This is to be my last blog post, as the volunteer of the Arajuno Jungle Lodge. I’m spending a bit of time in Tena and in Quito, before I have to catch my flight back to the States on Thursday.

I wanted to quickly cap off my stay with an overview of all that I’ve done and seen and experienced, because it’s been unlike anything else!

The work that I’ve been doing, my time in the elementary school of San Pedro, was absolutely brilliant. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience, for better people to work with. The kids were so curious and eager to pick up English, and the teachers just as much so. In turn, I learned how to write an awful lot of words in Spanish I’d not before known, as well as various Quichua words, and the basic skill of being the one in charge. This was my first prolonged experienced teaching in a classroom setting, as a fairly legitimate teacher, and I think I did well.

(working on our Libro de Ingles on the last day)

To be completely honest, how much of that information they’ll retain I couldn’t say, but at the very, very least, the thing I most hope to have instilled is the will to keep learning. Natalia, one of the profesoras, asked me to say a couple last words before leaving, and so I told the kids that the world is big. The world is huge, made up of places and people and experiences beyond the wildest imagination, and  if you want to discover it badly enough, if you are willing to work and work and make what you want possible, then you will. After which one of the kids, Jonathon, said he wanted to go to France.

And I sincerely hope that these kids, as young as they are now, will keep that drive, and keep pushing for more education, for more knowledge of the world. Leaving them was so, so difficult for me…I only knew them for a few weeks, but I feel such an empathy for them. Their situation in the world is not the easiest, by a long shot, and maybe this is why my heart hurts so much just leaving them to figure it out on their own. But they are beyond strong, and I know that if they want to do something, go somewhere, and be someone, they will.

And that’s the note I’m leaving the Amazon on. It’s been a trip, to be sure. I’ve seen tarantulas, ridden on top of buses, taught English in Spanish, eaten bugs, had my cookies stolen by a monkey, and I got to wake up every morning looking out on a tributary of the Amazon River. What a life, what a lucky life I lead :).

Thank you to Tom Larson, to Charo, to Mona, to Romiro, to Marco, to Natalia and Teresa, to everyone who has made this experience as unbelievable as it has been…you are all wonderful, wonderful people.

A group of fifteen students and their leader Janice Odom arrived at the lodge in the afternoon on Wednesday, June 2nd. The student group is from North Carolina State University, and they are a part of what is called the Caldwell Fellows. The aim of the program is to give driven students the means and space to explore the world and make a difference, however they so choose. Every year, they embark on a trip to somwhere in the world that means something to them, and this year it was Ecuador.

During their time here, they will be completing a turtle pond in Campo Cochoa, a community just downriver from Arajuno Lodge.  This turtle pond is a part of the sustainable living solution that Tom Larson is implementing in the river communities.

Thursday and Friday were spent machete-ing, digging a trench, hauling rocks and gravel, mixing cement, and building the fence around the pond.

The project will be completed on Monday, with the last two sides of the fence being cemented in. Soon after, turtles to be brought over!

This is a hard-working group, throwing themselves into everything 150%. I have absolutely no doubt that these are people we will be hearing more about in the world.

The 24th of May is the day Ecuador celebrates la Batalla de Pichincha, the day when Quito was liberated from the Royalist forces (loyal to Spain), and also the day when the independence of the Ecuadorian Provinces was secured. It is why the Republic of Ecuador exists today. And so it is celebrated in all of the communities and cities, with dancing and football (futbal) and the National Anthem.

I was lucky enough to participate in the festivities Monday, with the school of San Pedro, whom I’m currently working with as an English teacher. It was absolutely hilarious and wonderful, and something I’m never going to forget. The CD our dance was ‘choreographed’ to was forgotten, and the song we ended up using was started and stopped several times, but it didn’t matter, because we all looked brilliant in our brightly colored foam dresses and hats. Pictures follow:

If you are interested in making a donation to this family, or to any of the flood-affected families of Tena, please go to the Arajuno Foundation page for more information on how to send the money.

Below is a video of the donation being received:

On April 6th, 2010, the Tena River, a tributary of the Napo River, flooded it’s banks and sent waters over 3 meters high into the town of Tena.

Located directly on the bank of the river, Yajaira Pillajo Zuña, a mother of two, lost everything. Water rose to about 2 meters high  inside the house, sweeping away clothes and food and belongings, and causing damage to the building. Yajaira said that if this were to happen again, she would have nowhere to go, nothing left to draw from.

Just a couple days later, her older daughter, Melany Melendres Pillajo, burnt  her upper legs, arms, stomach, and fingers in a kitchen accident.

