Minga = communal work

1st June 2017

Basically, data doesn't really have a meaning. It's what you do throughout the day that makes it more or less adventurous, interesting, memorable, or boring. However, the 1st of June is special. I struggled a lot here. I underestimated the homesickness, the culture shock, the climate, the food, and the absence of my family, as well as Andi's absence. Therefore, this 1st of June symbolizes the beginning of the J-months. In school, it marks the start of the final phase, which can be stressful or calm, depending on the class. And whether there are schedule changes, new students coming, etc. Fortunately, I can say that I haven't felt any stress in this regard this year. Aline did it independently and I didn't hear anything, which I always interpret as a good sign. From now on, or rather since my birthday, there are fewer days left until the end of my Ecuador adventure than until the beginning. Then the Florida adventure with my family begins. I'm really looking forward to it and I hope we have no conflicting ideas about the program.

Anyway, back to today. Minga. That means communal work. The Tawasap community gathered at eight in the morning - I wasn't there that early yet - did roll call, and then worked until half past four. We placed planks for the stage, but most importantly, we put up the two roof racks. I won't go into detail about how and what happened. It's just once again the realization that the construction workers I know, like Tschara, bommli, bruno, and buschi, would have either run away quickly or taken over the organization. However, that wouldn't be well-received here. The work here is like that, and I can easily adapt. It's much more comfortable, you just don't always know what's coming next, otherwise you would do more. But I can live with that.
Look at the photos, they say more than words in this case. I hope the Wi-Fi capacity allows for a few pictures to be uploaded within a reasonable time.

Tomorrow there will be another minga. Roll call is at 7:30 am (I'm curious). The goal is to plant 1000 plants. Ideal weather would be rain. I wouldn't mind, I would ship myself here with the aim of getting dry by evening. However, my main task would be difficult to carry out then. To take photos and document. Firstly, for my report and secondly, I want to entice a reporting team to come here and make a report about this traditional and innovative community. There are many interesting aspects to discover and uncover, and I hope some documentary filmmaker recognizes the potential of this story.