Chuño and Chards in the Andes
In order to give native women in South America autonomy, a feeling of pride, and social recognition in their own communities, Elmire Allary, M.I.C., has dreamed up some… original projects!
In October 1981, after having experienced various missionary expeditions abroad and in Quebec, Elmire departed for Yauri, in the Peruvian region of Cusco.
The Andean Adventure
At an altitude of 3900 m, where oxygen is scarce, and faced with the cold and
desolation of the Andean Altiplano, Sister Elmire first had to let her body adapt.
Once she was back on her feet, alongside her fellow MICs, she sought an opportunity
to make herself useful. She watched and listened to the Quechua people with whom
she lived. The need to fill certain gaps in the local diet appeared clearly:
chuño (a bitter, dehydrated potato typical of the region) and lamb or lama
meat were the daily fare…
Thus, she came up with a program consisting of "community and family gardens," called huertas in Spanish. With the help of the Canadian embassy, which agreed to fund the project, she began to train the women. For several months, assisted by a local promoter and a sociologist, and equipped with the necessary material (seed, a television, a VCR, videotapes in Quechua, and a car battery (because there is no electricity in the Andes), she got to work.
The beginnings were tough. There were many obstacles, for instance the women's lack of experience in directing and coordinating community projects -a field traditionally reserved for men. Moreover, with no mentors or models to imitate, they were forced to learn everything for themselves. For example, they had to design small green-houses and protect their gardens from hungry animals.
The women worked tirelessly and never gave up. Three or four years later, their efforts were crowned with success: they achieved autonomy by purchasing seed with profits from the sales of their own food products.
A Wind of Change
Over time, explains Elmire, we realize that with better nutrition, we can have a positive influence over many other aspects of life. The training programs created to promote the recognition of women in society improved the education of children, health, training for the Christian life, etc. In our program we had daily prayer, a time to meditate on the attitude of Jesus of Nazareth who, in his day, sided with women (among others). These Andean women now understand that they have a place as well as rights and responsibilities within society. The huertas are for them a practical and worthwhile means to feed their families, but their impact goes much further than strictly improving their diet.
To change a community's eating habits requires patience and perseverance. One does not spontaneously acquire a new taste for carrots, beets, cabbage, lettuce, radishes, Swiss chards -the few vegetables that can grow in the Andes. Children were the first to appreciate their flavour. On their way to school, they would pick carrots from the ground and munch on lettuce leaves, under the sceptical gaze of their mothers and grandmothers. Slowly, the village dwellers became convinced… Vegetables even began appearing on the menu in the village's restaurants!
The program's participants' feeling of self-worth was boosted. This project was theirs: it truly belonged to them. If they wished, men could get involved, but the responsibility for the huertas always lay in the women's hands. Consequently, in the families of these women gardeners, the relationship between men and women was transformed, little by little.
One who Sows, One who Reaps
After having prepared the soil and sown the seed, it was time for the MICs to move on, like nomads. They were leaving Yauri after 19 years. The Ministry of Agriculture, impressed by the original huertas project, began reproducing the scheme in other parts of Peru.
As for the missionaries, the fact that a local body was taking up and carrying on their missionary endeavour was a sign of success. Thus, Elmire left Cusco with the serenity of a job well done, knowing that thanks to the huertas, women were now standing tall; they would never be the same again.
New Swing, Same Direction
Pursuing the path of promotion of women, Elmire got involved in another missionary
endeavour, this time in Cochabamba, Bolivia, at the Instituto de Educación
Rural (IER), founded in 1958 by a Bolivian priest to help young Quechua peasants
living poorly and isolated in the neighbouring countryside. In 1976, the arrival
of the MIC sisters at the IER gave a second wind to this institute which gradually
directed its actions towards the professional training of women.
The IER, which is associated with the Ministry of Education, welcomes nearly a hundred residents, all rural women from the age of 16, who were not able to pursue their studies. Thanks to this training, they can find a job and occupy a place in society. Three technical programs are offered.
For those who ended their primary schooling prematurely:
The IER offers sewing, knitting, embroidery, and weaving classes, alternating with the principal courses: language studies (Spanish), math, science and catechism. Moreover, an agriculturist teaches them the concepts involved in the creation and upkeep of a large vegetable garden.
There is only one condition to apply: each student must be sent to the IER by her community or by an NGO, so that when she returns to her village she can work along-side her community, teaching them what she has learned and also conducting religious celebrations. Cut off by mountainous heights, the countryside rarely receives visits from a priest.
For those who wish to pursue their secondary studies:
Two years of technical courses in veterinary science are available.
First year : pure theory; second year : theory and practice, either on neighbouring
farms or at the IER, which has cattle and even a roost of 6000 chickens!
At the end of their training, some of the young women work in twos as itinerant
veterinary teams. Others, hired by the municipal government, look after animal health.
During vaccination campaigns they meet with farmers and share recent knowledge
about animal care.
Those who chose health care follow a program to become auxiliary nurses.
At the end of the program an official title is awarded by Bolivia's Ministry of Health. This title allows the young women to work in health centres in rural districts and in hospitals. For these women, it is a big step towards autonomy and dignity.
It is not easy to initiate change, especially change in behaviour, explains Elmire, Working towards the promotion of women in isolated, virtually abandoned areas, requires us to believe first of all in the dignity inherent to every person, and to wish with all our might for the full development of those persons. For me, it remains possible because Jesus of Nazareth, through his life and through his teachings, showed me that human beings created in the image and likeness of God are the greatest and noblest thing on earth.
Now enjoying a period of rest in Canada, Elmire will return to Peru next autumn. Let us wish her lots of inspiration, so that her future projects may be just as original and brilliant as the last ones!
Interview by Marie-Eve Homier with Elmire Allary, M.I.C.
MIC MISSION NEWS
January-February-March 2006