Steven Herbert's February 2007 Update

From: "Steven Herbert" <waterdowser@hotmail.com>
Subject: SteveHerbert LA07 Update #1: Ecuador
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 19:06:29 +0000

Dear Family, Friends and Dowsers everywhere,

As many of you are aware, I planned another ambitious schedule of water resources development promotional projects for this winter, on my eighth trip to Latin America. For the second time, I had to raise all the funding for this myself and thanks to all of you that made this possible; individuals among family and friends, various church and civic groups, Danville & Chittenden County dowsers chapters, and donors to a WFH restricted fund for such purposes.

I left NH and VT between snow and ice storms, but had dowsed the date to fly as Monday, January 15th, and it worked out just right in many ways. I arrived safe and sound in Quito, Ecuador, in South America, but minus one bag which had been held up by inspectors in Miami. I also came down with a bad cold and cough from all the stress of trip preparation and lack of sleep. My friend, Pete Shear, who I became acquainted with when he was director of the Latin America program at Burlington College, met me at the airport. Pete now lives in Cotacachi, just north of Quito and the equator (Quito is a tad south of the equator), in the highlands. He offers his services as a guide (www.chasquitreks.org) and directs a non-profit organization called CASA (Inter-American Center for the Arts, Sustainability and Action (www.casainteram.org). Among his network he had some groups interested in my workshops and he asked me to include him on my itinerary.

Since it was nearly midnight when we met, Pete and I stayed in a hotel and bussed to Cotacachi the next day. Pete had this special tea made of many rainforest herbs, and with that and plenty of Vitamin C and Echinacea I began to recover from the cold fairly quickly. The first day we took it easy though, walking around the town and learning a bit of history about the region. Meetings to set up the workshops to be given Friday to Sunday were planned for the afternoon, but in the morning we taxied up to the nearby park and nature reserve, Reserva Ecologica Cotacachi-Cayapas, to take a short hike along a crater rim. Lago Cuicocha fills the inside of the crater, and the lake level itself is at an elevation of 3,064m (10,052 feet), so we were hiking even higher than that! A boat ride on the lake and lunch of trout covered with garlic sauce was a nice diversion before heading to our meetings. I have heard two interpretations of the name "Cuicocha". One says it means "the lake of the guinea pig" (a part of the diet around here), while another says "place where the rainbow begins". I think I prefer the later. After the meetings I worked on making copies of handouts for the workshops, then the next day braved the public transportation system in this new country for me to return to Quito to retrieve my missing bag.

For the next three days, Pete and I would visit a different village each day, where I would present the gamut of water resources development topics (including dowsing) with Pete being fluent in Spanish interpreting. The first village was Morlan at an elevation of 2,600 m (8,530 feet) which is nearly identical with Quito, the second highest capital city in the world (the first is La Paz in Bolivia, which I visited in 1988). On the way we passed many many greenhouses of roses, an industry which has wreaked environmental havoc on the area. At each village, we had to constantly "read the crowd" and adjust our presentation accordingly. This village had the highest attendance, and being a Friday when most of the men were working, was mostly women who came dressed in their best, which included the traditional bowlers hats and heaps of gold-colored necklaces representing their wealth. On the way to the community center, we saw channels of water coursing down the side of the cobbled street, with periodic gates for directing in different directions. This became a clue to us that locating water by dowsing wasn't going to be a high priority interest for them, as it is typical in these highland areas that water flows fairly abundantly from the mountains. We abbreviated the dowsing section to fit in how dowsing can be used for other applications such as agriculture.

After a large meal I felt more like a nap but we did continue with the presentation when I brought out my scale model of a composting latrine. This turned out to be the thing they were interested in the most, so I gave it more focus. Finally I wrapped up by talking about various types of water filters.

The village of Peribuela: environmental, ecotourism, dowsing

On Saturday we went to the village of Peribuela where there is an environmental and ecotourism organization. This day would have an entirely different character. This time the group was smaller and all men. These men all seemed to have some connection or position with the local organization. The reason there were not more people on this day was because today there was a "minga" going on. This is something similar to a Vermont "barn-raising", where the whole community joins in a work day for the benefit of one family. After our cook served us fried dough and coffee, we decided to take a different approach to presenting the course by using the example of an actual need for dowsing where they were planning to build ecotourism cabins. We then hiked up even higher than the 2,440m (8,000 feet) altitude of the town, and I explained about dowsing as I located their best well site. Then I let them experience a dowsing reaction, and described the dowsers concept of "live water". I had carried my collapsible composting latrine model in its box with me and put it together right there in the middle of the field. They showed interest in that as well, and I talked about manual pumping technologies relevant to their well site before we descended to the town. I was not too happy to see that their "reforestation project" was  a monocrop of Eucalyptus, but obliged them when they asked me to check out a couple of sites on the way down.

