He has gone birding on his property with us and has told his friends of his positive experience. As a full participant in Proyecto Guigna, we intend to give him his first pair of binoculars upon my return Dec. 22. He also granted us full use of his 450 acres. Not a single landowner has denied us permission to access their land. The average person in this area of Chiloe' has 400 acres of land and earns a living from it.
People have neither electricity nor running water.
However, they have pride in their land and in their ability to make ends meet. They are friendly and kind and are easy to work with. Land is not expensive but rather essential for earning a living and their standard of living is directly proportional to their land holdings. More land can support more dairy cows and potato fields, and timber for fire wood. Several landowners are wealthy absentee landholders that maintain a staff of workers.