Every Friday instead of class we all go to our volunteer sites. I volunteer at Chilca Totora along with Mayana and Ellen. Chilca Totora is a small rural community 30 minutes outside of Cuenca. Every Friday we flag down a taxi who does not know what he is getting himself into until he is driving us up the steep dirt roads in the middle of the campos (country side). We know we have arrived when we reach the house at the top of the hill with the words “Groupo de Mujeres” painted on the side.
It is a group of women and two men who produce food for their community. They make cheese, raise animals, grow medicinal plants, corn, and many other different vegetables. They grow everything all organic by making their own natural fertilizers. Our fist time we helped hoe the corn but did not come prepared with adequate rubber boots to withstand the down poor, so instead they taught us about medicinal plants. Our second time volunteering we planted over 40 trees.
The last time that we went we made cheese and fertilizer…don’t worry not at the same time.
The recipe for the fertilizer is: 3 buckets of fresh cow poop, whey (which is left over from making the cheese), ash, compost, molasses and water. We mixed it into a large tub and then you let it sit for 3 months until it is ready. It came together beautifully because each person brought their own ingredient from their house to add to the mix.
Later in the day we grated cheese in which they would sell at the market the following day. In being given this task I finally felt useful, I felt as though I could handle this task on my own. Many of the jobs that we have done we have struggled with but with a smile on their face they always come over and teach us and encourage us. One of the men taught us a song as Ellen, Mayana and I cranked away at the cheese. At the end of all our shredding it turns out the crank was not on the right setting so it all had to be done again. This just goes to show that we are not there to help but we are there to learn. They are incredibly patient with us.
Every time after we finish work for the day they make us an incredible meal and medicinal tea, which we all sit around the table and eat together. It is amazing to work along side them; I have learned so much from them so far. They call us compañeras, just as they call each other, which makes me feel connected. They are the strongest, hardest working women I’ve every seen and they do it with a smile on their face. The best part is that they are always working together on everything and are constantly laughing and joking, they posses so much joy and knowledge that they are gifting us.