Getting to Know Carnachique

August 19th, 2022

We finally met the farmers in the Carnachique community today! Because our meeting was set to begin at 9am, we had an early start to our morning eating yogurt, eggs, and toast that were paired with a cup of instant coffee. After our usual bumpy combi ride to Carnachique, we walked toward the source capture where multiple farmers (and their dogs) greeted us. 

Community members viewing our Google Earth maps and data points of Carnachique

Bryan, Arielle, and Daniel led the meeting by describing the data we have been collecting, our general design goals of implementing a pipeline and building reservoirs, and addressing their questions and suggestions. Lucy, Ellen, and Scott diligently took notes throughout the meeting, while I walked around taking photos to keep records of this meeting. Because some farmers could not make it to the meeting today, we scheduled to revisit and hold another meeting on Wednesday to meet and talk with as many people as possible. 

Arielle, Daniel, and Bryan leading the meeting with the Carnachique community

After the general meeting, we split into two groups to ask members of the Comité de Regantes and other community members about the types of crops they grow, suggestions for how the system could be improved, current maintenance on the canal, etc. Afterwards, we decided that we could start walking with the farmers to their fields. Lucy, Scott, and Daniel braved the steep hills to record GPS data points of the farmland, Ellen and I began sketching out the terrain, and Daniel and Arielle conversed with the farmers to learn more about where they wanted potential reservoirs and what kind of crops they typically grow and where on their fields. 

Daniel trekking through wheat fields to collect GPS points

We decided to head to our usual lunch spot via Julio’s combi, though Santiago and Diva (the treasurer of the Comité de Regantes) also hopped in on the way back, which meant for some new sitting positions and a tight squeeze. We met up with Marcelo, Andrés, Ariana, and Adriana at lunch, as they had just arrived to Otuzco a few hours earlier. Much to Arielle’s despair who got another lomito saltado (stir-fried beef), we ordered cuy guisado (stewed guinea pig) with Daniel getting the head on his plate and a jug of maracuyá (passionfruit). We then headed back to Carnachique with Marcelo, Andrés, Ariana, and Adriana to finish plotting GPS points and drawing the farmland (and some cows) for the rest of the canal with Santiago. 

Taking a break after finishing data collection with Working for a Smile / Lima Boys

After a long day, we finally returned to Otuzco and almost immediately walked into the streets of Otuzco to eat at a restaurant recommended by the Lima Boys. We enjoyed pollo a la brasa again, chaufa (Peruvian-Chinese fried rice), chicha morada (my favorite drink made of purple corn), and Inca Kola. Throughout dinner, we got into intense conversations comparing the East Coast vs. West Coast vs. the Midwest (just for Scott), siblings (or lack thereof), and even how Andrés is kind of a celebrity in Peru. We ended the day with a short debrief to catch the Lima Boys up-to-speed and get their input on what our next steps could be. As a group, we decided to dedicate tomorrow to organizing all our data and resting up for another early start on Monday. 

Prompt: favorite crop in the fields! 

Ellen: zanahoria (carrot)

Scott: maíz (corn)

Arielle: perejil (parsley)

Vivian: repollo (cabbage)

Daniel: brócoli (broccoli) 

Lucy: trigo (wheat)

Bryan: trigo (wheat)