Fun In The Campo: Dress-Up Time, The Photo Phenomenon, and The Godparent Craze

While spending a substantial amount of time in the rural countryside of Huanuscuro (or as we simply call it, "the campo") during our past three trips, we've been constantly conscious of the relationship we cultivate with the local people. Aware that we're outsiders encroaching on their land and disrupting their demanding daily routine, we've taken particular caution while establishing our presence in the community.

Although several memebers of the community have taken a liking to us in the past, we've never felt that we have the entire community on our side. However, this year seemed to be a turningpoint as it marked the first time we spent the night in the campo. Our friend Fernando — a man who's probably in his 50s or 60s, but still wakes up at 4 am every morning to start work in the fields — invited us to spend the night to show his gratitude for the stove we built for him as well as for our continuing work we do with the community. We stayed in a guest room that he keeps for his children when they come to visit from out of town, which allowed us to extend our time building stoves. Usually, we arrive fairly early to the campo and can only work a few hours before we have to catch a combi back home, because transportation is hard to come by in the afternoon.

Convenience and productivity weren't the only benefits to our overnight stay. Spending an entire day in the campo allowed us to gain a more accurate perspective about what daily life was like for the residents of Huanuscuro as well. We were included in many different activities and rituals, which found us dressed up in their clothes, cutting children's hair, snapping countless pictures, and eating massive amounts of food.

             

 

For whatever reason, the women of the community really wanted to dress up the girls in our group. In some ways it could be likened to a little girl playing dress-up with her friends. But instead, these were full-grown women and it involved some pretty intense clothing, taking at least four hands and a solid ten to fifteen minutes to get fully dressed. Regardless of how strange we thought this activity was, the outcome couldn't have been better. The women of Huanuscuro seemed to be having loads of fun as they were laughing the entire time, and in the end a much stronger bond was clearly forming.

The connection was apparently so strong for the women that some of them asked us to be godparents for their children. Although none of us took the responsibility lightly or hastily made a decision to commit ourselves to this role, we ended up feeling a little bit conflicted about the rapidity with which the mothers were asking us to become godparents of their children. To be sure we weren't biting off more than we could chew, we made sure to ask our knowledgeable friend Vicente for an unbiased opinion on the matter. Even though he is a member of the community himself, Vincente has always been straight with us when we need a definite answer on something. His explanation of this sudden wave of godparent requests was that since we are all viewed as knowledgeable and accomplished people by the citizens of Huanuscuro, our guidance for the children of the town would make them more intelligent in turn. One of our greatest apprehensions was a financial commitment to the children as we never want to be viewed as being wealthy or only be valued for our money, but rather for our projects — the primary reason we entered their community in the first place. Vicente assured us that we have no obligation from a monetary standpoint to our godchildren, but rather to provide them with a good example and advice of how to be a good and successful human being.

             

A ritual goes along with becoming a godparent that involves many members of the community gathering together for a hair-cutting ceremony. Although we never received a full explanation of what significance cutting hair holds, it was a celebratory event all around and one time even involved throwing a confetti-like material after the hair was snipped off.

Throughout our time in the campo we take many pictures to document our projects first and foremost, but also to capture what life is like in the campo and for the standard sentimental reasons as well. At some point, we decided it would be a good idea to take a picture of the homeowner with each completed chimney for record-keeping purposes. As we started to do this, the homeowners would then start asking if there was a way for them to have a copy of the photo. Luckily, Puno has a few photo-developing places for relatively cheap and a trend started that led into taking not just pictures of homeowners, but also candid shots with family, farm animals, and while dressed up in fancy clothes. It was extremely compelling to see the community members' positive reactions to this and the enthusiasm with which they were asking for copies. Although it probably wasn't the first time with this technology for many of them, nobody owned a camera and it was truly unique to see everyone's intense enthusiasm reacting to the photography sessions.

Overall, the progress in furthering our relationship with the citizens of Huanuscuro was one of the highlights of our trip. Our night spent in the campo was hopefully a sign of things to come as it not only increased our productivity, but it made us truly feel like part of the community.

[Written by David Riva | Photos by Clare Toeniskoetter and Michelle Martin]