Some more Information on Yungilla

By Margaret Palmer:

I had the opportunity to speak to one of our tour guides in Yunguilla in Spanish for a while today. Galindo was born and raised in Yunguilla and has seen a lot of things change in his time there.

Growing up, he told me, when anyone was sick, people depended on traditional, plant and herb based medicine; although most people still rely on alternative medicine for less serious problems, he has seen more and more people traveling into Quito for hospitalization. This change has come with increased access to transportation and more spare time—fewer people are subsistence farmers and thus they have time to travel a little more. This change from subsistence farming was spurred on by social changes.

Included in these important changes that are altering the lives of people in Yunguilla is that the family unit is shrinking: instead of five, six, or seven children, most families now have only one or two children. The majority of these children now go to school through colegio (junior high school). Because women are spending less time having and taking care of many children, they are venturing out of their homes. Women spend less time home-making in Yunguilla and more time running small stores, helping their husbands, or working in the fields. While we were in Yunguilla, we went to a small convenience store that was run out of the front room of a family’s home. Many men and women are receiving training as carpenters and artisans, food-makers and farmers, bringing more opportunities to Yunguilla.

One of the main things, Galindo told me, that is bringing people to Yunguilla is the grassroots, sustainable reforestation project that began there after the people realized that they were destroying the forest they loved. This project is bringing tour groups, such as ours, which brings money to the small town which is allowing it to continue to grow and prosper. This project also brings volunteers from around the world to help the people out. Galindo told me that these volunteers are helping to bring more people to Yunguilla.

Even with the new people around, Galindo said that no one ever felt unsafe. Everyone, he told me, knows everyone else and sleep with their windows open and doors unlocked. Unlike in Quito, crime in nearly nonexistent and people trust each other. The town, he emphasized, is not dangerous and is a very welcoming place. He recalled playing with the other children in the town and never feeling shut in.

The monetary growth, job evolution, increased education, and ability to get modern medicine are allowing Yunguilla to grow and thrive as a close-knit town that is quickly adapting to a changing world.