One morning Kongo’s photography group visited a Kichwa school located on the Napo River in the Amazon rainforest of Eastern Ecuador. It was a great experience! The monkey is participating in a photography workshop by Fancy Girl Street Boy Productions with Joe McNally. For several days we had been capturing images of birds and animals in the rainforest. Today we were going to get an opportunity to meet some of the people who live there.

One of the largest groups of indigenous people are the Kichwa. There are a couple of different Kichwa groups, but the one Kongo visited is the Napo Kichwa who are located along the Napo River in and around the Yasuní National Park. Primary education is free and compulsory for six years starting at age six. Most Kichwa children attend primary school, but high dropout rates are common due to economic pressures, limited access to schools in rural areas, and language barriers. The Kichwa are spread out over large areas and it sometimes takes a couple of hours to make it to the nearest school, either by hiking through the rainforest or paddling in a canoe. During the rainy season the jungle trails are sometimes impassable and when the river rises, canoe transportation can be dangerous. Consequently, there is a high dropout rate among the indigenous people.

To be competitive in reaching higher education opportunities in Ecuador, students must become proficient in Spanish. While many Kichwa families are somewhat bilingual, when most children start school they speak only Quechua, and there are several dialects. Finding teachers is a challenge.

While secondary education is theoretically free, there are many costs associated with the higher grades such as uniforms, books, and transportation costs, which can be a barrier for low-income Kichwa families. (The per capita family income of a Kichwa family is less than $85/month.) Public universities in Ecuador offer free undergraduate education. However, access is regulated through competitive entrance exams, which can disadvantage Kichwa students due to systemic inequities in their primary and secondary education.

Liza Politi and Ari Espay, the owners of Fancy Girl Street Boy, had visited the school during earlier workshops and they brought some large bags of toys, school supplies, and candy for the children. The kids were excited and when our photo group arrived it was occasion for a school holiday!

The children performed dances for our group and then scattered to play with their new gifts.

See this short video of the school children dancing:

The children were excited to see us, but were very shy, at least at first. Most spoke only a little Spanish and the monkey’s command of Quechua was pretty dismal. “Hola!” and “Como se llama?” worked some of the time. Mostly Kongo just said, “Allinllachu!” which is hello in Quechua.

These children were super bright, friendly, and exceedingly gracious. Principles like Minga (collective work), Ayni (reciprocity), and Sumak Kawsay (living well in harmony) are central to their social structure, emphasizing cooperation and respect for nature. These children embodied these traits.

Now Kongo is not a naive little monkey. He knows that a few soccer balls isn’t going to change much for these Kichwa children. There are tremendous challenges facing them and their culture as they increasingly embrace the larger world. They, like so many indigenous people around the world, are caught between the push-pull of their heritage and traditional culture and the allure of the internet and the lights of the big city, blue jeans, and a motor for their canoe. Many young Kichwa drop out of school and head for jobs in the oil industry. Others find a niche in the growing eco-tourism industry that brings tourists like Kongo to the Amazon rainforest, but that too alters their culture and heritage. The monkey wonders what they really thought of all the people dragging out their expensive cameras, any one of which represents several years of average income for a Kichwa family. Tough questions and the monkey doesn’t pretend to have any answers. But he was glad to have been there and learned more about appreciating the obstacles these people face.

Travel safe. Have fun!