One of the activities of today was to visit the community of YRYAPU, one of the Guarani First Nations communities who have lived in the region (covering areas of northern Argentina, southern Brazil and most of Paraquay) for hundreds of years. They lived - before the European settlers arrived - as gatherers and hunters and their communities lived as nomads. In today's world it is not always easy for these communities to adjust. With the Niagara College international team, a few Rotary clubs in Niagara and a variety of other people, we have supported this community with a small project based on creating capacity to self-support and adjust. During a project we had with the neighboring college ITEC Iguazu we included the Guarani and this resulted in building a simple small school in their own community focusing on training their youth as tourist guides.
The construction of this one-room school was fully financed by Rotary Clubs, so it was - as my T-shirt of today says - an example of "Rotarians at work". I made the visit with Mary Kilmer who recently retired from Niagara College and who made very significant personal contributions to this school project in Yryapu. She was very happy to see the positive changes after being here for her last visit about four years ago:
Mary picked up a brush and added a nice butterfly to the mural which was made today:
Rodrigo, who spend 6 months 5 years ago as a volunteer in Iguazu and who helped us the past years with the "Friends of Yryapu" fundraising activities, was with us here today as well.... and painted.
This second room was constructed a few years ago (and its construction was fully financed by Mary) and now offers the opportunity to also do adult literacy training in the little school. On the wall is a map of Argentina visible. Below that map in close-up. Iguazu (and the Yryapu village) are located in the green area in the most north-east of the country bordering Brazil and Paraquay).
The word "AGUYJEVETE" is Guarani for "Bienvenidos" which is Spanish for "Welcome"
It is also on the wall in the first room and of course is a constant reminder for people who are being trained to work in the tourism industry. This room obviously stays thankful for the assistance and solidarity that has arrived all these years from Canada....
It was nice to see a number of new computers (donated from a company in the USA from which a number of employees had visited and volunteered in Yryapu a year ago). The electrical system was also much improved including an air-conditioning unit. What was new as well since my last visit here two years ago were two bathrooms. Water supply is still a challenge and one of the projects to come is a rain water collection tank for this...
Afterwards we took a walk on one of the tourist paths in the jungle. The tours are all given by graduates from the tourism program of the little school:
The trees in this forest area are hundreds of years old. It is always such an amazing sight.....
The last activity in Yryapu was to enjoy one of the local dishes the villagers offer to visitors:
Carmen Virasoro, one of our supporters and advisors from Buenos Aires, was also present. All of us listened to the wise words of Francisco, the spiritual leader of the community (with his mother Clemencia behind him; the tourism school is named after her). Francisco was able to visit Canada 7 years ago as part of our project and he visited First Nation communities in Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. His ongoing guidance for the community is essential.
Mary also spoke a few emotional words on behalf of the "Friends of Yryapu". One of the local traditions is to pass around a cup with "MATE" shown on the photo below by one of the guides
The busy day ended with an informal meeting with the current Minister of Tourism, Sergio Dubrosin, who has been involved from the beginning of our work here in a variety of positions.
Tomorrow on my way again to Sao Paulo to start a four city tour of work in Brazil....
