The school disco and Matt N's boudoir!
- 15 Dec 07, 11:45 AM
Posted from: Wijint
At the moment I am sitting in our camp in the Achuar village of Wijint, we have been given the use of one of the thatched open-sided houses that are typical here. The roof is about 20 feet high and made of palm leaves with a raised floor made of tree bark, we are in the centre of the village next to the ever present football pitch, which seems to be the centre of most of the communities we have seen here in Peru.
It is the end of the school year and there is activity all over the village; a school "disco" in the main meeting hall, a game of football on the pitch and music blaring out from the tinny sound system. Our house is fab - hammocks hang from the beams and are the most popular places to sleep amongst the team. However, the more discerning members have constructed more elaborate "boudoirs".
Matt Norman has made something that resembles a four poster bed, with a mosquito net hanging above his super king-size bed that is made of two therma-rests: one of which is mine that I rent to him at the cost of one piece of his beloved chocolate a day, needless to say he is falling behind with payments.
Achuar boys playing
There is filming equipment strewn all over the place, and chickens and ducks pecking away inquisitively at the ludicrously expensive kit we travel with. A torrential storm has just started and far from ending the football match, it has encouraged about 30 of the young boys to abandon the school disco, and join in the game. They are sliding and diving all over the now flooded pitch with screams of delight and pure joy on their ever-smiling faces.
As I sit here and savour the scene, I am having one of those waves of emotion that I often get in this job, we really are very privileged to witness the things we do; we meet the most incredible people and have experiences that money just cannot buy.
Find out more about the Achuar
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