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Eco-Pueblo Project &
Spanish School
Pucará, Intag River Valley, Imbabura
LOCAL HISTORY
Pucará is a small agricultural village of 300 people at
2081 meters in the Intag River Valley, in Cotacachi
County, Imbabura. The valley is located on the western
slope of the Andes between Cotocachi and Los Bancos,
and is swathed in cloud forest and small farms. The Alto
Chocó cloud forest of the valley is one of the world´s ten
most bio-diverse ecosystems, and is deemed a
Biodiversity “hot spot” by UNESCO.
The valley was a pre-conquest trading route and
sparsely inhabited until a seasonal road was
constructed in the 1960s. The opening of the valley to
vehicles brought colonists desperate for land and the
area quickly grew a reputation for its excellent soil and
hot climate: perfect conditions for a wide variety of
market crops. Because the valley traditionally connected
the coast and sierra, colonists from both regions
arrived, forming a fascinating mix of Afro-Latino,
Otavalo, and Kayambi cultures, traditions, languages,
and agricultural techniques.
Today, the Intag valley has gained a reputation for its
staunch resistance to mining interests and an
investment in sustainable development and eco-tourism.
For more in depth information click here:
Pucará: A Guide for Visitors
VOLUNTEER / STUDY
There are three ways to volunteer in Pucará:
Volunteer Groups
The first option is ideal for larger groups of volunteers
where we help with a variety of different infrastructure,
education, and agro-projects including organic
community gardens, medicinal gardens and the
construction of basic, low-cost housing for economically
marginalized families. Volunteers can participate in the
community homestay program, living with local families,
or stay just down the road in cabins next to volcanic hot
springs in Nangulví (right) where the local youth
organization has developed cooperatively-operated
cabins and restaurant.
The housing project, organized by Inter-American
CASA, has the goal of constructing 10 low cost homes in
the village by 2010. Each home costs approximately
$1850 and the land has been donated by the local
church.
A Housing Committee representing the different sectors
of Pucará democratically decides which families receive
housing and in what order. To receive a house, family
members are expected to donate 250 hours of social
capital, or unpaid community service work. In this
manner, a sense of project solidarity is rooted in the
community and all recipient families have a concrete
investment in their new home.
Volunteers help with the whole construction process:
digging foundations, mixing cement, laying blocks, and
pouring concrete floors. This project is an excellent
opportunity for students or volunteers interested in a
real, meaningful, solidarity-based volunteer experience
in a beautiful location.
Volunteers also have the chance while in the Intag
Valley to talk with youth, activists, and community
groups on a variety of subjects including sustainable
development planning, politics, small-scale agricultural
models, and cooperative enterprise and micro-credit
programs.
As 2009 came to a close, volunteers and community
members had already completed nine houses and a 200
square meter community center complete with
bathrooms and kitchen facilities! The “centro
comunitario” was also supported by funds from the
municipal government of Cotacachi.
Eco-Pueblo Project
For the last decade, the Intag Valley has been
threatened by various transnational corporate plans to
develop huge, open-pit copper mines in the middle of
the Alto Chocó cloud forest, one of the most bio-diverse
places on the planet. The only thing that has stopped
this from happening has been the incredible, grass-
roots, anti-mining movement of poor campesinos. For
updated info on the struggle click here: www.decoin.org
The mayor of Cotacachi County, Auki Tituaña, passed
an ordanance declaring Cotacachi a Cantón Ecologico.
This means it is against municipal law for any business
to engage in activities that harm the environment, and
explicitly states that citizens´ right to a healthy
environment and drinking water supercedes corporate
rights.
Realizing that catalyzing sustainable economic
development is a crucial part of the anti-mining strategy
(the mining companies promise jobs, infrastructure,
etc.), the region has seen a renaissance of eco-tourism,
organic agriculture, and micro-business projects.
