in the Andes region. Fujimori’s daughter Keiko is scoring very high in opinion polls lately, especially in Lima, and she already announced that if she gets elected in the next presidential elections in 2011 she will pardon her father immediately, but the Iquiteños I spoke with don’t think she will gather enough support on national level.
At work we finally moved to our new office, which is located in the same house but is remarkably bigger than the old one. This will be necessary as in the near future a lawyer will come to work here to assist us in the case of the petroleum exploitation in the Alto Putumayo. It’s three years now since the Peruvian state sold an area compromising the Secoya and Kichwa communities to the Brazilian oil company Petrobras. As the indigenous people weren’t consulted before the agreement was made it was in fact illegal, so since then our organization had organized some workshops at the Putumayo and Napo rivers to inform the communities about the advantages and disadvantages of petroleum exploitation in the region. In the end the both the Secoya and Kichwa people living there decided they don’t want to risk the future of their families by allowing this kind of pollution in their living environment. This is why the Asociación Putumayo Perú has made an agreement with Solsticio Perú, an organization that provides legal support to indigenous peoples, to help the communities in the judicial procedures that are to follow.
Hasta luego,
Jeroen
Sunday, 5 April 2009
Chanel 9 Neus
This week we had to say goodbye to Felien, the Belgian colleague I’m replacing here in Iquitos, so even more work and responsibility for me from now on. And there is much work to do. In this period the Belgian sponsors of our projects are expecting reports from our activities to decide whether they’ll keep supporting us and also we have to find some new funds for some of the new initiatives we are working on now. For example this week two young indigenous students from the Putumayo region, Meliza and Iván, have arrived in Iquitos to start a pre-university course that can give them the opportunity to start an education to become teachers. Just like for me it must be a very special experience for them to come live in this noisy city for some time, coming from little villages at the Colombian border.
As some people probably don’t bother to take a look at the website of our organization, maybe some more explanation about this new project is welcome. During meetings in November last year of two indigenous organizations we are working with, FIKAPIR (federation of the Kichwa communities at the Putumayo river) and OISPE (organization of the Secoya people) both decided they wanted someone of their communities to become a bilingual teacher. The need for this comes from the fact that most of the teachers coming there are mestizos from the city that only speak Spanish, can have as a consequence that people will start to neglect their native languages. Also, there is a cultural barrier and a lot of these teachers aren’t really motivated to go to these remote areas to teach, which has a negative effect on the quality of the education.
One of the consequences of the rather bad quality of the education in the Putumayo region is that Meliza and Iván now will have to start with the pre-university course to be able to start their studies at university. This course will start next week and will take 8 months, with exams every month to decide whether they’re making the necessary progress. Off course, being away from their communities we’re trying our best to give them a good home in Iquitos. We have found a nice student room for both and the owner of the room of Meliza will make food for a small extra cost. Also we’re taking care of the necessary documents and provide them with the necessary school stuff like notebooks and pencils. Now we can only hope that they will stay motivated being in this bizarre city and far away from their villages and families.
As one of my favourite relaxing activities in Iquitos is going to eat it’s time for some more information about the typical food in the city. This week for the first time I tasted alligator in a specialties restaurant. It was served in a garlic sauce – here it means that the sauce mainly exists out of big pieces of garlic – and tasted quite good. The meat is a bit fishlike and also has a taste somewhere between beef and fish. Another dish they served in the restaurant was turtle, but as I had read somewhere that these animals are actually protected here I had decided I won’t eat these during my stay here. Also typical in Peru is the important influence from Chinese cuisine and at the same time the Chinese restaurants, called chifas here, have adapted strongly to the Peruvian ingredients. A visit to one of these chifas is therefore an obligation, also because it is a bit weird to find this much Chinese restaurants in a rather isolated city the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Together with your dinner here they usually serve some cold drinks prepared with local ingredients. Very typical for example is the chicha morada, which is prepared with purple corn, and camu camu, a local fruit from which they make a refreshing sweet drink. And another very typical thing in this region is juane, rice with a local spice and some chicken that is wrapped in banana leaves. You can buy it anywhere on the street and it’s very delicious.
