From August 10 – 25 we had a group of 9 people from Apetina visiting Lawa. They came to participate in the Foundations for Farming training. In the weeks before we had been busy with Asiloikë and Temikailoe preparing for this training. They would be the trainers for both theory and practice. Together we translated the PowerPoint presentation in Wayana, after which laminated sheets were produced in the city on A3, so that they can also be used while visiting the villages in the coming months.

The beginning of a proving ground in the middle of the village had been built and now the students could come. We enjoyed the enthusiasm of this group and the trainers. The discovery that a number of Bible stories contain principles that can be applied in their lives today made them extra motivated to work in everyday practice. It was hard work, but many hands made light work. Working together, eating together and enjoying each other’s company, we enjoyed it as much as they did. We set up the first proving ground together, where we regularly gave instructions. This also applied to making the compost heap. A totally new way of dealing with garden waste and grass clippings! The surprise on their faces when we took the iron bar out of the compost heap to check if the temperature was already rising and they could feel that the bar felt quite hot. The time to turn hope. Two days later they were able to redo the whole process. After a week you already see how hope is dwindling. The second proving ground was set up in Babun Olo by the students and the trainers. Now we were not allowed to help except mowing the grass and carrying wheelbarrows with grass. The Wayanas started to build the garden independently so that they could get the picture and would be able to do it later in Apetina by themselves. Great to see that they claimed ownership for their own learning. Nice detail was that they decorated their faces with red stripes as they do during parties. One of the people from Apetina is a Tareno. During the training weeks he was able to translate the PowerPoint presentation into the Tareno language. We now plan to train Wayanas and Tarenos along the Tapanahony River at the end of this year and early next year.