Seeing the importance of sustainable development, the
community of Pucará has the vision of making it’s new
neighborhood a model for poor, rural communities
seeking better living styles and alternatives.
As a result, in 2006 the community decided to implement
an “eco-pueblo” model for the new neighborhood under
construction. Viewing the construction of 10 houses as
an opportunity to develop a new model for rural, low-
income housing, the people of Pucará are investigating
ways to implement sustainable energy technology,
ecological design, and permaculture concepts into the
long–term planning of the new neighborhood. Plans
include:
For more in depth information click here:
Pucará: A Guide for Visitors
VOLUNTEERS CAPABLE OF ASSISTING WITH ANY
OF THESE PROJECTS ARE WELCOME!
CONTACT Peter Shear for more information:
info@casainteram.org
in Ecuador: 086-849-950
Spanish School
Pucará, Intag River Valley, Imbabura
LOCAL HISTORY
Pucará is a small agricultural village of 300 people at
2081 meters in the Intag River Valley, in Cotacachi
County, Imbabura. The valley is located on the western
slope of the Andes between Cotocachi and Los Bancos,
and is swathed in cloud forest and small farms. The Alto
Chocó cloud forest of the valley is one of the world´s ten
most bio-diverse ecosystems, and is deemed a
Biodiversity “hot spot” by UNESCO.
The valley was a pre-conquest trading route and
sparsely inhabited until a seasonal road was
constructed in the 1960s. The opening of the valley to
vehicles brought colonists desperate for land and the
area quickly grew a reputation for its excellent soil and
hot climate: perfect conditions for a wide variety of
market crops. Because the valley traditionally connected
the coast and sierra, colonists from both regions
arrived, forming a fascinating mix of Afro-Latino,
Otavalo, and Kayambi cultures, traditions, languages,
and agricultural techniques.
Today, the Intag valley has gained a reputation for its
staunch resistance to mining interests and an
investment in sustainable development and eco-tourism.
For more in depth information click here:
Pucará: A Guide for Visitors
VOLUNTEER / STUDY
There are three ways to volunteer in Pucará:
- as a part of a pre-organized group
- as an individual assisting with the implementation
of the town Eco-Pueblo model (see below). - as a volunteer coordinator for Pucará´s new
Spanish School
Volunteer Groups
The first option is ideal for larger groups of volunteers
where we help with a variety of different infrastructure,
education, and agro-projects including organic
community gardens, medicinal gardens and the
construction of basic, low-cost housing for economically
marginalized families. Volunteers can participate in the
community homestay program, living with local families,
or stay just down the road in cabins next to volcanic hot
springs in Nangulví (right) where the local youth
organization has developed cooperatively-operated
cabins and restaurant.
The housing project, organized by Inter-American
CASA, has the goal of constructing 10 low cost homes in
the village by 2010. Each home costs approximately
$1850 and the land has been donated by the local
church.
A Housing Committee representing the different sectors
of Pucará democratically decides which families receive
housing and in what order. To receive a house, family
members are expected to donate 250 hours of social
capital, or unpaid community service work. In this
manner, a sense of project solidarity is rooted in the
community and all recipient families have a concrete
investment in their new home.
Volunteers help with the whole construction process:
digging foundations, mixing cement, laying blocks, and
pouring concrete floors. This project is an excellent
opportunity for students or volunteers interested in a
real, meaningful, solidarity-based volunteer experience
in a beautiful location.
Volunteers also have the chance while in the Intag
Valley to talk with youth, activists, and community
groups on a variety of subjects including sustainable
development planning, politics, small-scale agricultural
models, and cooperative enterprise and micro-credit
programs.
As 2009 came to a close, volunteers and community
members had already completed nine houses and a 200
square meter community center complete with
bathrooms and kitchen facilities! The “centro
comunitario” was also supported by funds from the
municipal government of Cotacachi.
