Anecdotes from over the Andes: Ashaninka volume 5

Our host in the Ashaninka community, Lydia, wanted to show us the chacra (orchard) that she and her family own and cultivate. So armed with plenty of bug repellent and not enough sunblock, we traipsed through the brush, forged a couple of small rivers (in our tennisshoes), tried to keep up with our machete carrying friends and were amazed at the amount of carambola, cocao and banana trees surrounding us. We also saw their hundreds of yuca plants, cotton, beans and watermelon plants. I watched in amazement as Emely, a 10 year old girl, shimmied up a tree, barefoot, as fast as a monkey. She grabbed a large shell, Lydia hacked it open and we sucked on cocao seeds (which taste nothing at all like chocolate, but will eventually be used to make chocolate). We watched as Lydia used her machete to pull up yuca and hack away at the unwanted weeds around it. We finally made it to the Perene River, where the kids had run ahead and were happily splashing and playing in the mud and murky water.

Hiking back to the house, my thoughts were on how hard these people work. Day after day they spend in the scorching sun, being eaten alive by river mosquitos and every other kind of mosquito, physically spending themselves so they can eat and send their kids to school. I don't pity them, just admire them. I also have a greater appreciation for the ease we have of buying fruits and vegetables already harvested and ready to eat.

As we gathered in the crude living room, seated on a wood bench, tree trunks or the dirt ground, tired and wet, all of us, somehow we were able to turn our attention to God's love and His marvelous creation. We thanked Him aloud, each one speaking his thanks for something specific and my heart was blessed. The children were shyly thankful for mangos, oranges, people, stars and animals. Lucas was thankful for swimming pools.