La cominidad abandonada

An abandoned school. An abandoned church. An abandoned community. In only seven or eight years.

September 2005. A Canadian group came to a small community called Patujusal 2 in the jungles of Bolivia. The logging company had built a road a couple of months before by taking n earth mover and ploweing the trees out. No one lived in the community since there was no water. Instead, they ived with family or on a small lot in the nearest community, Patujual 1.

It was jungle. The men had cleared small plots of land for corn and rice. Everything was done manually. There were no vehicles other than bicycles. A micro bus came in to Patjusal 1 but it did not have a consistent schedule due road conditions. They had great plans for their community – a school, a church, a well developed community.

February 2012. The school in Patujusal is closed since they are not enough students. The few
families who were supporting the school have moved to either La Pista or Yapacani. There is only one couple and one family left in church community. The rest have moved to town for an easier life and for a better education for their children. They are closer to hospitals. They have electricity and water. There are less insects and less disease problems. They can watch television.

An abandoned community.

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With a bit of assistance through micro credit and couple of good seasons with their crops, many earned enough enable an easier life. The first purchase was a motorbike, which enabled the men to make the trip in a day instead of walking to the bus stop to leave at 5 in the morning, enduring a 4 hour bus ride, and then returning at 7 in the evening and walking home. The second purchase was a lot in town on which they could build a brick house. Since the farm was not considered a permanent residence, improvements were not made on the house there.

Farming also changed. Large tracts of land have been cleared with earth movers and the farmers hire contract operators that own a line of farming equipment to do all the work. The farmers come to the community about once a week, monitor the crop, arrange for the work to be done, nd return to town. Rarely does the family return to the farm, even during school vacations.

The people are able to live relatively comfortably in town with the money made on the farm. Some of the men will operate a moto taxi; some women will run a produce stand or start a small business selling bread, juices, or treats. As the family becomes more economically secure, this also is abandoned. They become ‘sunshine inspectors’.

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How does one ‘develop’ a community without people? In the Patujusal 2 community there are two permanent residents – and both of them are gringos. There are no more neighbours. It makes us wonder about the impact that we have had on the community and about our future.

One is never sure exactly how one impacts a community. Was our time here a benefit or a detriment – or maybe a bit of both? Did we really make any difference? Maybe we will never know. We do know that our being here changed the community. There are those that want us
to stay; there are those that want us to leave. Some think we have not given enough to the community; others think that we helped them. Much depends on expectations. We believe that the community and the church must be self-sustainable. Therefore, we have not given out ‘hands outs’ and we have not become part of the decision makers. This has been difficult in a culture where hand outs are expected and where it is also expected that we would make the
decisions in the church. If only we had known then what we know now!

So what are we going to do? This past year has been a time of change, of indecision. Should be go back home? Should we move to another country? Should we stay in Bolivia? Throughout this year it is clear that our work is finished where we are. Although I hate to admit it, the churches are probably weaker than when we came. Before they were doing things on their own, but now they want me to do lead and do the preaching. The school is gone, the people are gone –
there is not much left for us. We could be like the others and move to Yapacani but that does not fit in with our vision of taking care of the land as a gift from God. We either stay or farm or we move. That is the decision we are making. Please remember us in your prayers as we ponder this transition.

The Journey of the Chocolate Cake

Mom loved to bake. She loved cookbooks. About forty five years ago, she purchased a
dozen cookbooks, Family Favorites, to support the Hills Christian School in Hills, Minnesota from a friend, Mrs. Mina Sjaarda. Mom and I spent hours poring over the cookbook, experimenting and choosing favourites including Mrs. Sjaarda’s Chocolate Cake, found on page 91. This cake became a family favourite, gracing our table for all occasions.

A few years ago, my niece was married in Vancouver and the reception was held in the very
prestigious Waterfront Hotel. The Siebenga family was seated at one table and enjoyed a very up-scale meal. The dessert was served – not a creamy, over decorated confection, but instead, a
chocolate delicacy on a pristine white plate. We all looked at it, looked at each other, but said nothing. The master of ceremonies announces, “The dessert has been especially made by the chefs of the Waterfront from a recipe submitted by the bride. This delicious cake is a tradition of her family and was served by her grandmother every time they visited the farm. Enjoy.” Yes, it was Mrs. Sjaarda’s Chocolate Cake.

I now live in Bolivia, South America and live in a small Quechua community on the edge of the Amazon Rain Forest. We have propane stove so we have an oven in which I can bake so I introduced the North American type of cake to the community. They love cake, especially chocolate cake or banana cake. I need something that works well; that I know will work is there is a problem with the oven temperature. The dirtiest page of my cookbook is page 91, although I know the recipe by heart.

One day the ladies of the community asked me to teach them to bake cake. That sounds like an easy task except that they have no measuring spoons, no measuring cups, and no ‘normal’ oven. We use a traditional mud oven. First, we fill the oven with wood and heat it up until the inside of the oven turns red. Then we remove all the wood and let the oven cool off until the correct
temperature is reached. This is all done without an oven thermometer. You put your hand in the oven and guess! Counting to 7 works just about right.

Thankfully, the recipe doesn’t have to be exact so using their spoons works. There would be a little more of some ingredients and a little less of others, but I thought it would
all work out in the end. The local women were amazed at the ingredients needed for a cake. They thought they would use flour, sugar, eggs, and chocolate but did not understand using baking soda and baking powder. We worked together to bake the cake. It didn’t take as long to bake since the oven acted like a convection oven but it did not rise as well as one baked in a
‘normal’ oven. The taste – delicious! All the school children were thrilled to be our tasters.

I shared the recipe, along with Banana Cake and Lazy Daisy Cake, with ladies in the community but it was difficult for them to make them. Wedding presents and birthday gifts consisted of measuring cups, measuring spoons, baking pans and recipes.

The other day we attended a church anniversary in the city of Santa Cruz. Church anniversaries are large events and cake is very important. Tradition says that you purchase ones resembling wedding cakes; these can be very expensive. But an anniversary does not happen without cake. Often we discuss the amount of money spent by churches on something that doesn’t seem like a
necessity to us.

Pastor Juan and his wife, Rosie, are good friends and they invited us to the anniversary. We attended the service and enjoyed the delicious traditional chicken dinner consisting of lots of rice, a little salad, and a piece of chicken. We wondered if Juan and Rosie would purchase cakes. We didn’t think so. When the meal was over, they entered with the cakes. They looked very good but then you cannot tell since often the icing has melted in the heat. The announcement was made. These cakes were proudly made by Rosie and two other ladies of the church using the recipe of ‘Hermana Margarita’. They did an excellent job!

Chocolate cake – fromthe chefs of the Waterfront Hotel to the churches in the jungle of Bolivia. To some it may be Wacky Cake, Never Fail Chocolate Cake, Eggless Chocolate Cake – but to the Siebenga family it will always be Mrs. Sjaarda’s Chocolate Cake.