Where I've been - #3
Mar 27, 2024 11:58:43 #
In this post, I'm going to concentrate on the people who live in the region around Riobamba. This was a stronghold of Atahualpa, the great leader of the Incas. The Spaniards didn't kill them all, they just conquered and subjugated them. Hundreds of years later, they're still here. Only they're called Quichua (in other countries the term is Quechua, but in Ecuador, it's Quichua). The language they speak is very guttural and reminds me a bit of Navajo. It's a difficult language to learn.
The Quichua are a very traditional people who wear traditional clothing and cling to the time-honored ways of doing things. A majority of them work at farming the steep slopes of the Andes Mountains. The work is usually done by hand, although tractors are making their way into the region. The deep volcanic topsoil is black and rich and crops grow easily with the frequent rains. But the work is back-breaking. They frequently live in villages and walk out to their small farming plots each day.
They keep animals - sheep, cows, pigs, etc. Each day the animals are herded out to graze tethered and brought back in the evening. One of the enjoyable and photographic periods of the day is catching the animals walking through the streets with no apparent human to guide them. They know where to go!
One of the sad things about the region is that there are few young people. Schools are totally closed and going to ruin because there are no children. One of my favorite towns is San Bartolo Alto. When I first visited there decades ago, there were lots of young children, and we worked in the school. Now the school is locked up. Young people moved to the city in search of better work, leaving the elderly to work the farms. Since the pandemic, when most of the businesses closed, the young people cannot find work in the city and are slowly drifting back to the villages. But it is very slow, and having been away for so long, they do not remember all the things one must know to farm successfully.
The Quichua are a very traditional people who wear traditional clothing and cling to the time-honored ways of doing things. A majority of them work at farming the steep slopes of the Andes Mountains. The work is usually done by hand, although tractors are making their way into the region. The deep volcanic topsoil is black and rich and crops grow easily with the frequent rains. But the work is back-breaking. They frequently live in villages and walk out to their small farming plots each day.
They keep animals - sheep, cows, pigs, etc. Each day the animals are herded out to graze tethered and brought back in the evening. One of the enjoyable and photographic periods of the day is catching the animals walking through the streets with no apparent human to guide them. They know where to go!
One of the sad things about the region is that there are few young people. Schools are totally closed and going to ruin because there are no children. One of my favorite towns is San Bartolo Alto. When I first visited there decades ago, there were lots of young children, and we worked in the school. Now the school is locked up. Young people moved to the city in search of better work, leaving the elderly to work the farms. Since the pandemic, when most of the businesses closed, the young people cannot find work in the city and are slowly drifting back to the villages. But it is very slow, and having been away for so long, they do not remember all the things one must know to farm successfully.
On the day our clinic comes, people come out from the city to their home town to be treated. So we do see a few young people.
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By the time we arrive, they have done their morning chores and are lined up waiting to be seen.
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Dogs are everywhere. They wander through our clinic all the time. Sometimes I think we should register and treat them. This one is beautiful, very healthy, and very kind.
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This lady is about 70, looks 100. She cannot walk except with cane and personal assistance. She came two miles to be treated in our clinic.
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One of their crops.
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This lady has been deaf and dumb all her life. She wears typical clothing. The hat varies from village to village. The shawl is simply a piece of wool cloth, fastened by a decorative pin (sometimes several). The skirt is also a length of cloth.
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Children will always find a toy where there are none!
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Mar 27, 2024 12:21:29 #
Mar 27, 2024 13:02:47 #
Very interesting! Are you going again in the future? I'll send you a few pull toys with noise makers to take back with you. Those should be a big hit!!
Mar 27, 2024 13:06:38 #
Mar 27, 2024 15:02:51 #
AzPicLady wrote:
In this post, I'm going to concentrate on the peop... (show quote)
Fine set !!! Kathy
Mar 27, 2024 18:08:37 #
Mar 27, 2024 18:29:57 #
Mar 27, 2024 18:30:23 #
Retired CPO wrote:
Very interesting! Are you going again in the future? I'll send you a few pull toys with noise makers to take back with you. Those should be a big hit!!
Pull toys - even homemade ones - are always a hit!
Mar 27, 2024 18:30:38 #
UTMike wrote:
An interesting insight to the wonderful work that you do, Kathy.
Thanks, Mike.
Mar 27, 2024 18:30:53 #
Mar 27, 2024 18:31:11 #
Mar 27, 2024 19:34:53 #
Mar 27, 2024 19:37:35 #
AzPicLady wrote:
Pull toys - even homemade ones - are always a hit!
I've been known to make homemade pull toys, with and without sound makers!
Let me know!
Mar 27, 2024 19:45:08 #
A very fine and informative set Kathy and at the same time very heart breaking.
Don
Don
Mar 27, 2024 21:22:51 #
srfmhg wrote:
Great set Kathy and very interesting as well!
Thank you, Mark.
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