Mascarilla

Yesterday we visited a 100% Afro-Ecuadorian comunity. The village´s name was Mascarilla, but maps and signs do not recognize this name, instead offering more derogatory names denoting the skin color of the inabitants. We arrived at about 8:00 in the morning. This was by far the hottest and most arid we had visited since being in Ecuador. It is located at the bottom of the Mira watershed, and looks drastically different than El Angel and the water reserve at the top of the watershed from the day before.

After disebarking from the bus, we met Paquita and Julia. Paquita and Julia were founding members of GAEN, an oganization from within the community with mostly women members, who coordinate programs for the economic development of the community and host programs for the children of the village in the summer. Since I was the leader of the day, I had to introduce myself and the group in Spanish. It could have been worse, but did not come off as well as I would have liked. After group introductions, Julia left to continue making the snacks for the children (basically beans and salsa) and our lunch, which was boiled beef with vegetables. Paquita brought us to the summer program for children, this is where the miscommunication and cultual differences took its toll.

We quickly introduced ourselves to the camp, as the children waited impatienty in lines, kicking and teasing the entire time. The camp, in general, seemed to operate on one level above chaos. Apparently, the camp counselors believed we were there to teach the children for the morning. This was not relayed to us, and we were woefully unprepared to take control of about 100 children ranging from ages 5 -14.

I was assigned to the to the 14 year old group with Dale. Within 30 seconds of the assignments, the camp counselors disappeared until about 11:30! Our camp kids seemed rather unenthusiastic, as itwas geared to youner children. They had cell phones, so we made some small talk about that. The other groups were playing duck-duck goose, singing, and playing games. After some awkward silence and board looks, I suggested we play a game of soccer. They only had one ball for the community that wasn´t flat; a young boy ran 1 mile to his house to get it and a mile back. We waited about 12 - 13 minutes.

Teams were picked, rocks were placed in the road for goal posts, and the game commenced. I sincerely thought I was holding my own for a while, but as I wore down from the heat, dust, and kicks to the shin, I began to get easily schooled by 12 year old girls and boys alike. It was a very instructional experience.

After soccer, we watched the children incite near-mob rule in the street. Most people in our group had run out of energy or ideas and keeping control of the kids was a near impossibility. This is the way it went for about another 2 hours until the camp counselors showed back up and took ¨control.¨ They placed them in line and they sang a few ditties for us and did a few dances, but even this, unfortunately, was rather haphazard.

At about noon, the kids were dismissed for the day and the town quieted. We had an amazing lunch, but many of us were reluctant to eat it due to the fact that we weren´t sure about the cleanliness of the preparation in regards to water usage and preparation of vegetables. This was especially prevalent in our minds as our colleague, Andy, had been sick with for the last 4 days and was now in an Ecuadorian hospital. They made an amazing limeade, which no one had more than one glass, but it was phenomenal.

After lunch, we watched a video about how the community of Mascarilla had to perform an economic 180, since their primary means of making money (producing and selling papayas) had been decimated by a papaya virus starting in 1998. The community has become a community of artists, making masks out of local clay, and making other crafts. Without this little industry, there would be no reason at all to visit this sleepy little community. I found the masks impressive and happily spent 25$ for 4 masks. They were thrilled for our enthusiasm to purchase and we were happy to oblige.