Farming on Ecuadorian hills
Las Tolas, a village that is about a two-and-a-half-hour bus ride from Quito, is a farming community that is comprised of people that are full of life. On top of these foggy hill tops are many farmlands that decline on such a steep angle, its almost completely vertical. These farms are all connected by one road on the top of the hill. Walking up and down these farms is a workout in itself. But the hard labor does not seem to bother the locals. The villagers are regularly planting crops, conducting re-forestation projects, caring for livestock, and constructing farming infrastructure. No matter if the rain is plummeting down upon them, or if the sun is shining strong, these men, women, and even the sons and daughters are hard at work. We were fortunate enough to experience most of the day to day proceedings of the village while staying with one of the families for a week. The weather was wet and humid, making the work hot, sweaty and uncomfortable. Who knows how these villagers operate in even hotter conditions during their summer.
The scenery was magnificent. The hilltops were covered in rain clouds and mist as we escalated around bendy roads. The trees were lush, tall and full of colour. At a local soccer game, we turned around on the top of a hill and saw such a beautiful and jaw dropping landscape. The village was run down and dirty, but the land around them was thriving. We were lucky enough to see two beautiful cascada’s (waterfalls) while we were there. The water was so clear you could see the different colours of the rocks at the bottom of the pools. There were mixtures of blues, greens, browns and yellows. It was something quite majestic.
Suco was the villager responsible for showing us how to help in their re-forestation program. He walking up and down these hills like we were at sea-level. He hands me a giant spade and repeatedly demands me to dig holes for the plants to be placed into. 'Aqui' he would calmly but assertively instruct, while I was tagging along drenched in sweat.
The children were happy and full of energy as they rushed through the street (only one street in this village) pushing each other on their pushbikes, while making way for the trillion motorbikes that would zoom past every few minutes with workers piles on top of them. The kids were fascinated by my camera and loved to take photos. A little ‘niña’ named Carli would squeal with joy as she saw my camera and would yell ‘tomar fotos!’
Even though they were living out of houses they constructed themselves from wood, nails, cloth and tin, these people seemed like they did not have a worry in the world. We asked if they had every visited any other countries of desired to travel outside of Las Tolas. 95% of the population never have or ever wanted to leave. Together, they were a happy community. They were all family and all relied on each other. Our family’s youngest son, Dario, would sleep out with the chicks, so that he could water them every two hours. He would be making moats around the chicken houses so that the rain wouldn’t affect what they just built. Nobody back home at his age would ever work that hard, or would not do so with a single complaint. But Dario did it for his family. As he returned, his sister and mother would make him food and welcome him with such love and compassion. This was not a rare thing in the family, it was literally every time he arrived bakc at the house. They never fought, and meal times were always full of laughter (which I will also take credit for with my pathetic ability to communicate in Spanish).
This Ecuadorian lifestyle was unlike anything I have experienced before. They were managing, and happy about it. There was no crime and no hate among the villages people. I would return in a heartbeat to continue to work and meet our Ecuadorian family.