Eco-Pueblo Project
For the last decade, the Intag Valley has been
threatened by various transnational corporate plans to
develop huge, open-pit copper mines in the middle of
the Alto Chocó cloud forest, one of the most bio-diverse
places on the planet. The only thing that has stopped
this from happening has been the incredible, grass-
roots, anti-mining movement of poor campesinos. For
updated info on the struggle click here: www.decoin.org
The mayor of Cotacachi County, Auki Tituaña, passed
an ordanance declaring Cotacachi a Cantón Ecologico.
This means it is against municipal law for any business
to engage in activities that harm the environment, and
explicitly states that citizens´ right to a healthy
environment and drinking water supercedes corporate
rights.
Realizing that catalyzing sustainable economic
development is a crucial part of the anti-mining strategy
(the mining companies promise jobs, infrastructure,
etc.), the region has seen a renaissance of eco-tourism,
organic agriculture, and micro-business projects.
Seeing the importance of sustainable development, the
community of Pucará has the vision of making it’s new
neighborhood a model for poor, rural communities
seeking better living styles and alternatives.
As a result, in 2006 the community decided to implement
an “eco-pueblo” model for the new neighborhood under
construction. Viewing the construction of 10 houses as
an opportunity to develop a new model for rural, low-
income housing, the people of Pucará are investigating
ways to implement sustainable energy technology,
ecological design, and permaculture concepts into the
long–term planning of the new neighborhood. Plans
include:
- Rain-water catchment systems
- Solar water heating
- Community organic gardens
- Medicinal gardens to serve as a free "green
pharmacy" and accompanied by a public
education effort to recuperate ancient knowledge
of local medicinal plants.
- Native species reforestation and water source
management
- Ongoing recycling program and waste
management strategy
- Gray-water catchment that will feed in to a series
of Tilapia fish ponds to provide a food and
economic resource
- The design and construction of a human waste
bio-digestor: a system that collects solid waste
from homes and converts it into methane for
cooking. This closed-system technology reducse
deforestation caused by the need for cooking-
wood and provide families with a free, clean-
burning cooking gas.
- The slurry waste from the bio-digestor system can
be run through a leach field of planted bamboo.
The bamboo can then be used for construction
and sold by the community.
- A large green space in front of the community
center will be left open to serve as a community
park complete with benches, landscaping and
community gardens.
- Implementation of agro-ecological farming models
on small parcels of land including participation in
the local, organic, fair-trade coffee cooperative.
- Development of community tourism in the cloud
forest utilizing licensed native guides.
- The establishment of a Spanish School as an
economic project aimed at Pucara's youth to be
partially administered by a volunteer coordinator
(see right).
For more in depth information click here:
Pucará: A Guide for Visitors
VOLUNTEERS CAPABLE OF ASSISTING WITH ANY
OF THESE PROJECTS ARE WELCOME!
CONTACT Peter Shear for more information:
info@casainteram.org
in Ecuador: 086-849-950
Intag Spanish School Soon after building the first houses that were to become the Eco-Pueblo, it quickly became apparent that without the institution of successful, community economic development projects the houses would be abandoned in another generation, as people would be forced to follow their parents as emigrant workers in the cities and abroad. The Intag Spanish School is the first of several economic development projects to be launched as part of the Eco-Pueblo Project. The first six teacher´s, accredited by Ecuador´s Ministerio de Educación, recieved their licenses in March 2008 (photo above with Instructor). |
Click here for a detailed Plan Eco-Pueblo in Spanish, including project budgets and Economic Development projects. |
The Intag Spanish School needs long-term volunteers to act as Inter-Cultural Coordinators: helping with promotion, translation, cultural and tourism programs, homestay program, website, and accounting. Visit intagspanishschool.wordpress. com to learn more about the Intag Spanish School and its programs. |
Inter-American Center for the Arts, Sustainability,and Action
Centro Interamericano para las Artes, el Sustento, y la Acción
Centro Interamericano para las Artes, el Sustento, y la Acción