I was very interested to find that one of the men had been exposed to dowsing before. When we asked how this happened, he said that some years ago a man came from Spain to conduct bee-keeping workshops in the area. He introduced the people to dowsing and showed them how to find the areas with the best energies to put their hives.

Dona Maria served us  bowl of corn and another of chicken soup. This time I was wise to save a little room for the third course; a  plate containing pork, rice and fried banana. In the afternoon I covered pendulum dowsing and discussed water filters before we had to catch our ride back down the mountain. In the evening Pete and I were invited to the home of an Italian couple who served us authentic Italian pizza, which is much thinner and crispier than what we know.

Our final workshop the next day was given in the town of Morochos at a similar elevation as Morlan. Again I marveled at the cultural diversity within even a small area. This time there were a majority of men, most of whom wore their hair in a thick long black braid down their back with a bowlers hat on top. As is usual it took awhile to get things rolling, but their interest was evident once it did. Today Pete and I planned a different tact and presented on the composting latrine first which got them excited enough to talk about  a possible project starting with the local school. I covered water filtration, hoping to end this early on a Sunday, then moved outside to have an open-ended presentation on dowsing. I introduced and demonstrated tools, then showed them the process by locating a vein and a potential well site on the soccer court. Finally I let all that volunteered experience  a dowsing reaction before people headed to their homes for lunch. We accepted the invitation of one of the men to his home for lunch, starting with potato soup, then a plate of chicken, rice and vegetables.

Bus to Quito, Town of JipiJapa

Now my time in Cotacachi and the highlands had come to a close and I was off on the next leg of the journey with the 5AM bus to Quito. A taxi then delivered me to the Ecuador headquarters of Heifer Project International, where I had a meeting and field visits arranged. My contact, Sandra Chancay greeted me and soon Miguel Castanel arrived, who would be my interpreter and guide. The way this all came about was as a result of Miguel meeting and becoming friends with Jerry Burt, former WFH Committee member, who put Miguel in contact with me. I then sat down with staff to discuss what we each had to offer and how we might collaborate. They were very much interested in the variety of water resources topics which were my focus, and asked that I return in a week to give a more detailed presentation. Today, though, I would be accompanying Sandra and Miguel to the province of Manabi in the coastal area where there was particular need for what I had to offer. The name "Manabi" in fact means "without water". Here they have only a very short three-month rainy season, and do not have much water from the mountains as rain in the Andes tends to drain east.

We stopped at a restaurant before leaving town for a traditional Ecuadorian meal that began with a bowl of yucca soup. The area of Quito itself is dry as it exists in a rain shadow, so as we progressed further west, things became greener and more forested. It also became more cloudy as we descended into the rainforest. I mentioned the fog-harvesting project I had seen last year in Guatemala, and Sandra said she has supervised a project experimenting with this here on the side of a volcano. It was not fully successful, but they want to try this again in another location. The road was full of switchbacks and because of the fog, I could not see just how precipitous the drop offs were.

It was nearly dark when we reached the provincial capital of Portoviejo, but we still took time to detour to the site where a well had been drilled by the government. There was bout 25 meters of water in a 70 meter well, but it was mildly salty, as I expected it might be this close to the coast. The government had set aside funds to drill about 80 wells in the area. Four or five had actually been drilled before the project came to the stop. Interestingly, on paper it shows that all wells had been drilled. This is the kind of corruption that so frustrates the rural people and the poor who are perpetually in such a state of need. However, we were shown another interesting feature, a large pool-sized pit in the ground made by the ancestral people of the area. Called an "albarrada", it was lined with the natural clay of the area to hold the rainfall, such that the rains of the rainy season would give them water through the dry season. Sadly, this one was dry as the rainy season is beginning here, due to changes in climate, deforestation and other factors.

In the lobby of the hotel the next morning, I saw something that could be a boon to the people here. It was a stone bowl set up on wooden framework with a clay vessel below. This was an artifact of ancestral cultures, a stone water filter carved from a kind of pumice stone. We became excited talking about the possibility of reviving this ancient technology and at the same time creating an industry and improving health.

