Minga’s are a great cooperative, collective work effort – day projects where everyone chips in to help complete a project. Kinda like helping a good friend move and then getting treated to pizza and beer afterwards – but in this case it’s chicha, chicken and rice. We’ve had a few mingas to build the Volunteers House – and still need a few more.
The greatest thing is that people just show up with whatever random tool they have – and it all seems to come together. As always it’s BYOM (Bring your own Machete). The chainsaw is a group effort – gas and oil need to be obtained from somewhere…
The first minga that I was at involved carrying all of the planks for the walls up from the river to the house which had a floor and a roof. The termite’s, however had been busy since the floor was constructed and the weight of the planks cracked one of the support beams. No worries – you just get enough guys to lift up the roof of the house a bit – slide out the bad piece of wood and slide the new one in.
It’s nice to be refreshed while working, so claro – chicha begins to be served at around 10am. I had a “OSHA” chuckle as I looked around and saw guys in sandals and no safety glasses or gloves with chainsaws & chicha & beer – and let’s just say that the chainsaw was not the only thing buzzing. Why use a handsaw to even out some edges when you have a chainsaw – it’s So much more fun.
The machete lawn-cutting technique is literally like poetry in motion. With the right arm swing and wrist snap, they trim the tall grasses down to the bare earth. I wonder if they ever get machete elbow and if my golf swing will be negatively impacted. I know, what golf swing you say.
Bottle of gas for the chainsaw looked dangerously close to the whisky (or whatever it was) we had to drink after the other minga.
Note: While I have special guest privileges – being able to refuse chicha and not insult the offerer – on the way to a minga one day with some neighbors we stopped by two other houses and of course had nice, refreshing bowls of chicha – before 9am. It’s only polite.
The greatest thing is that people just show up with whatever random tool they have – and it all seems to come together. As always it’s BYOM (Bring your own Machete). The chainsaw is a group effort – gas and oil need to be obtained from somewhere…
The first minga that I was at involved carrying all of the planks for the walls up from the river to the house which had a floor and a roof. The termite’s, however had been busy since the floor was constructed and the weight of the planks cracked one of the support beams. No worries – you just get enough guys to lift up the roof of the house a bit – slide out the bad piece of wood and slide the new one in.
It’s nice to be refreshed while working, so claro – chicha begins to be served at around 10am. I had a “OSHA” chuckle as I looked around and saw guys in sandals and no safety glasses or gloves with chainsaws & chicha & beer – and let’s just say that the chainsaw was not the only thing buzzing. Why use a handsaw to even out some edges when you have a chainsaw – it’s So much more fun.
The machete lawn-cutting technique is literally like poetry in motion. With the right arm swing and wrist snap, they trim the tall grasses down to the bare earth. I wonder if they ever get machete elbow and if my golf swing will be negatively impacted. I know, what golf swing you say.
Bottle of gas for the chainsaw looked dangerously close to the whisky (or whatever it was) we had to drink after the other minga.
Note: While I have special guest privileges – being able to refuse chicha and not insult the offerer – on the way to a minga one day with some neighbors we stopped by two other houses and of course had nice, refreshing bowls of chicha – before 9am. It’s only polite.
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