Voluntary work in Ecuador's indigenous community amidst resistance against violence, inequality, discrimination

By Bharat Dogra

The book under review here, very simply titled ‘Mingas+Solidarity’ is a rare and invaluable book. It is rare because such books are seldom seen in print. It is invaluable because it provides an inspiring testimony of the spirit and action of voluntary community work—something that has been precious for the progress of humanity and yet has been getting eroded in most places.

So if someone is interested in studying and documenting the strengths and contributions of community voluntary work, then this search is more likely to be headed towards remote villages, and what is even more likely, towards the indigenous communities living there.

The book under review is a portrayal of ‘mingas’—“days of voluntary, cooperative work dedicated to community projects"-- and how this togetherness is used in San Isidro (an indigenous community in highland Ecuador) to strengthen struggles for social justice.

A major part of the book consists of very evocative photographs taken by Tristan Partridge which bring out the actions and spirit of mingas in its various forms and activities. Tristan Partridge is a fieldwork photographer and researcher specializing in environmental justice. Through projects in Ecuador, India, Chile and USA, he has been documenting “individual and collective efforts to maintain connectedness with place and with each other.” He is a lecturer and researcher in the CREW Center for Restorative Environmental Work at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The other important part of the book consists of important notes on various aspects of mingas written by community members of Ancestral Community of San Isidro and activists. These notes which capture important aspects of mingas are available in English as well as Spanish in this book. The writers include Myriam Allauca and Porfirio Allauca. There is also an important afterword written by Prof. Alberto Acosta, former Minister and former President of the Constituent Assembly. Here Prof Acosta has written, “The photos and texts of Tristan Partridge and the Ancestral Community of San Isidro--loaded with light and color, with life and experiences, with joy and effort—reflect one of the (alternative) paths. In communities rooted in the Andes, several thousand meters above the sea level, in conditions where it may seem impossible to thrive, there are people who teach us how to organize life differently from the way that has dominated through extreme individualism, alienating consumerism and predatory productivism.”

This book, beautifully published by T & G publishing/ Pazmaen Press, with book design by Gianni Frinzi, has lived up to its objective to drawing attention to why such collective acts are necessary—“as resistance against the violence, inequality, and discrimination faced by indigenous people across Ecuador and around the world.”

The photographs which capture several seasons and times could not have been taken in any hurried and rushed trips to the area.

These required involvement with the community, repeated visits and staying with community members, visiting work areas with them. So in addition to showcasing high quality photography on a rare subject, this book also reflects rare commitment and perseverance on the part of the photographer who has been visiting this community over a period of several years with the spirit of contributing with his work but in addition also with the spirit of learning from them. In fact this shared documentary project began in 2011 and so the book has been over a decade in the making.

This book has been published as a contribution to the community archives of the Ancestral Community of San Isidro. All net proceeds from the sale of the book are donated to the Indigenous-led organizations in Cotopaxi, Ecuador.

At the time the book went to press last year, San Isidro residents still continued to face violence at the hands of groups who are trying to privatize community land. There were also problems, as reflected in the text, in meeting such basic needs as water. In difficult times the contribution of collective and cooperative voluntary work and actions increases further.

This book will remain a remarkable contribution to the understanding of the many strengths and contributions of indigenous communities from which ‘development’ has much to learn.

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The reviewer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, Man over Machine, and A Day in 2071

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