We Are Legal!

After eight years - depending on who you talk to - the communities of Patujusal 2 and Taruma have the title to their land. When these communities are started the people 'squat' on the land since there is no means by which to get title. There is also the legal aspect that this probably is part of the national reserve but no one will say that it is illegal to take reserve land. As the communities are settled, the work on legal status is started. Do I understand it? No.

Last Wednesday we saw a parade of motos, bikes, and people on foot heading to Taruma. Quickly we learned that the titles were to arrive that day. A delegation from Santa Cruz was coming to present them. There was not a quorum for the meeting in Patujusal 2 to arrange for a meeting with the delegation so their title was delivered to the president. However, Taruma held a grand fiesta to which we were invited.

The title is a document that gives a certain number of hectares to the sindicato. It does not give each person a title to their own land. All our land is held communally and the members of the community have the right to decide what is happening on each other's land, including if the land can be sold. In some sindicatos there are laws saying that only a certain number of hectares can be cleared each year. Others, such as Patujusal 2, does not want any land sold to people who do not live in the community; that is, to people who live in Yapacani or Santa Cruz and will rent out their land.

Before the title was handed to the officials, the man from INRA (the government agency that regulates land titles) carefully explained what was on the document and explained that it is the wish of the government tha the people take care of the lands for their children and their granddchildren. That fits in with our vision for these communities.

Now that the community title is in our hands, the next step will be the divison of each sindicato into separate parcels and obtaining titles for each parcel. When -- and I am not holding my breath -- this happens, the families can obtain credit from the bank.

We are glad that we live in a legal community.

Our first Workshop

It has taken two and a half years but we are finally ready to host workshops for the members of the surrounding communities. Our first workshop was led by our friend, Dr. Bill Janecke. He is a veterinarian from Iowa who works out of Santa Cruz with World Concern. All of the people have some Creole chickens running around. These are a hardy variety that does not require the same care as the chickens produced for meat. They produce fine eggs and although the meat is very tough, it is also tastier than the mass produced birds. However, these birds are still susceptible to disease and need care in order to grow and reproduce successfully.

The morning was spent getting acquainted with the people and their communities. This is essential to facilitate successful workshops. Following lunch, Bill and another Bolivian vet gave a short course on chickens and then we all went to the neighbours to actually vaccinate.

People from seven communities attended this workshop and there was a strong indication that they want more information on animal production, fruit production, vegetable gardening, and beekeeping. Women want to learn how to knit, sew, and make clothes. Their husbands want them to learn how make cake!

Transportation Bolivian Style

One of our aims is that the people of the community make enough money from their crops to provide the necessary things for their families. This is the reason that we started the microcredit project. One way we have determined the success of this project is seeing the changes and one of the most noticeable advances is the 125 cc.motorcycle, the main transportation for the people in the chaco. This moto provides a means for the men to get back and forth to their farms in a timely manner. They can also take also their families, their seed, their seeder, their food and anything else that they need for their stay.

When we moved here two and a half years ago there was only a couple of men who had motos in our community. Now everyone but two own their own transportation and traffic has increased down the road. We do not need to transport people to the doctor, except in the case of pregnant ladies ready to have their baby. Men make a trip to Yapacani in a little over than an hour and a half, rather than spending 8 hours for a return trip on the micro. Men who didn't drive a moto six months ago are now cruising past with their whole family accompanying them.

A Changing Landscape

When we decided to move to Bolivia we thought that we were moving to the jungle and that things would remain relatively primitive. But you cannot stop progress.

Four years ago each farmer was cultivating 2-4 hectares of land by hand. This is called ‘chaqueado’ farming. We were told that mechanized farming was not allowed in this area but this is Bolivia and the ‘guidelines’ are just that. Each year our neighbours have cleared more land, first by hand and recently renting a caterpillar to do the work for them.

So we joined them, reluctantly. We don’t like the impact of the machinery on the soil but we would not be able to do any experimentation unless we cleared some of our own land and started growing rice.

But we still could not be ‘normal’. Instead of simply brushing all the trees into a long row or ‘cordon’ and then burning them, we buried the trees and covered them with soil. Hopefully, this will provide nutrition as they decompose. We are not sure how the removal of that much top soil will affect the rice production but we will see.

Now instead of looking out at all the native bush I look out over our land, and the neighbour’s land, and the next neighbour’s land and so on. We plan to plant trees along the property line and also on top of one of the cordons. Yes, it looks naked right now but just wait a year!