On Thursday evening Felien gave a goodbye party as she was leaving the city to travel a bit in Peru before returning to Belgium. With her French and Peruvian friends we had a drink and some cake in a local bar after which we went to Noa, which is considered the trendier discotheque in Iquitos. Luckily the atmosphere and the music can’t be compared to any discotheque in Europe and we had a great time. On Saturday night I even returned there with a Peruvian girl and two of her friends, as she is able to acquire free tickets for us. Also nice on Saturday was that they had closed a part of my street to organise sports championships, football for the boys and volleyball for the girls. For a moment I thought about looking for a team I might join, but then I realised I don’t have any sporting clothes here. By next time I’ll make sure to buy some and maybe there is a team that will be so friendly to accept a gringo...
Chao!
Jeroen
As some people probably don’t bother to take a look at the website of our organization, maybe some more explanation about this new project is welcome. During meetings in November last year of two indigenous organizations we are working with, FIKAPIR (federation of the Kichwa communities at the Putumayo river) and OISPE (organization of the Secoya people) both decided they wanted someone of their communities to become a bilingual teacher. The need for this comes from the fact that most of the teachers coming there are mestizos from the city that only speak Spanish, can have as a consequence that people will start to neglect their native languages. Also, there is a cultural barrier and a lot of these teachers aren’t really motivated to go to these remote areas to teach, which has a negative effect on the quality of the education.
One of the consequences of the rather bad quality of the education in the Putumayo region is that Meliza and Iván now will have to start with the pre-university course to be able to start their studies at university. This course will start next week and will take 8 months, with exams every month to decide whether they’re making the necessary progress. Off course, being away from their communities we’re trying our best to give them a good home in Iquitos. We have found a nice student room for both and the owner of the room of Meliza will make food for a small extra cost. Also we’re taking care of the necessary documents and provide them with the necessary school stuff like notebooks and pencils. Now we can only hope that they will stay motivated being in this bizarre city and far away from their villages and families.
As one of my favourite relaxing activities in Iquitos is going to eat it’s time for some more information about the typical food in the city. This week for the first time I tasted alligator in a specialties restaurant. It was served in a garlic sauce – here it means that the sauce mainly exists out of big pieces of garlic – and tasted quite good. The meat is a bit fishlike and also has a taste somewhere between beef and fish. Another dish they served in the restaurant was turtle, but as I had read somewhere that these animals are actually protected here I had decided I won’t eat these during my stay here. Also typical in Peru is the important influence from Chinese cuisine and at the same time the Chinese restaurants, called chifas here, have adapted strongly to the Peruvian ingredients. A visit to one of these chifas is therefore an obligation, also because it is a bit weird to find this much Chinese restaurants in a rather isolated city the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Together with your dinner here they usually serve some cold drinks prepared with local ingredients. Very typical for example is the chicha morada, which is prepared with purple corn, and camu camu, a local fruit from which they make a refreshing sweet drink. And another very typical thing in this region is juane, rice with a local spice and some chicken that is wrapped in banana leaves. You can buy it anywhere on the street and it’s very delicious.
On Thursday evening Felien gave a goodbye party as she was leaving the city to travel a bit in Peru before returning to Belgium. With her French and Peruvian friends we had a drink and some cake in a local bar after which we went to Noa, which is considered the trendier discotheque in Iquitos. Luckily the atmosphere and the music can’t be compared to any discotheque in Europe and we had a great time. On Saturday night I even returned there with a Peruvian girl and two of her friends, as she is able to acquire free tickets for us. Also nice on Saturday was that they had closed a part of my street to organise sports championships, football for the boys and volleyball for the girls. For a moment I thought about looking for a team I might join, but then I realised I don’t have any sporting clothes here. By next time I’ll make sure to buy some and maybe there is a team that will be so friendly to accept a gringo...
Chao!
Jeroen
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