La Selva- Secoya Remolini comunity (by maya mahanaymi)

Day 1 (Thursday)- After 19 hours of bus trips, waiting and then even more bus trips I am tired, hungry and dirty… but the minute I see the river it all seems to be forgotten.

I have arrived to the Socoya Remolini community in the rain forest, next to the river – ‘Agua rico’ (rich water). It is just like in the stories- the community lives along the river, and their life surrounds around it. From the bus we go on a big canoe, which is used sort of like a local taxi. The canoe stops every ten minutes or so, each time on another side of the river, to download/ upload people from their houses. Each family has her own little island, surrounded by the jungle on one side and the river on the other. The family I’m staying at has it’s house about 45 min. canoe ride along the river.

The house is a big tree house. When we get inside I see the first floor is just a big room, which contains a little kitchen in one corner (two gas stoves on the floor and some plates on a metal draining board) a living room in the other corner (two hammocks) and one staircase in the middle, that leads to the second floor. The second floor is divided in to four rooms; none of them has a door. The family seems very nice. There are the two parents and four kids. The two younger kids (9 and 12) are very curious, and follow me wherever I go. I try to find a way to change in privacy, but I give up and decide to leave it till later. I’m hungry, and wonder what the food is like, I have been warned about it and told to bring my own food, but I decided to eat whatever they eat… hum, will be interesting. But the food is actually good, they have rice and chicken and some fried bananas, nothing to suspicious, this time…

After dinner I go with the father and the two younger kids to bath in the river. We take the canoe to the other side of the river, where there’s a nicer beach. We bath and play in the water, and in the background the sun is going down and there are pink and red colours in the sky… so beautiful!

Day 2 (Friday)- Today I go with the father to work in a place near by. We work in the jungle next to another family’s house. There is a little river there, and they build a small bridge in the place. At start I don’t really understand what they’re trying to do. So I take out my camera, and just watch them. They all work together and laugh… sometimes someone gets tired and sit down, and sometimes they work in full speed. The mother of one of the guys (the one that lives in the house near by) has a pan with some sort of soup, and she feeds them each 15 min. or so. I took a sip from the ‘soup’ but it was sour, and I politely turned it down… The jungle is beautiful. There are some sorts of branches hanging from the trees, and we hang on them and play Tarzan. In a short walk I took in the area and found a beautiful little waterfall. When I feel I filled the amount of pictures I could take in one day, I put the camera aside, and join the guys. I’m not really that much help, but I fill some bags with sand, and mostly provide the entertainment.

Day 3 (Saturday) - It’s Saturday morning and I’m going with the parents, the youngest girl and the dogs on a family tour in the forest near by. Only that this is the jungle, and they all have huge knifes (or swords) with them, and the father has also a gun on his shoulder…pastoral, no? Actually it is. We take the canoe and drive a while up the river. We park it somewhere and get of. The father is leading, and we all walk behind. We cross a small river along a felled tree, and I feel kind of silly when I slip and almost fall a couple of times, and the ninth years old girl behind me walk across it as though its safe ground. After half an hour or so of walking we get to the right spot, and stop. The parents cut down some trees and peel of their bark. Yurema (the girl) and I are mostly playing together and trying to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes (I find out pretty soon that it’s an impossible mission…). When they have enough bark we start walking back. All the trees around seems exactly the same to me, but somehow the father leads us back to the exact same point we came from with confident steps. On the way back the father hears a noise. I can’t define what it was or where it came from, but he puts a bullet in his gun, point and shoot. We hear something falling, and he says the name of the bird. The dogs run in the front, to keep the bird from getting away. When we get there it’s still alive. The mother takes it by the neck, and the little daughter offers to kill it with her knife. The mom says it’s not necessary and easily twists its neck around till it’s hanging loose and lifeless. Here we have our dinner, only that I’m not hungry any more…

Day 4 (Sunday) - Today we go to the centre of the community. It’s located a 15 minutes ride up the river, and it has the school, the religious centre, and an art workshop. First I go to the workshop. There are about 6 guys there working on wooden sculptures. I’ve always liked tree sculptures, and I’m fascinated. After a while I decide to take a tour around, and come back later, to see how they progressed. I go to the religion centre. I don’t know if it’s called a church, because they are ‘jehova’ witnesses. They sing and move to the music, and it’s very nice, but after 15 min I get the idea, and go on. Later that day, when the mass is over, I have an English lesson for those who are interested. It’s very fun, but also difficult, because I don’t know enough Spanish to explain myself.

Day 5 (Monday) - Gustavo (the father) went with his older daughter to another community near by, to buy gasoline. I stay at home with the mother and the other children. We spend the day mostly playing in the river or in the jungle, and also helping the mother sometimes with gardening or washing clothes. At noon the older boy (23 years) comes home with an animal I can’t define, and I know I’ll pass dinner today. Yurema (the youngest girl) starts happily scraping of its fur, and later the mom takes the skin and nails of, yum…

I teach the kids some English, and also some games like noughts and crosses, and we have a lot of fun. Gustavo comes home late and bring with him a dead armadillo. I just wish I could see all those animals alive in the jungle, and not dead on the kitchen floor.

Day 6 (Tuesday)- This is my last day here. We leave in the morning, and take the kids with us on the way to their school. We say good bye, but the custom here is different, and they don’t realy make a big deal out of it. They just waive, and then I’m on my own again…