Day 6: Rain, Brain and Terrain Games

Sunday, January 9, 2011 

Only when the last tree has been cut down,

Only when the last river has been poisoned,

Only when the last fish has been caught,

Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.

— Cree Indian Prophecy

By: Lillian Ma

Sunday - a day of rest, or as much rest as you can get on Alternative Breaks in Ecuador.  We began this rainy Sunday with breakfast at 7:15 am.  Our tentative plans for the morning was (our favorite!) to go tubing down the river again.  Unfortunately, the rain continued to downpour with no sign of stopping for the entire morning.  Thus, we spent the morning chilling at Casa Quest.  The leisurely morning was much needed as we spent it recharging, amidst animated conversations of prom dates and suspicious murders in our hometowns (cough Jamie cough) and exciting card games.

One of the buildings at the Yachana Lodge after the morning rain.

The group congregated again at 11 to watch a documentary that Kate had suggested we watch.  The documentary, Crude, is about the class action suit brought against Texaco-Chevron by the indigenous population of the Amazon.  The powerful movie details the struggle of the Ecuadorians against the oil companies, by showing the trial (the arguments of both sides) and through the stories of indigenous people that were directly affected by the contamination of the oil wells.  The movie was incredibly heart-wrenching as it illustrates the contamination of the rainforest, as well as the effects of this destruction on the indigenous populations seen through the deaths of many in their families and various communities and through the loss of the indigenous culture and ancestral land.

The group watching the movie Crude.

After a delicious lunch of rice and beef (and yummy yummy cabbage) we set off to finally meet the students of the Yachana High School.  They had all just returned from Christmas break and today was our first time interacting with them.  Our plans for the afternoon involved helping the students weed the soccer field.  Weeding the soccer field meant hacking at the weeds with machetes, an act that surprisingly required incredible skill.  Despite the effortlessness of the students and Robert while weeding, the group could not imitate their technique.  Regardless, the most important part of the afternoon was the time we spent bonding with students as we opted to spend our time talking to the students (rather than embarrassing ourselves by attempting to hack at the weeds).  The afternoon ended with a muddy game of soccer on the newly weeded field.

Students from Yachana High School.

Nick cutting the grass with the Machete.

Aashish, Lillian, Caitlin, Rithu, Regina, Jaime, and Damaris with the students.

Regina, Rithu, and Jaime with the girls taking a break from cutting the grass.

Aashish moving the ball...

Damaris and Aashish celebrating a score in the soccer game.

The soccer balls were gifts from NYU to the Yachana students.

The teams after the soccer game!

The group returned to Casa Quest sweatier and muddier than ever for a moment of rest before heading off to the eagerly anticipated dinner.  After dinner, we all joined for our nightly reflection.  Our activity for reflection was a discussion about Crude--our reactions to the movie and our opinions regarding the Texaco-Chevron and Ecuadorian conflict.  Despite the fact that the reflection was pensive, the energy of the group remained positive and we ended our discussion with thoughts about what we, as individuals, can do to promote a greener future.