﻿ Women's Opinions Didn't Count – Planting Trees in Bolivia - Notes on Slow TravelNotes on Slow Travel Women's Opinions Didn't Count – Planting Trees in Bolivia - Notes on Slow Travel
Planting trees? You dig a hole, put in the tree, close the hole and water the tree, right? Or is it not that simple?
The community of Kolga Koya lies at 3800 meters, in an undulating landscape where the one constant is a merciless wind. It’s chilly and we put on another sweater as we are waiting for the women farmers and Abdón, a fieldworker of the Bolivian NGO INCCA, which is one of the NGOs supported and partly financed by Bevrijde Wereld.
The meeting was supposed to start at ten but in Bolivia time has a different meaning from the one we grew up with. Not only that, this meeting is for women and they simply can’t leave the house before they have finished their chores and taken care of their kids. Subsequently, they often have to walk long distances so it isn’t until eleven that our meeting starts.
In Bolivia’s rural areas people hardly ever starve. There are enough potatoes and corn for everybody (unless there is a severe drought or too much rain). However, their diet knows little variation, which often leads to malnutrition. Not only does this shorten people’s lives, but undernourished kids have concentration problems in school.
INCCA helps rural communities to set up vegetable gardens with a variety of vegetables. Apart from tomatoes and onions, they ever eat any other vegetables. Planting fruit trees should help improve their diet as well.
Abdón puts a large drawing on the wall to explain the project. Because of the fierce wind the people need to protect their vegetable garden with a wall or fence, which is also needed for these trees. Besides the wind the wall will keep out hungry sheep. The holes need to be of a certain depth and those who have made these preparations (which were instructions given during a prior meeting) will today receive their trees.
Abdón’s plans need some adaptations. The women are incredibly insecure about how to go about planting these trees and Abdón is busy answering their questions until three o’clock. Together they make a schedule whereby Abdón will visit each household to plant one tree as an example. He has three hours of daylight left to visit thirteen houses that lie scattered in the surrounding countryside.
Local tradition: where there is a meeting or get-together everybody brings a dish for lunch which is shared with the group (©Coen Wubbels)
The women organization of Kolga Koya hasn’t existed for very long and the women aren’t used yet to getting these kinds of responsibility. “The men did these kind of things and they didn’t listen to women,” Abdón tells me later. “This means that many of the women don’t dare to dig those holes and want me to come and check if they chose the right spot.”
One of the families we visit is Doña Elsa’s. They already built a fence and on our arrival the men are ready to dig the holes. Initially it’s nice to see how the men like to contribute, but then I notice how little by little they are taking over. Women are slowly moving to the back, busy mixing the (natural) fertilizer and removing rocks while Abdón is instructing the men on how to plant those trees.
It will take time for confidence to grow before women in similar situations will stand up and demand they are the ones to be instructed. Planting trees may not be so difficult, but the process of communication and dealing with sensitivities and hierarchies in communities is what often makes work of NGOs so complicated and/or time-consuming.
Fortunately, INCCA has two women in her organization and on various occasions they visit these communities as well and focus on such aspects as confidence and responsibility (among other things). “Much has changed during these past couple of years, but more remains to be done,” one these women informs me.
This entry was posted in Bolivia, Food, Meetings, Projects & Organizations by Karin-Marijke Vis. Bookmark the permalink.
These are just as the blog post says.. FALL OFF THE BONE DELICIOUS!! They are so tender, and moist and good!!
The recipe has a short and a long time for the crock pot. We used the short time (on high setting) and it was great!!
We also upped the garlic to double what it calls for. Because that is how much we LOVE garlic in our family!!
This is actually great for appetizers at a party. It makes so much sauce. But we just made 30 wings and the extra sauce we poured over some egg noodles to make it a great meal!
My kids forgot how good these are. And on a night like tonight, when we are extremely busy with the hustle and bustle of the Holiday season. This was easy for us to make and walk away from.
Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Cut off and discard wing tips. Cut each wing joint to make two sections. Sprinkle wings with salt and pepper. Place wings on broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat 20 minutes, 10 mintues a side or until chicken is brown. Transfer chicken to Crock-Pot.
For Sauce, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil and garlic in crock pot. Drop in chicken and mix till chicken is covered.