July 17, 2002 |
July 17, 2002 |
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Today's ECHO activities brought to you by
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Elfrieda Nafziger
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Right: Maka women sell their goods outside the Gran Hotel del Paraguay. After adopting Mary Molt for the day, members of Team Wildcats spent a free day in Asuncion with Margarita "Daisy" Brun. Day trips included a visit to Mercado Cuatro, a local market, and an excursion to the Escuela de Hoteleria Gastronomica, a project school for indigent women. On the right, Maka women from the reservation on the outskirts of Ascuncion sold bags, belts, bows and arrows, and jewelry outside of the Gran Hotel del Paraguay. During a visit to the Maka Reservation on a previous day, ECHOers learned that tribal women are responsible for manufacturing the products, traveling to Asuncion, and selling their handicrafts while men work and rear children at home.
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Left: Mercado Cuatro opens for business.
Along with a few grants and some government funding, handicraft sales are the principal source of income for the tribe. Ruban Alverenga, an offical from the Paraguayan Cultural Ministry, indicated to ECHOers during their travels that the Maka are a matrilineal society, one in which women are responsible for major decisions. In many ways, the conditions at the reservation were very much like reservations in North America. The people living there are working on the most basic infrastructure issues including schools, medical care, and economic sustainability for the reservation. In this sense, the indigenous people in Paraguay struggle with many of the same challenges as native Americans. However, many problems one might see on reservations in the USA, like substance abuse, seemed not to exist among the Maka. Despite the many hardships, there was a great sense of community on the reservation where the ECHO group was warmly welcomed.
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Right: Fresh fish on display at the market.
Mercado Cuatro, one of four open-air markets in Asuncion, provides a source of food and merchandise for many Paraguayans. This bustling market offers booths with produce, meat, cheese, live poultry, and even hammocks. Vendors assemble before dawn to unpack their merchandise and prepare for a day of sales. Many local people visit this market daily, except for Sunday afternoons, when the market is closed. Products from Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and other South American countries can be found in the many booths of the market. |
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Left: a vendor drinks Mate On the left, a Paraguayan vendor at the Mercado Cuatro sipped a cool terere, a drink made of yerba mate tea, from his guampa, a cup made of a cow's horn, which is often decorated with silver. Mate is also served hot and often mixed with yuyos, or medicinal herbs. Our tour guides told us that it is not uncommon for a group to pass a cup of Mate and drink from a common bombilla, a straw/strainer combination device. Although we have not seen any Paraguayans partaking of this tradition, many ECHOers have shared a common guampa. Consequently, half of the delegation has also shared an upper-respiratory infection. |
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Assorted products from the Mercado Cuatro
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Left: Student bakers in class. Escuela de Hoteleria Gastronomica is a hotel and restaurant vocational school for women. Participants in this program are indigent people who have demonstrated a desire for a career but lack opportunities and resources for pursuing an education. Many of the students are so needy that negotiating everyday obstacles, such as childcare, caring for aging parents, or coming up with bus fare, are major barriers to their participation in this program. The students in the school learn to cook, clean, sew, and make furniture. They also learn other life-skills like interviewing and personal hygiene and finance. |
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Right: School courtyard
Initially, the Paraguayan government donated land and provided other resources for the program. Other funding has come from Australian, Belgian, and Spanish Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). The school offers a two-year program with standards set by the Paraguayan Ministry of Education. Presently, there are 150 students taking advantage of this opportunity.
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Left: ECHO partipants and school staff sharing success.
Members of the Governing Board, Headmistress Maria Elena Soto, Marta Acosta, and Nilsa De Rabito, with math teacher Margarita "Daisy" Brun, were delighted to share their successes with us. When the students graduate, they are given a loan to start their own businesses. There were 180 graduates last year, and most of them are succeeding on their own and repaying their loans. The project was initially funded for three years, and the staff at the school is optimistic about receiving continuing funding. |