We were heading to the town of Jipijapa to start our day with  a meeting, but on the way, Sandra and Miguel stopped in the little town of La Pila where they insisted I needed to buy an authentic Panama hat, as this is where they originated. I did and sported it the rest of the trip. The meeting was with a local nonprofit organization called Union Provincial de Organizations Campesinos de Manabi - UPOCAM (Provincial Union of Farmers Organizations of Manabi). It began by their introducing their organization to me and I Water for Humanity to them. Alejo Baque, the president of UPOCAM, told of the over-exploitation of drilled wells that lowered the water table, the reforestation projects done with Eucalyptus and Teak which were counter-productive, and other water resources problems they face. However, I found out they do have access to portable drilling equipment and hand augering technology, and they can seek some solutions through reviving the ancient technologies of the albarradas, and that of the tapas, a similar kind of pit, but made to capture floodwaters at one end. There happens to also be  a radio station associated with this organization and there was talk of putting out a call for knowledge of the ancient technique of the stone filters with the idea of reviving it. Of course, I spoke of dowsing and the various ways of developing water resources, as well as protecting and conserving them with composting latrines and making the water safer with filters. They were all very receptive to all of this, and eager to now go out and make some field visits.

On the way to our first site we passed a place where a tanker truck was filling from a hose that comes from a dam. And as far as we could see there were tanker trucks waiting in line. The people of Jipijapa have to pay exorbitant prices for this water to be trucked to them, only because the government has not bothered to complete the last two and a half kilometers of pipeline to the village. Now the tanker drivers, who are the small minority of the population who are making out good with this arrangement resist any change.

At our destination, we saw a modern albarrado (about twenty years old) which is still functioning, still containing water from the previous rainy season. Of course, this ancient solution that works for today still makes water filtration even more important as a companion technology, as drinking from open water sources does have risks. Nearby in the same village of Naranjilla, we stopped at the home and herbal gardens of a wonderful couple totally dedicated to sustainability and organic methods. They had a spot in their yard where they had always intuitively felt the presence of water. So it was fortuitous for them for me to appear and dowse while using the opportunity to demonstrate dowsing to the group. There was indeed a potential well site there. In appreciation, they pulled down some seed pods off the trees, cracked them open and allowed us all to eat of the soft white "cotton candy"-like material that surrounds the seeds and what the people liken to ice cream.

Back to UPOCAM, cerviche, well dowsing

Now the group returned to the UPOCAM headquarters for lunch, which began typically with soup, served with rice and a bowl of banana chips. The main course was cerviche, which is a popular dish in Ecuador. Following lunch I was given a tour of the facilities while Sandra was doing a taping for the radio. Beginning out back on the main floor we saw classrooms for adult education. In the front was a store that generated profits for the organization and a medical clinic The second floor held UPOCAM offices, kitchen and internet cafe. The radio station was on the top floor. Also on the second floor was an office for the literacy program. There I met a towering and very intimidating-looking Cuban man who was part of the remarkable Cuban program that is able make people literate in only one months time, and has had great success in Ecuador, at least tripling the previous literacy rate of about 25 percent. This man was a lot warmer than he looked, however, and through Miguel, we told of each others work. I had met a Cuban doctor on the Mesquito Coast of Honduras last year and so have seen the great humanitarian work that Cuba has been doing throughout Latin America. I told him this and that I had much respect for what people like he were doing. Likewise, he said how important water resources were and often the first problem to overcome in development. We both commented that despite political differences, we had much common ground in our work, parting with very warm handshakes.

In the afternoon, we made a visit to the village of Santa Rosa, and Sandra let me drive there. Here we found another and much larger modern (also about 20 years old) albarrada. The geology was more limestone, and with not as much of the natural clay it does not hold water quite as well. It had also been designed partially as a tapas, that is, with one end was higher which during the seasonal floods water would be channeled into it and captured. It was totally dry now, and the reason was that subsequent to the building of the albarrada, a road was put through beside it, which cut off the flood waters which would have normally been channeled into it. The government had not thought of this in their planning, and therefore had not budgeted a culvert under the road. Thus they continued the construction, ignoring this consequence to the people. We discussed the various solutions to the problem with the village people that gathered. We ruled out dug or drilled wells or roof rainwater catchment in favor of the most productive and cost-effective solution, which was installing a culvert under the road. They assured us if we provided the cement tiles (metal culvert would be immediately stolen they said) they would hold a minga and do all the labor themselves. Driving back to Portoviejo, we got a quote on the cost of enough tiles to do the job, a mere $550. A church group from Amherst, NH, had given me some funds to carry in the event I needed it to address immediate and pressing needs, and here was a situation in just such an urgent need. With the rainy season already just begun, if they got the culvert in right away, they could capture this years rains and fill the albarrada to provide their needs through the next year. I provided $400 and Heifer would supplement whatever monetary contribution the village itself was able to raise to complete the balance.