This is a family with very little money and means for income, hit with two costly accidents just within days of each other. Yajaira cannot work, because she has to take care of her two children. Luckily, directly following the flood, there has been a wave of donation, of clothing and water and paint for the houses. However, the creams for Melany’s burns run about $20 per small tube. There are the hospitalization costs. And there is still money needed for more reparations, and for future security.

Melissa Tukey, a retired school teacher and a member of the Arajuno Foundation, generously donated $400 to the hardest hit of the flood family victims. Tom Larson, director of the Foundation, made the decision to help the Pillajo family, who appreciated the money beyond belief. A video of the donation being received is included in the next post.

Hello there!

Real briefly, my name is Austen Weymueller. I’m a new volunteer at the Arajuno Jungle Lodge, and will be there for the next month, working on various projects both at the lodge and in the surrounding area. Figured I might as well introduce myself, since I’ll be keeping the blog updated for the next while.

This place is stunning, and it’s really quite unbelievable that I wake up every morning in the Amazon, and I eat my breakfast in the company of a monkey (actually, I spend half the time guarding my food from said monkey, rather than eating, but what does that matter when you’re in the Amazon eating with a monkey?).

In late October, Dr. Gary Kuenning, a Tulsa-based dentist/oral surgeon/orthodontist, performed the first annual Arajuno Foundation Dental Mission, working two long days, relieving indigenous Kichwa people of dental pain.

Approximately 112 teeth were extracted from 79 patients. A dentist from Tena, the nearest town 40 kilometers from the Arajuno Jungle Lodge, also cleaned and charted teeth for all indigenous patients.

None of these patients has ever seen a dentist.

Three English-Spanish interpreters worked as volunteers to ensure accurate information translated from patient to dentist. Special toothbrushes with embedded toothpaste were provided to each patient, along with a recipe for toothpaste (translated in Spanish) that could be made from simple, inexpensive ingredients.

A temporary clinic was set up and indigenous, from distances of many miles, hiked to the clinic on rainforest trails or came by river on canoes. Everybody worked from sun-up until after dark on both days of the AF Dental Mission.

Dr. Kuenning plans to donate quite a bit of dental equipment to the Tena-based dentist.

All in all, the first annual Dental Mission was a total success.

We just had 23 students from S.I.T/World Teach visit AJL for a couple of days and perform community service activities in one of the local communities called San Pedro.  This is the first action  of the AJL/AF initiative to plant giant bamboo along the eroded banks of the Arajuno River in front of communities and schools where serious flooding could cause loss of property or life.  Giant Bamboo not only provides great stream side protection against soil erosion, but also provides edible shoots, building materials, fire wood and additional habitat for birds and other critters.  Plus, this bamboo is the world’s fastest growing plant and the world’s largest bamboo.  It also serves as a giant carbon sink, effectively fixing three times more carbon from the air than a native forest can.  We will continue to plant Giant Bamboo and a variety of native species along the banks of the Arajuno River wherever needed, especially in front of the communities we are working with.  Great initiative!  Thanks to AJL, AF and S.I.T/World Teach!

My dad used to reference various quotes to try to instill wisdom in my brother and me—to which we responded by vigorously rolling our eyes and making faces, of course.  One frequently referenced adage was “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for life.”  I never really saw this principle in practice until I visited the Arajuno Jungle Lodge. While there, I learned that the key to a healthy watershed is an investment in the people that depend on the land, animals, and waters you seek to protect. 

The Arajuno Foundation projects create alternatives for the local indigenous communities so they don’t have to resort to environmentally destructive practices. A guides course equips locals to make money educating tourists about the rainforest instead of cutting down wood to sell from the nearby Reserve.  Cooking courses and new kitchen facilities help to establish an eco-tourism industry in place of mining for gold in the riverbed. And community fish and turtle ponds create a sustainable food source, ensuring that the river isn’t bombarded with destructive fishing practices that use pesticides or dynamite.  With Tom’s work, the future looks bright for the environment and people of the Arajuno River.

Sara Aminzadeh, San Francisco

Well,  the dust settles with the departure of 28 college students and staff from the University of Miami, Ohio, USA; the University of Barcelona, Spain; and the San Francisco University, Ecuador.  We had a very active couple of days taking samples and measurements from the Arajuno river and a few smaller tributaries within the AJL forest reserve boundaries.  We are now formulating plans to establish a permanent monitoring system of the quality and quantity of water streaming through the jungle past and through the AJL  reserve.  The other component of this project will, of course, be to develop more and better alternatives to the continued deforestation and degradation of the aquatic environment along the river while improving the quality of life for all its inhabitants both wild and human.  Photos will follow soon!Tom