This week I had the chance to participate in my third Awá general assembly that took place in the community of Pailón in the province of Carchi. It is probably my most significant experience working for the Awá federation of Ecuador as I had tangible results to present and felt I had a meaningful impact without having to mobilize the microphone. There were between 250 and 300 participants including all the Awá leaders from the 22 centers of Ecuador as well as representatives from the three sister Awá organizations from Colombia. The Colombian organization CAMAWARI came along with 50 of its “guardia indigena” all carrying their symbolic wooden stick representing Awá resistance against all the violence they are dealing with on their side of the border. Many national and international organizations were also invited but many did not show up for security concerns. In fact as far as foreigners go we were only one italian, two french,  and one french – american (myself). I feel very fortunate that I was granted a permission to go to Pailón and contribute in the critical organizational process the Awá federation is going through. This border community is reached by hiking three hours from Chical along the San Juan river that seperates the two countries. It is a stunning part of the country and despite all the hype, extremely peaceful.

Everything went according to plan: two rented buses left from San Lorenzo and Lita and took us to Chical where we were we had a quick snack before starting our hike. I walked with a group from the community of Mataje and made it to Pailón in a little less than three hours. My back was killing me as I was overloaded with my tent, sleeping bag and other western comforts. Stuff I ended up not using at all since Silvio, the FCAE social development coordinator who is from there, invited a bunch of us to stay at his parents house. It was luxurious jungle hostel by all Awá means with abundant and immediate clean water to bathe, real beds with sheets and covers and delicious breakfast. I was amazed and never had such a comfortable stay in any Awá community I have visited. We naturally paid our host for the food but it was little compared to the great service they were proving all of us. I lent my tent and sleeping bag to friends of mine from Baboso who made good use of it squeezing three souls in there during the four nights of the assembly. I was glad that they carried it back for me making my hike back to Chical, where the rented buses were waiting for us, a piece of cake.

My only direct intervention was simply introducing myself to the assembly as a Peace Corps volunteer and briefly explaining what projects I have been working on with the FCAE and the DEIBNAE (the Awá education department). I had printed out a copy of the environmental education facilitator’s guide that both Olindo (president of the FCAE) and Pedro (director of the DEIBNAE) presented formally and submitted it for review to the assembly. It circulated around and I got some positive feedback from teachers, students and colleagues from the office. My most significant contribution however was much more subtle. Working with Manuel, teacher of Baboso, I had a chance to share several of concerns with the way things are run at the federation and he used many of my arguments to ask the tough questions to the Awá governmental counsel. The Awá leaders are mostly passive during the bi-yearly work and financial report and stay quiet after all the gargantuous numbers speed in front of their eyes apparently demonstrating transparency from all the money spent on the various projects in operation. The numbers were all rounded up and showed minimal details (a round number for all salaries and for each workshop). Considering that most of the Awá community leaders are illiterate it is quite simple to get by without any questions asked for the FCAE financial department. This time around was no different from the last three financial reports I’ve witnessed. Manuel asked how come these incredible amounts of money dazzling in front of their eyes materialize in such little tangible result. Olindo deviated the question by focusing his response on the health situation and throwing the blame on the health ministry.

As for the education report and the presentation on the new model of educational managment that the Ecuatorian government is pushing I helped as much as I can. Firstly by making the presentations as clear as possible with minimal words and mostly using pictures, table and charts. Unfortunately I think that Pedro who was actually giving the presentation didn’t have a full understaning of what he was trying to explain and most participants were quite confused. During lunch break we put together a new chart to help disipate the confusion and I think it was relatively effective and the proposal the FCAE and DEIBNAE presented was approved by the assembly. I am part of the team that will have to write it for its submission to the ministry of education. As far as any tangible results from the assembly goes there isn’t too much to say. The Awá “Plan de Vida” process was further encouraged, claims to improve the health service within the territory revendicated and the need to tackle the internal conflict with illegal mining activity once again addressed. In terms of leadership two members of the governmental counsel had been formally seperated as a disciplinary measure and two young women were selected to fill these empty seets of the board: a new vice president and organizational strengthening leader.

Overall I felt that my work was more recognized than any time beforeas it was directly or indirectly mentioned of several occasions. My most satsifying experience however was to discover a new Awá community, my tenth since I started working with the FCAE. Pailón is a beautiful community in the midst of a pristine cloud forest. I always get very emotional when I am in an Awá community, they are very special places and I feel blessed every time I walk further into their territory. I should be able to participate in one more assembly before the end of my service hopefully culminating in the presentation of my overall contribution to the Awá people of Ecuador no matter how small it may seem.