On the way out of town the next day, I dowsed well sites in the fields of Alberto Zambrano, one of the UPOCAM people, before we climbed back up the western side of the Andes and back through the cloudforests. The time with Sandra and Miguel in Manabi went so well and I especially felt a special bond of friendship form with Miguel, my guide and interpreter. They were kind enough to detour out of their way home to Quito to drop me off at the planned rendezvous point to meet Vicente Luna in Don Pedro Vicente Maldonado, just northwest of Quito. Eduardo Luna and his three brothers (Vicente, Napo and Ecuador) are all shamans trained by their father, and he by his father before him and for who knows how many generations back. They are the real thing. They have a piece of land 85 hectares (210 acres) in size which they are trying the best they can to keep intact as pristine jungle when on all sides it is being cut down for agriculture. Also, oil drilling some distance away is beginning to pollute the river that runs through the property. They have collectively established a non-profit organization to protect it, called Lunahuasi, while also promoting shamanism, native spirituality and indigenous medicine. Water for Humanity helped them some years ago to dig a well. Consequently, I wanted to visit the project and meet them while in Ecuador.

We did find Vicente, who was accompanied by other members of his family, including his son Vicente, who was the only one of this next generation to be carrying on the shamanic tradition. A light rain was beginning and we made a quick errand to buy me a poncho, before saying warm goodbyes to Miguel and Sandra. I then climbed into an old SUV with these complete strangers and headed off to a new adventure. Short of the town of Puerto Quito they pulled to the side of the road. Opening up the back of the SUV, they pulled out the boots borrowed from Heifer and instructed me to change into them. Vicente then pointed to a trail head and next to a point on a distant ridge. I wondered if they expected me to carry my two heavy bags through the jungle to get there, but just then a man on horseback emerged from the trail. I realized they had everything planned out and began to tie my bags to the back of the horse. Vicente, Jr. cut me a staff, and they all accompanied me a short ways down the path. Offering sincere hugs, they then waved as I proceeded down the trail, followed by Antonio on horseback pacing himself to me. It was a 2 1/2 kilometer hike they had told me, and would take about 30 minutes. It became obvious why they had insisted I needed the boots. It had rained hard the night before and at times I sank into the mud above my ankles. The jungle around me was incredibly beautiful, but I had to pay close attention to my footing. The staff saved me from falling into the mud several times.

Finally the trail came to an end and I emerged into a clearing, with several bamboo-walled and palm-leaved roofed huts up on stilts. I saw Eduardo who came to greet me, and then introduced me to his brother Napo and Julie Collins from VA, a supporter of Lunahuasi visiting at this time. Eduardo told me he knew I was coming because of the behavior of the birds. They had set up a tent for me on the raised bamboo floor of one of the huts, and I made my bed in it before darkness set in. I then joined them for dinner of plantain soup and a medicinal tea. Following this we sat around a fire built under one of the huts so the smoke of the fire would drive away insects from the sleeping quarters above. We broke off our conversation about 9PM to retire. I enjoying listening to the cacophony of jungle sounds and then the rain that began shortly thereafter.

In the morning, I learned that the well that WFH had funded was actually on the property across the road from the trail head. Here facilities are being developed to serve as a base for workshop participants and ecotourists before trekking into the jungle to this camp. Here, a well had just been recently dug as well. However, even though the water level was fairly high, a mechanical pump was needed to enable them to hygienically seal the top and prevent the well from being contaminated. Thus Lunahuasi also became a recipient of the church money, in addition to the villages around Cotacachi and the village of Santa Rosa in Manabi.

Napo had brought a video camera for the purpose of making a promotional video for Lunahuasi. For this, Eduardo dressed in his shamanic regalia and re-enacted certain rituals for the purpose of the film, which enabled me to get some great still shots as well! After that, I assisted with the planting of various fruit trees around the compound. Last night, I had requested a shamanic healing session of them, and as I planted, I had the distinct feeling I was being observed closely and the object was to observe certain signs as I worked. I had no idea when the healing ceremony would be conducted, other than "sometime today", and was advised to just leave it to them to address whatever they felt was most needed. During the night, this magical placed had evoked some powerful dreams, and I was open for anything to happen. Later Eduardo asked me to repeat the dream in detail, translating for Napo as we went along. Napo then gave the interpretation, which was rife with symbolism of imminent transformation.

