It has been a week or two since my
homestay with Bartolo Licuy and his family in the community of San Jose. The
decision to be part of a homestay was suggested to me by CassWalker – the
Internship Coordinator -- so that I could improve my fluency as well as learn
more about the life viewed through the eyes of a Producer Executive Board
member.
Most of my time during my
internship experience has been devoted to working with the needs assessment
that Fundacion Runa has been working on for some time now. The needs assessment
has it’s basis on the questionnaire given to farmers during the harvesting of
guayusa leaves. Fundacion Runa’s goal is to interview ten percent of the
farmers they work with to get an accurate picture of what the needs of the
farmers are. Needs that are specifically being targeted include education,
nutrition, financial security, and areas of disparity in general. The idea behind the needs assessment is that
it would yield results which could then aid decisions made by the Producer
Executive Board – a representative body of the guayusa farmers --as to where
funds from the Social Premium Fund would be allocated. By taking advantage of
the opportunity of staying with Bartolo – PEB member – I could really make a
real world connection to the numbers that I would be working with.

In the beginning I didn’t really
know what to expect of my host family and what my situation would yield. All I
remember is that Cass dropped me off at the house and told me that I could
return to the office whenever I was settled in. The first person to greet me
from the family was Bartolo’s wife. Since the rest of the family was either at
school or work, she took care of the house and the tienda that the family ran. She
was an elderly figure who for some reason reminded me of my own mother in terms
of her mannerisms. She was very soft spoken but at the same time was very
independent. She showed me to my room which to my surprise was similar to my
room back home. Then after settling into the room and doing a little bit of
exploring in the immediate area I went to the kitchen so I could interact with
Bartolo’s wife. Though I was nervous I knew that the only way to communicate
with her would be to force Spanish to come out of my lips. From that point I
didn’t care about the sentence structure but just spit whatever vocabulary I
had in my head to convey a point. I formally introduced myself and told her why
I, a student from the states, was here in a small Kichwa community in the
Ecuadorian Amazon. Then she told me about what a normal day consisted of.
Usually the day started of with breakfast and of course guayusa, immediately
following children and adults went to their respective work place, then everyone
would reconvene during the afternoon to talk and socialize as to how everyone’s
day went by. She also warned me that the smaller children would probably want
to play during the evening which I was excited about. After talking to her for
a little bit in the kitchen, I went back to my room to lie down for a little
bit as it was midafternoon by this point. When I came out of my room I saw that
she was tending to customers at the tienda while holding one of her
grandchildren. I decided the least I could do was help her out with the shop
for a little bit. After which I headed off to the office and work on some data
input of the needs assessment data.
When I returned to the house later
that evening it had seemed like a party was ensuing in the house. I walked to
the kitchen area while greeting everyone with a “Buenos noches”. Then the
questions started. To give you a picture I was sitting on a chair in the
kitchen when practically all of Bartolo’s family was in the room. Four of his
daughters were there along with six to seven grandchildren who varied in age.
All of whom, who were interested in who the new extranjero was and why he was
here. So I explained to them that I was a student interning with Runa and
wanted to learn more about Kichwa culture. What I found fascinating was how
immediately after asking my name they immediately asked how old I was and if I
was married. Once I sat in the hot seat I didn’t get up for another 3-4 hours.
I listened and conversed and I wasn’t bored for a single second. Because
everything was new to me and all I wanted to be was a sponge that could absorb
as much information as I could. The electricity would go on and off, food would
be served, and new people would come up to me to talk. They would share their
stories and I would share mine. Even their lives were completely different from
that of my own I knew that a human connection was ever present.
I had an especially deep talk with
Bartolo in which we discussed respective histories of our people. I spoke of
both American and Indian history as I have background knowledge of both
culturally and historically. And Bartolo would talk of Kichwa culture and how
it began and how it has weathered time. It was an inspiring conversation to
have with Bartolo. And Bartolo reminded me of my now deceased grandfather in
the way he was enthusiastic about his culture and want to inspire the youth. By
comparing these different cultures we sparked new ideas and all of this was
done through a language that was a second language to both of us. I stressed
the importance of the PEB and how the representation of the farmers is really
the base of Runa’s operation. To avoid exploitation as has happened in the past
with tea in India I stressed that the PEB working with Fundacion Runa should be
knowledgable of what is happening in an effort to prevent wrong doing. We
recognized that what Runa was doing was helpful for the Kichwa farmers but by
each part of Grupo Runa being knowledgeable of all activities we can move
forward in a sustainable sense. This conversation supplemented with guayusa
went on late into the night in a candle lit room at times when power would go
off for hours at a time.
The interactions that I had with
Bartolo and his family gave me a renewed sense that no matter what boundary or
characteristic that all humans have an innate connection to each other. The
interexchange of ideas was really something that I will treasure for my entire
life. It was also an eye opening experience to also learn some historical
background to how the Kichwa culture has evolved with time. And most
importantly I got a glimpse of what world is viewed through the eyes of a
Kichwa farmer’s eyes in small community of San Jose.