Is the honeymoon over?

We have now been here for four years and the honeymoon is over. We are realizing the differences in expectations between ourselves and some of the members of the community. It seems like some of them accepted us into the community so that they could benefit from the ‘freebies’ that the gringos would bring. Now that they are realizing that there are no freebies, they do not see any advantage to having us in the community.
This all started in May when the men of the community asked Jake about buying a combine. Jake arranged a day to meet to discuss the combine but no one came. Now, this was not unusual for Bolivia – rice harvesting was over so why think about a combine in May when you didn’t need it until October? There were some men who showed some interest in purchasing a combine. However, they wanted 90-100% financing and we cannot afford to do that. We also do not think that it is wise for one of them to be so far in debt.
Instead we decided to enter this as a business and to look for someone with whom to partner, someone with a good business sense, someone who was honest, and someone who would work in our area. The man we are working with is from Santa Cruz and seems to have a good head and a good heart. He bought the cat a couple of years ago and had it paid off in a year and a half. He has a chaco in one of the neighbouring communities as well as a house in Santa Cruz.
So in September, when the men asked Jake what was happening, he said that he was working on something but would not tell them all the details. Some of the men of the community became very angry and the ‘carpet bagging’ started. There were two vocal men who stated they were talking for the rest. If they were we do not know but no one asked them to be quiet. The long and the short of it is that some do not feel that they are receiving any benefits that they feel deserve and that other are getting more than others. They feel that only the Diaz family is benefitting from the tractor. Somehow they forget that two years ago they were walking or biking 18 kilometres to see if there might be a tractor or a combine available – and often there wasn’t. Now they just go 6 kms. and arrange the tractor work with Teodoro. But it is not money in their pocket so they don’t see any benefit. The health program, the transportation to and from the doctor—all the little things – those “were just little things and didn’t count”. They also thought that Jake should come to them for approval on anything that he wanted to do with anyone in the community and that no one should get more than the other –unless, of course, that someone happened to be them. They also did not want Jake to help other communities.
Thankfully, there are some wonderful people from the community who showed their support for us. We decided to purchased the combine as an investment and still want it to be available to the people in this zone. The rest of the time it can work in other areas. We should be able to keep it working 10 months of the year. There are lots of people in the neighbouring communities who are thrilled that there will be a combine in the area and we feel we made the right decision. At the last meeting there was an overwhelming show of support. Sometimes it takes a crisis to bring everything together and into perspective. We are so thankful for wonderful friends in the community who have stood by and supported us. They truly are a gift of God.
Things in agriculture have changed since we arrived. The first year was a disaster with low rice prices, the flooding and the difficulties it presented. Most of the people had small plots, the largest being 10 hectares but most being 3-5 hectares so the combine operators didn’t really want to come that far for so little work.
The next year, there was no flooding because the river changed, the weather was good, the production was up, and the price rose substantially. A lot of money was made and consequently, many of the farmers cleared more land to plant more rice to make more money. The majority of the neighbours acquired motorcycles and life looked good.
But last year brought drought conditions and production was way down. Because there was no rain, the weeds grew well. When the rice was ready, there were no combines availableso the rice became too dry. Add to that, the price fell and many were not able to sell their rice. Now is the time to plant another crop and many still have not sold their crops from last year. In other areas, because it has been a wet winter, the road is still too wet to take out the rice.
Then there is another side. With the increase of land in production, many of the farmers borrowed money from a government program called MAPA. Some also borrowed money from banks. And they borrowed some from Jake. When all was said and done, some were not able to pay all their loans. Nor did they pay the operators for combining or the cat operator for clearing the land. In the community of Tarumá, many took out loans to clear more land. Now they are caught. It is time to plant rice and there is no money. When we started the credit program we explained that credit could be your best friend or your worst enemy. For those who did not manage their money well, it has become their enemy. What will happen, we do not know. Maybe much of the land that was cleared will not be planted. There will be growing pains as the people learn how to live in a different economy.

Bridges and Roads

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We have lived in this community for 3 and a half years and have seen the condition of the road ebb and flow with the seasons. This spring , it is at its worst.

Year #1 was a series of community blockades that restricted our movement and led to many frustrating times trying to obtain permission to come and go through the neighbouring community. Thanks to their diligent blockading, the road in our community stayed in relatively good shape.

Year #2 brought increased traffic since many of the local farmers increased their rice production, the farming was more mechanized, and more people were working land further into the jungle. That meant more road traffic and our poor roads were eaten away by the heavy rice trucks. Also, the logging company moved on and the little maintenance that was done ceased.

Year #3 – a new gravel (rock) road to within three kilometres of the gate. But more problems with those three kilometres. No one was maintaining the road. People were moving the rice while the roads were wet. The dry season was wetter than normal so the road never dried out. The result was a very rough path, full of pot holes.

Of course, there is always talk of fixing the road and of installing bridges. This spring it happened. One new bridge and four culverts have been installed in the three kilometres leading to the main road. After a couple of weeks the road grader arrived and started to raise the road. As is normal, it has now broken down and is in for repairs. The local government says that it doesn’t have the money for the repairs so one of the farmers from Taruma has lent them 4000 bolivianos so that the grader can be fixed. He and his family own three chacos and have soy ready to be harvested so he sees the need for a better road.

It would cost about $1000US to put gravel on the road in Patujusal 2. Each land owner would pay about $70.00 -- about what one would receive for 2 fanagas (360 kilos) of rice. Most farmers have over 5 hectares of land mechanized and should get between 18 and 25 fanagas per hectare for a total of 90 to 245 fanagas. It would take only 2 fanagas to gravel the road but the majority decided that they would rather not gravel the road but instead, wait for a year or so to see if the local government – or someone else – will do it for them. You can imagine what the road will look like next year!

We hear that they will asphalt the first 45 kilometers in 2010. Should we count on it?