Composting Latrine, Shamanic ritualing, chocolate making

In the afternoon, I took out my composting latrine model and went through a detailed explanation of its purpose and management. Here I saw they had built a flush latrine, and felt strongly that in keeping with their philosophy of sustainablity and reverence for nature, a composting latrine would send a better message. I felt a bit foolish teaching dowsing to shamans, but at their request I took out my tools and gave an introduction of them and their operation. As part of the demonstration I dowsed Eduardos aura, finding it to be about twice the size of an average persons. Suddenly I was surprised when Napo rushed up to me and felt the pulse in my right arm. After a few moments of a studied look, he declared it was time for my healing session. Eduardo then went off to put on his shamanic regalia. He then sat me in a chair on the outside of a stone circle facing inward at the east cardinal direction. The position of the stones mark the hours of the day, Eduardo had explained to me previously, and with the stake on the east edge functioned as a solar clock. On top of each big stone was a little stone, and each of the stones had a spirit in it Napo had told me. Eduardo then lit sage (compliments of Julie brought from the US) in a tin can attached to a long wire handle so he could swing it. He saged me thoroughly and blew tobacco smoke on me as well. Next he began to shake a banana leaf all around me. At this point it began to rain lightly, but I held my ground. Next he began to beat a small drum and make vocalizations as well. Sprinkling water about from a cup, he then instructed me to drink the remainder. Refilling it, he them took water in his mouth and sprayed it forcefully over me from all sides. There was more leaf shaking, then he finished by holding his hands on my head as he prayed.

That night, dominated by steady rain, the ceremony evoked a very powerful dream about a very significant relationship in my life. I got up to go down to the jungle river to bathe (keeping an eye out for caimans). This morning I helped with the clearing of brush around the edges of the compound with a machete, feeling like a genuine Latino while doing it. In the process, Eduardo showed me one of the cacao trees around the compound with the fruit growing off the trunk, from which chocolate is made. He split one of the fruits open to show the beans inside, embedded in a soft white substance which is edible as well (I tried some). Next he produced a bag of the mature dried beans which they were planning to turn into chocolate this morning. I watched and photographed the whole process. These beans were roasted first so the tougher outer husk of the bean could be removed. Traditionally these would now be ground in a mortar and pestle, but here were put through a grinder. The ground beans were then boiled. If we were intending to produce bar chocolate, a different process would be followed from this point, but our intention here was to make a chocolate drink. Later we took a break from our machete work to have a cup mixed with milk and brown sugar. I sat amused by the surprises life sometimes brings. Here I was making chocolate with shamans!

In the afternoon, I took a walk with Eduardo down by the river, appreciating his taking the time to point out various botanical features. We sat by the edge of the river at one point to watch for animals, as he listed the types which live on this land. There is a kind of pig with the coloring of a tiger, a huge kind of rat which is commonly eaten, various birds and owls, armadillo, one type of monkey and a small kind of tiger. The jaguar which was once here in the Andean rainforest has now been sadly driven to extinction. That evening around the fire I continued to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity as we enjoyed more of the hot chocolate to ask more questions about human relationships with animals and nature, and communications with them.

In the night I had another dream replete with powerful symbolism of death, rebirth and transformation. After another bath in the jungle river, I and the others packed up all our belongings for Antonio to load on his horse. Napo and Julie went ahead and Eduardo and I hiked out together. On the way, he again pointed out various botanical features, but the highlight was when he showed me the den of a mated pair of tigers! Along the way he also picked up a certain kind of red berry for me to use in talismans. We caught up to Napo and Julie about the time we reached the road, and then we went together up to the house above. There I finally did see the WFH-funded well and took photos of Eduardo and Napo beside it.

We then hopped on a bus to take us back into the town of Don Pedro Vicente Maldonado. Here Eduardo had some errands to run and I took advantage of the time to find an internet cafe after being three days out of touch with the rest of the world. When we were on the bus to Quito, Eduardo and Napo interpreted my latest dream, and I enjoyed the scenery of the rainforest. We parted when we reached the city, which would be temporarily as it turned out, and I got a hotel room in the Mariscal area.