Hands in the soil, hearts in the community: a volunteer experience like no other

We typically help with preparing and planting gardens and have great cultural experiences in which we learn about the culture of Andean Mountain rural communities.

These last two weeks, two groups of volunteers have worked in the communities of Quichinche and Yambiro. We planted a garden in the school in the first community and helped with some of the gardens in Yambiro.

Schools in the rural areas in Otavalo (8,200 ft. altitude) have children that range from two years to 14. The children then go to high school in Otavalo. At times, children may walk an hour and a half to get to the bus and ride another hour to the high school.

The areas we prepare are challenging. They have a type of grass that is like Johnson grass on steroids. The rhizomes are vigorous and do a great job of holding the soil in the mountain areas. However, cleaning and planting areas is somewhat difficult.

The only tool that is used is a hoe. It’s used for everything – weeding, planting, removing the grass, etc. The ladies in the community are very adept at using this tool, and they work very hard.

The first thing we do is use the hoe to remove the grass and pull up as much as we can. We then go back over it again and pull more grass and rhizomes. Then we go over it again to fine-tune and pick out any remaining rhizomes and rake it smooth.

After that, Don Matias, the agriculture expert for Tandana, is always there to guide us on proper planting techniques. We aren’t here to teach them how to garden; they have been doing it for years. If they don’t plant, they don’t eat.

To plant a row of vegetables, they mound the soil about 10-12″ high in a row. They plant on the side away from the sun. This helps to keep plants from drying out.

They don’t have hoses and easy access to water. To water, we use a two-gallon plastic jug with holes in the bottom and go down the row.

If you are interested in learning more about the work of The Tandana Foundation, go to tandanafdn.org. If you are interested in joining the Ohio MGVs next January on a trip, email me and I will be happy to put you on the list. It’s truly lifechanging and learning about the culture gives you a lot to think about.