mountain side madness

(kat´s turn) it all began two weeks ago in the gringo filled town of vilcabamba, ecuador. we had decided to volunteer for two weeks on this farm project, Sacred Suenos, and all that we knew was that we were to show up early Sunday morning. we met up with the other American couple we would be spending our volunteer time with and Jen, our host. leaving all but one outfit each (so as to make use of the communal clothes closet we were promised), we showed up with our chacos on and one small backpack. we left town in a taxi and hiked two hours UP into the Andes. i don´t remember much of the scenery because i was staring at the ass of a stubborn, wheezing donkey named Bonnie, who was ambling up the narrow path, carrying up our food for the week, along with some chicken wire.


Bonnie the donkey

the Sacred Suenos site is inaccessible by road, so every person or piece of supplies that is needed must make it up by its own two feet or via donkey/horse. the vision for the project, as started by a swiss-canadian named Yves seven years ago, is to make this piece of land on a mountain side that has been deemed ¨good for nothing¨ into a producing piece of land for the self-sustaining permaculture community. a challenge indeed that Yves and Jen are willing and excited to take on with the help of their transient community of volunteers who pass through from all around the world.


upon arrival, we were instantly met with a lot of creativity. structures have been made out of cob and adobe, but since there is not enough sand around, they have substituted strips of plastic from all of the packaging of food. compost is a complex system, with different containers for donkeys, chickens, regular compost,and my favorite- the ¨skanky garbage¨, for those things that do not fit into any of the above categories and will have to be carried down the mountain to be disposed of in town (ie. butter wrappers). everything has a purpose (ideally three purposes) on the farm. nothing is wasted. containers and washed and reused. old clothes are made into siding for housing. a pressure cooker is used for nearly all meals, so as to use less energy. there is no electricity, so when the sun goes down, the candles go on and bedtime is early. there is a makeshift solar shower with the most magnificent view of the mountains. bathroom facilities... if you have to pee, find a bush. if you need something more, just use the bucket that will later be emptied by you or one of the other volunteers in the ¨humanure¨ pile (apparently human waste is great fertilizer for the fruit trees growing on the farm).

the shit bucket, (humanure is good for the fruit trees)


an average day looked like this: waking up with the roosters or sun around 6am. breakfast and ready to work by 8am. the cooler hours were in the morning, so we would each work on our assigned task until lunch time. over the two weeks, we worked on things like trail building, luke helped put on a roof, weeding, collecting green and brown leaves for the compost piles, one day i got to make a new compost pile (layering it like a lasagne), scooping up donkey droppings that are a great addition to the compost, macheting weeds that the goats don´t eat, disassembling structures, cutting old plastic bags into strips for cob, on and on. then, we would all gather for lunch- a vegetarian feast generally and lots of long, leisurely conversation as the afternoon heat or rain rolled in. lots of reading in hammocks in the afternoons and then evening watering of the plants in the garden. candle light conversations, leftovers, popcorn, cards, and laughs until exhaustion usually set in around 8:30pm. pretty tough life, huh? it is amazing how doing a bit more physical labor than usual can really tucker a person out. in addition to our tasks each day, we would each have a community job to do, whether it was feeding the animals (aka trying to keep the ten chickens in their cage while changing their water), doing dishes, making lunch, checking the water tank level, or emptying the ¨shit bucket¨.

although i was out of my comfort zone from day one, luke is a great encourager and helped me see all the reasons we should stay. overall, it was a great opportunity to be helping hands and listening ears. without fail, the sunset was spectacular each night, the Andes mountains just adding to the views. after traveling for a while, it was great to put down in one spot and get to know some people, beyond the simple pleasantries exchanged in a hostel. it was nice to be around people who are different than we are and who challenge us to think about why we believe the things we believe and why we choose to live the life we do. we are thankful to Jen and Yves for welcoming us into their lives for a short while.

onto Peru tomorrow... via the adventurous border crossing at Zumba.