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OTAVALOVIDEOS.COM BLOG PAGE |
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Rural Andean Community |
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All otavalovideos.com videos are owned and copyrighted 2011 by Frank M. Kiefer. Reproduction is prohibited. All rights reserved. If you have any questions or any videos of the Otavalo area that you wish to contribute, please write to videos@otavalovideos.com. |
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Do you have any videos of the Otavalo area that you wish to contribute? Please write to videos@otavalovideos.com. |
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With Adobe Flash Player V. 10 you can stream some of our Otavalo movies. They are best viewed with a high speed connection. Enjoy. |
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Otavalo Videos |
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Write to us at Otavalo Videos are in Spanish and Quechua. |
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With the help of a donated laptop computer, Huaita Sisa Saransiq and Deisy Farinango help create an index for the Yambiro Library, which is being funded and stocked by travelers, teachers and schools. "A house without books is like a room without windows. " |
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Helping their Community |
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Ten villagers from the town of Larcacunga, using Otavalo land, are looking for funding to finance a community project to build pools for trout farming. The project will benefit the local diet and provide an activity to attract travelers. Any help is welcomed! |
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Building a Small Business Enterprise, Trout Farming |
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Just a few kilometers from Otavalo, right on Lago San Pablo, one finds the very charming town of San Rafael. The villagers have produced "esterras", straw mats, for centuries . They are now diversifying by producing a wide variety of products. Worth a visit! |
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Totora Sisa, Community Business in San Rafael |
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The Ancient Otavalos lived in thatched adobe huts called "chozas" for many centuries. An Otavalo Indian remembers watching villagers build these huts in his mountain village as a young boy and he offered his expertise when we needed some chozas fast! |
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How to build a Choza |
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Vets and students from the University of Wisconsin visited several Indigenous pueblos last month to treat cattle, pigs, dogs, sheep and humans for parasites. Dr. Chris Olsen and his team vaccinated over 200 animals in Yambiro, assuring better health for all! |
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From the U.S to Otavalo, Providing Health & Goodwill |
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A day long investigation of the water system serving thousands of rural indigenous people was documented last month. In part 1 the issues and principal problems are explained by representatives of the communities. |
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Water Projects for Rural Communities near Otavalo |
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Through the efforts of Anna Taft and Laura Roberts a Chlorine producing machine has been purchased and donated to the water administration of 5 communities. The unit will provide treated water for over 3000 persons. This video documents the ceremony. |
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5 Communities receive a Water Treatment Apparatus |
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This is the time of year for the third harvest of corn planted last October. Maize is still a very important factor in the lives of the Otavalo campesino! The maize will be dried and ground into flour or stored and roasted slowly on ceramic plates to make tostado. |
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The Harvest of Maize in Otavalo |
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Now that the maize has been harvested it is once again time to prepare the fields for planting corn and beans in September. The indigenous farmers of Otavalo continue to plow and hoe the earth by hand or with oxen. Tractors are for rent, but very expensive. |
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Preparing the Fields |
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The first harvest of the year is taking place in the Otavalo area. Fresh corn, choclo, and beans, frejoles de chagra" are staples for the Indigenous campesino. Even José, the family pig, is involved and does his part of the chores. |
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Shelling Beans |
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The new school year begins this Monday. Tia Eugenia Farinango, an Indigenous Community leader, explains the need for financial assistance to educate the young people of the rural areas. The Ali Shungu Foundation Scholarship program is in it's sixth year. |
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The Importance of an Education |
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Today I visited the Paradero Inca Tambo in Peguche to visit with Tio Mario Tontaquimba Diaz and his wife who welcome guests to visit their workshops and to obtain insight into the Indigenous Andean culture of the Otavalo rural area. Spanish Quechua |
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Paradero Inca Tambo, the "House of their Grandparents" |
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The celebrations this week are the holiest of holy celebrations. Many communities re-enact the Roman persecution and crucifixion of Christ. This is a slide show of photos I took a few years ago in the community of Yambiro. Music soundtrack is by Pacha Mama. |
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Semana Santa in the Otavalo Communities |
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It has been years since I have been to the Quechua Mass on Easter in Otavalo. The older people of Otavalo still take Easter very seriously! It is the music of the choir during the Mass that I truly enjoy. These are a few short excerpts of the Mass and the music. |
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Quechua Mass in Otavalo |
